Soccer + Baking + Date Night

I think I had forgot to post this pic from a few weeks ago when Brynn and I finally made it out on our walking Christmas lights tour.  

First grade teddy bear tea party! Clara and Giraffie are in the front row.

Adria was over to play a couple of weeks ago.

Unbeknownst to us, our school bus routes were too short staffed to run for an entire week a couple of weeks ago. We finally got on the list for communication updates and divided and conquered drop-off and pick-up between Dana and me and two different schools (and schedules) for the week. Last Friday we received another notification that the buses weren't running for that day. And then one morning this week the bus was super late in the morning as the driver got stuck at a rural stop. (Though we are in town, we're just on the edge of the route for rural stops and so things get a bit trickier apparently.) At least if we know ahead time now of any changes, we can plan accordingly.

Typically Dana is the shopper with the girls, but one Saturday afternoon recently, Clara roped me into chauffeuring her while she burned through some gift cards she had been holding onto.

She was excited to find some of her favorite series at Barnes & Noble. 

A couple of Sundays ago when we were at church for Sunday school, Clara noticed the amazing snow hills in the back of the church. I told her we could come back and play on them later in the afternoon. It was a very chilly and windy day that day and I don't think she realized how nasty it would be out there, so we forged ahead anyhow...and only lasted 10 minutes or less. It was so miserable. :-(

Clara's first winter soccer game:

I think it was Clara who instigated this hand-holding wall of defense. :-)

Trying to draw a portrait of me.

....she wasn't entirely pleased with how it turned out. :-)

Dana has been doing a lot of snow blowing lately.

Clara wanted to bake brownies...

And also to only eat the center of the pan of said brownies. Haha.

Daddy snuggles. 💜

Last Saturday Grandpa and Grandma Dietz came to watch Clara's soccer game and after we went out to Culver's for a post-game lunch.

That evening Brynn baby-sat Clara while we went out to eat at The Toasted Frog before a Fargo Force game. It was such a fun night out.

For at least a week, Clara has been fighting a cough and cold. On Sunday in particular her cough sounded nastier so Dana suggested Clara skip Sunday School and watch church from home. Before the service started, they whipped up a batch of chocolate chip scones. They were very tasty!

Brynn made Clara's school lunch for her with salami pinwheels and a fruit kabob. I didn't get any pics, unfortunately, but on Monday night Brynn made empanadas for us for dinner. They were delish.

Just as Clara has been fighting off some illness, Brynn got sick with some kind of stomach bug, it seems, on Sunday and stayed home from school Monday and then I picked her up early as she was not feeling well again today. :-( Hopefully both girls will be back to 100% soon.

Brynn and I made the mistake of going out for a walk last night and nearly froze. This was the 'before' picture...when were still smiling. 

Clara's really been putting her cookbook to good use lately. The night Brynn made empanadas, Clara made popovers and tonight she made biscuits to go with our knephla soup. They were also a success. And she did most of it all herself.

I love how she has all her favorite recipes marked with sticky notes.

For this morning's exercise dance class we did a winter Olympics theme with the games starting this week. Our nanny had left a couple of her formal dance dresses at our house for Brynn to try on and/or wear or whatever she wanted to do with them. I thought they looked like figure skating outfits when I first saw them, so I tried one on last night to see if I could fit into it. Truth be told, I don't even know how to ice skate though. 

Anyone remember Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan? LOL.

We are hoping to watch some of the games this year, so hopefully we'll figure out a way to tune in once they start as we don't have regular cable TV.