A Big Thank You

I just wanted to thank those that have inspired me to restart my efforts at keeping a little family history, and a big thank you to Misty, for cleaning up and redecorating my blog! I really love the new look, and I think it is really us! Enjoy, Family!

What we have been doing...

Well...I have not written in ages, but I thought I would post about a few of the things going on lately. We had a great trip to visit Sariah in December (just after Thanksgiving), and we even got to go to DisneyWorld (thanks to her and some former OU gymnasts that work there now!!!). We had a really great time; Sariah is a great planner, and we just had a lot of fun, enjoying the sights and princesses and castles and roller coasters, etc. I have no pictures to post for that trip, because Sariah was the official photographer, but maybe eventually I will get some from her and put them on here! (Actually I do have a couple of hard copy pictures but I am too lazy to go scan them in right now... )

Christmas and New Year were fun, with a lot of time spent with family; the girls absolutely love their cousins. But between stomach viruses, colds, and two of our tiniest cousins being in the hospital, it was a little different for the holidays. Despite the tough times, it was great to have Sariah and Ethan home for the holidays. Here are a few pictures... Belle was dressed up for the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" part of the annual Christmas play. By the way, the ballet by all of the girls (and one boy) was absolutely adorable. After the holidays, we got right back into homeschool. One of my favorite things about homeschooling, we can sleep in if we want to!!! Last week, Maya had her very first gymnastics "meet". She was very excited, and here are a few photos and videos...
Maya on the awards stand:
Here is Maya with her hair in a bun. I think she was more excited about fixing her hair up than the meet itself!

Ksenia was very excited for Maya, and was happy to explain to her what all of her ribbons were for. :)

Here is Maya warming up for floor. She couldn't resist waving at me :)

Here is Maya on beam--she messed up her dismount, but the judge let her repeat it, which is on the video after that. (She was glad, because her dismount is her favorite part!)

Ksenia also had her first real meet the next day, against other gyms. She was excited, and happy with how she did. Here are a couple of videos from that. I never thought I would be sitting in the gym as a team parent for five hours!!! :)

Ksenia on beam:

And here is Ksenia on floor--this was the best routine I have ever seen her do; unfortunately, I was busy watching her, and not the camera screen, so she is cut off at the waist for most of it! Sorry! She has been really working on her back handspring with Papa lately, so she was happy she hit it.

We just had a snowstorm a couple of days ago, and everything has been closed (except, of course, the OU Men's Gymnastics Team practice, that works out rain or shine, blizzard or not, even when airports are closed, and campus is closed for three days, etc, etc...) Ksenia was so excited to have a "big snow" that she braved the arctic wind (not kidding--the temperatures have been ridiculously low), to try to make a snowman, but it turned out to be just a snowhead because the snow wouldn't stick together that well. He does have facial features and a hat! So cute!

And here is a mural in the girls' bedroom that I started about a week or two ago; one wall almost done, three to go! They are sooooooo excited about it, especially as I have been promising to do a mural for them since we moved in---was that one or two years ago?!?

So that is what we have been up to. Homeschooling is going great! We have really been enjoying it, and the girls are so excited to do school everyday. I think that what has made it so much easier, is the fact that we quit watching television, and playing computer, etc. They focus so much better on school, and are learning how to do so many other things (drawing, knitting, sewing, cooking, cleaning, etc.). They look forward to reading to me, and to the time we spend together where I read to them. I absolutely love having them home with me, and feel so lucky to be able to do this with them!