February 2016

We laid low in January recovering from the holidays but found a little pep in our step in February!

Along with the events below, Mom & Dad took a ski trip with Aunt Sarah & Ashley! Lots of fun has been had in this cold month.

the kids had a school holiday so we went ice skating!

This was a memorable event for sure! Lily's first school Father/Daughter dance. Huge deal for the girls in her class as they were discussing details for weeks beforehand! Daddy said it best when he described her permagrin excitement from start to finish!

They went to Lily's favorite, Texas Roadhouse, beforehand.

Meanwhile, Jackson and I had our own Mommy/Son date at his favorite, Square Pizza!

Lily and her BFF's- Chloe, Ivy, and Ashleigh (L-R)

Lily's 3rd grade musical performance

Lily has been watching a kids baking series on TV and was inspired to make parfaits one morning for breakfast!

To go along with her baking theme, she decided to make a birthday cake Valentine's box

Valentine's Day!
A friend shared this idea with me of making a heart for every day leading up to Valentine's Day (14 total) sharing one thing you love about that person. Both Lily and Jackson loved reading a new heart on their door each morning :).
Jackson also got a robot mug for his hot cocoa :)

Lily with her hearts and new "cheerleader" sparkly pink hair bow :)

This one cracked me up. A mom friend sent this to me asking if this was a good depiction of our girls' classroom? Haha! Just look at the expression on her poor teacher's face! Poor Mr. Melton! He has his hands full with Lily and her chatty BFFs :)

And the grand finale of the month was the fact that Jackson finished his dinner before all of us this week!  This is blog-worthy for sure as this is the boy who has spent upwards of 45 mins-1 hour at the table alone fighting to finish his meal. When I told him I was going to take his picture, he replied with "let me get my sun's out, gun's out pose on!" Always the comedian.

Losie California Christmas 2015

Every time I see this picture, I giggle. What a fun Christmas vacation with the Losie side this year! The adults tried out an "As Seen on TV" gift exchange and I stole Daddy's "selfie stick" :) I obviously need more practice but at least we all fit!
As usual, we pack in a lot of fun in a short time so enjoy some pictures & commentary of our time in sunny CA!

fresh off the plane and meeting Uncle Phil & Aunt Lauren for a quick breakfast break before they headed back to work

it was "wine thirty" by the time we made it to Grandma & Grandpa's house

reunited with Jake & Sam

cuddling their Christmas bears from Grandma

Merry Christmas!

Bean Boozled with Uncle Bill....the only adult brave enough to play. Bleh!

Finally got an updated picture of the siblings!

Gingerbread house making with all the cousins

One of my favorite parts of coming "home"....good Mexican! I already miss those street tacos.

We had a great visit with Uncle Doug, Aunt Liz, cousins Kristin & CJ,, Elli & Owen
We had a card and board game day...lots of fun!

Since it was so close to New Year's Day, we were able to go down and view the workers putting together the floats for the Rose Parade!

Our last day was spent at the Long Beach Aquarium. It was a gorgeous 70 degree day! We soaked in all the sun we could before heading back to snow.

touching moon jelly fish..."moon jellies"

petting manta rays

that's our Lily hanging over the edge to touch a shark!

Lily and Sam got soaked when a shark came by and swooshed his tail above the water!

a little treat strolling on the harbor

all the aunts, uncles, and cousins together

We sure had fun with our California family! Looking forward to our summer trip in a few months!

Bolinger Christmas 2015

Whenever we make it to a family Christmas event with no illnesses, I say a huge prayer of thankfulness and relief! There is so much build up for me (emotionally, mostly) in celebrating Christmas with both of my families as I look forward to it all year long. This year, we were joined by a friend of Aunt Sarah's and her family who is suffering from cancer. It was nice to be able to share our family joy with her and and enjoy the holiday together.

I told him, "I want to take a picture of you by the tree." And this is how he posed. Whose kid is this?!

December happenings 2015

Now that my picture downloading issue is fixed, it's time to catch up!

In addition to Christmas and two birthdays to celebrate in December, we managed to fit in more excitement and fun!

Aunt Sarah and Ashley took the boy cousins out for a movie. He wanted so desperately to ride in their car, so they so graciously came and picked him up beforehand.

Lily and I were able to go see the Nutcracker again! We really enjoyed our time together and took many opportunities for selfies before the show :)

Jackson has become quite the baker! Every time I mention making cookies or sweets, he's right there in the mix!

We had another fun Bolinger Christmas cookie baking morning!  

Lily's winter party- she was made into a snowman!

snowglobe craft

And, we got together with the Gensler's for dinner and playtime for the kiddos