Valentine's Day Dance

The kids had a Valentine's Day dance at the elementary school! I wasn't able to go last year because I was out of town, but I went this year.

It was quite cold waiting to get in.

Each of the kids found friends to hang out with.

They also spent some time with us!

Also Ben randomly lost a tooth in the middle of the dance...and actually lost it. There is a small possibility that he ate it.

It was a great time :)

Gold Rush

We went to the William & Mary Gold Rush game the other week. It is always a special game as they honor W&M Basketball alumni on the court. Additionally this year, Coach Shaver came back for the first time. It was so special and sweet to see him (and for me to see Kelly and her kids). We were in the end zone area with other basketball alum.

Chris' mom was in town to look at a house and she came, too.

Rosie (and Jane) in the jumbotron - Rosie was jumping and waving her flag the entire time!

The Shavers:

The men's basketball alumni:

They also ended up winning the game which made it very special.

Bowling

The kids have been asking to go bowling for awhile now. We realized only Eleanor had been before! When we checked out the bowling alley in Williamsburg though the prices were pretty astronomical. We ended up heading down the peninsula to Ikea one morning and hit a bowling alley south of here that afternoon. It was a great find!

The kids had such a great time bowling - we stayed for hours!

Chris was solidly good and had multiple strikes and spares. I had one strike (second game) and a couple spares. The computer system really favored Ben and gave him several pins/spares/strikes that actually didn't occur, so his score was a bit inflated.

We had hot dogs, french fries, pretzels - lots of bowling alley food.

Overall it was a really great experience and a really fun day!

Bowling:

Jane's winter chorus concert

Jane had a winter chorus concert at school - her first one! It was supposed to happen in December, but due to some personal circumstances, the chorus teacher had to move it to January. 

Jane is on the right in the teal and green sweater up front.

Because it got delayed, Grandma got to come! She moved down to Williamsburg the day before and was busy unpacking but took a short break to come by and watch.

Here is a video of her songs:

January wrap-up

January started off slow with winter break and lots of snow!

We had annual doctors appointments...here Ben was hiding so he wouldn't have to get a shot.

We did Home Depot's workshop:

Lots of dress up...this time like Glinda and Elphaba...soooo much Wicked singing.

Rosie the burrito:

Playing and running routes in the front yard.

And watching football...

We went to a Tribe Men's basketball game and got to hang in the end zone area for a tailgate. Eleanor got to participate in the halftime program.

Ben ended up on the jumbotron! He was devastated when he realized there were only two halfs and the game was almost over (vs. four periods). William and Mary ended up winning on an incredible buzzer beater...

Hanging on the court after the game, and seeing Jane's third grade teacher!

Jane got to go to a friend's birthday party - ice skating and pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

I'm not sure I've ever seen snow hang around this long in Williamsburg. We've had snow on the ground since January 5th.

Grandma and Dave moved down to Williamsburg!

It's just stayed so cold even the marshes and ponds have stayed iced over.

Rosie and Ben got to go to a birthday party at Funplex.

Eleanor and Hannah convinced Ben to play Fiyero while they were making Wicked videos.

We got to have a lovely family dinner with everyone in town to celebrate Lauren's birthday and watch the Commanders game together (the night before).

Eleanor has been using Chris's old iPod to listen to music. Jane called it his "walkman thing"

We've been playing lots of chess. 

Jane has been face painting.

The big girls got to go on a Friday night friend date to Chick-fil-A!

Ben (like many of us) was devastated the Commanders lost the NFC Championship game.

On another random day off of school, Jane created an entire read-a-thon in the bonus room. It shockingly went well for almost two hours. Ben didn't actually read, but he ate and played silently the entire time.

Ben has made lots of fun creations with these blocks... especially the kid playing in the snow below complete with scarf!

The kids put on a fun Cinderella play with friends:

January has been a long, long month! Between winter break and all the snow days, the kids only went to school 13 total days and two half days. We are looking forward to February!