After Christmas and Happy New Year 2023!

Happy New Year! We had fun celebrating with friends. We ate supper together, Kley made a trivia game about 2022 events, and we had an early ball drop (where we played the ball dropping from last year) for the kids with brownies, ice cream cups, headbands and horns, and a toast with sparkling apple juice. Pretty great, right? Thankful for a new year and all that God has in store for us in 2023.

The joy children have for celebrations is so fun to watch. (But those horns definitely went in the trash after the party- so fun but so loud.)

We had hoped to go to Des Moines for a few days over break, but that didn't end up happening because my sister had her baby a few days late and then my parents were with her helping. But that's okay- so exciting to have a new nephew/cousin in the family! Love him so much already! Since we didn't travel anywhere over break, the girls and I came up with a few fun things to do while Kley was working. One day we went to an arcade and had fun playing games and mini golf.

Lucy lost her first tooth during Christmas break! Technically, this is her second tooth lost- she lost the first one when she was two when her and Ellory bonked heads on a slide- but this feels like the first. It's funny how different kids are- Norah and Ellory really don't like pulling teeth out and try to avoid it, but Lucy was all for it and was in the bathroom yanking on her tooth while looking in the mirror for days before it came out. She pulled it out on her own! Ellory actually lost her second bottom tooth over break too! She really didn't want it to come out, and said no for days, but one day I said that it was so very loose that she could pull it or I could pull it. She tried once and didn't get it and then I tried, and she was very brave and sat still and I got it in one small tug. Girls are growing up! :)

We opened stockings a couple days after Christmas to spread out the gifts. So fun! They were all probably most excited with a big container of gum. I love that kids don't need much to make them happy!

We went swimming one morning too for a fun and different activity- super nice to be in the hot tub on a cold day!