It is already halfway through February, and before we know it Spring Break will be here! Here are a few things going on here.
Assembly Leader
Maggie was selected by the school principal to be the assembly leader in February, along with another boy from her class. She was very excited to stand in front of the whole school and lead the assembly. She did a great job and was asked by the principal "to remember us when you are famous". In addition, she was awarded an academic achievement for her school work, the only student in the 4th grade for the month of January. All her hard work is beginning to pay off. Way to go Maggie!
Valentine's Day Dinner
We actually went to OMSI on Valentine's Day and saw the Da Vinci exhibit, which was very neat for everyone except Lanna, who was bored while we read the history boards before we even made it into the exhibit. We went to dinner afterwards and had a special dinner at home the next day. The girls wanted to make a special dinner for Dad, with the help of mom, as seen in their National Geographic for Kids magazine. We made heart shaped pizzas with arrows through them, and strawberry sorbet for dessert. The pizzas came out looking more like gooey ducks than hearts with arrows, but they had such fun making them. Maggie is wearing the hat and apron from the cooking basket Lanna won at the CVG carnival. They each bought raffle tickets to put into the jar for different prizes, and imagine Lanna's surprise when her name was called for the cooking basket. Needless to say, we have been using many of the great items that were in the basket. And I think Maggie has enjoyed using the goods more than Lanna so far.
All smiles as they prepare the dough.
The girls are in awe as mom "tosses" the dough.
Maggie making the hearts and arrows.
The pizzas before we bake them, as displayed by "chef" Lanna.
The finished product, some already eaten.
Protozoa anyone?
Basketball in full swing
YMCA basketball is in full swing, and will be finished next month. I am coaching Maggie's team, which is all girls and is doing well. Maggie has really been working on her dribbling and shooting, and has become quite the point guard. We are the Chili Peppers, partly because of the red jerseys, and partly because they are "hot".
Lanna plays on a 2nd grade coed team, but is comprised of mostly girls (7 girls, 3 boys), who out height the boys by quite a bit. She and Maggie have been attending open gym on Friday nights at the middle school (we are so pathetic we have nothing else to do on Friday nights). The dad of one of Lanna's teammates has been running the open gym doing dribbling, passing and shooting drills with the kids. He has done a fabulous job with the kids and we can already see improvement in both the girl's play. Lanna played great this last Saturday as a result I am sure of the extra touches she has been getting at open gym.
Random Stuff
Lanna: "Scout is a bug. Scout is a bug."
Maggie: "Scout is not a bug, she's a trout."
Just for the record, she is not a trout, she is a cat, but cat doesn't rhyme with Scout.
Dan got a new ringtone for his phone, which is the sound of Chewbacca from Star Wars. You can tell when his humor has rubbed off on his kids when he played the ring tone and Maggie said "Mom, did you say something?"
Our house was blessed with its first TP-ing last night. We woke up at 12:57 a.m. to the sound of the doorbell ringing, at which point I thought "The house is on fire." We then went to the window to see toilet paper drapped high into our trees and over our bushes. It was cleaned up early the next morning, with the exception of a few strands too high to reach. Unfortunately we did not think to get a picture until after it was cleaned up. We do, however, know who did the deed and can now plot our revenge!!
Maggie with her make-up...is she really old enough for that? No!!! 
We leave with this picture of the "Gianormous snowball" the girls made which lasted for days and days after the snow melted. Perhaps we will have snow later...much, much later!
Take obligatory family picture in front of tree. 
We found it!
Lanna showing some treasures 
We found out a few days before the actual game that WSU Women's soccer had made the NCAA Soccer Tournament and was playing their first round game in Portland. So we packed our blanket, stadium cushions, dinner and warm coats and gloves, and headed down I-5 to the University of Portland to watch the game. It was so exciting to cheer for a team that actually has a winning record (I will not provide an explanation for the last comment. If you don't know what it is referring too...good. If you do, keep your snide comments to yourself.) It was a close match, but WSU just didn't have enough to overcome a good University of Texas team and lost 1-0. However, it was great to watch how well players at this level play, and Maggie loved watching things develop. Lanna liked when it was time to get hot chocolate. The picture above is of "the girls" at the game. (Dad was there, just not on the picture.)
Lanna was walking around with this basket on her head, I have no idea why, but when I got the camera to take a picture, she saluted me. Ten hut!
Maggie decided to treat her sister to a day at the salon by braiding her hair (as can be seen in the picture) and painting her nails. I hid the make-up, so that is as far as it got, but Lanna felt glamorous just the same.
We went for a walk along the Coweeman River dike on Sunday morning, then stopped at the playground for some playtime on the equipment. Maggie and Dad had a good time on the swings, while Lanna just climbed over everything. There was another dad there with his two little girls, one of which was about 12 months old and in a baby swing. As she came toward her dad, he would say "yeah" and she would laugh and clap her hands. It was so cute, and with her short blonde baby hair and chubby cheeks, she reminded us of Lanna as a baby. This nearly brought tears to my eyes and totally made me want another baby! (See note above about school pictures!) Dan said it was cute, but he wasn't feeling as sentimental as I was. Sigh.
This picture was actually from October, but was too good not to share. 
