Welcome, 2023! It's hard to believe that another year has passed, but here we are. We finished off 2022 with a lot of fun and have already leaned hard into the memory making in the new year. Blessed to all be together as a family and we won't take one minute of that for granted.
We were super fortunate that Daddy had the last two weeks of the year off as well, meaning we got to cross lots of our Winter Break activities off of our list, like the zoo and the Gingerbread Village!
Ready for a Zoo Day!
Strolling through with her doll in her ergo.
It was cool, so the animals were pretty active and the statues continue to be a favorite!
Lots of Joy for sure!
Helping paint crowns at school!
Dropping off a Santa letter in a magical mailbox that appeared in our neighborhood before heading to....
The Gingerbread Village!
Guaranteed holiday cheer!
Chef Sister also had fun getting her Christmas Cookie baking on!
We had a really beautiful Christmas and a nice trip to New Braunfels to see Mimi and Pop-Pop before they moved to Florida (all chronicled in a separate Christmas post). And then we were ready to ring in the new year! We enjoyed roller skating with friends (another item crossed off our Winter Break list), fireworks, and our traditional noon new year toast!
Ready to roll into 2023! Grateful for awesome friends to spend the day with!
Fireworks!
Excited to wear her firework dress to church to start the new year!
Watching the ball drop and doing our noon new year celebration! Happy 2023!
And man, did we start off the new year with a bang! Some Girl Scout troop leader had the bright idea to sign our girls up for the first Community Campout since Covid (it was me, I was that troop leader) and it was the first full weekend of the new year. Good gravy that was a lot after break and the first week of school, but we did it! And I am super glad we did. It might have been a bit crazy taking 10 girls platform tent camping for the first time (with 4 additional girls for the day camp part and thunderstorms that rolled in on Saturday night) but it was a lot of fun and also wonderful to see this girls gain confidence in unfamiliar settings. Little Sweetie did great, both at adjusting to the camp and being able to share her Momma as a Troop Leader (sometimes being the troop leader's kid can be tough).
Brave souls finishing their last meal before heading into the camp!
Ready for platform tent camping! The girls didn't sleep much on the first night, but that was to be expected.
Made it through the night and starting a busy day with a good breakfast!
Our girls were selected to help with the morning flag ceremony!
Crafts!
Circus games! (The weekend was circus-themed and was a lot of fun!)
Tractor painting!
Hiking all over to complete the scavenger hunt!
A tired but thrilled Girl Scout headed home!
Although the school year just started, we weren't too upset to have an extra with the kids when they were off for MLK, Jr. Day this month, especially since Daddy had it off too!
Starting the day with a fun breakfast!
Family lunch at Grimaldi's!
Enjoying a walk on the Waterway and the Koi Garden!
We even finally got to cook with Little Sweetie again! Her schedule is so busy, she doesn't get to cook too often right now. But a day off gave her time to pick recipes from one of her new cookbooks. She made dinner and dessert!
Such a cool book! Thanks Aunt S and Uncle J!
Chewy chocolate cookie success!
The shells with peas and sausage were awesome!
Height and Weight
Little Sweetie went up a bit to 65.6 lbs. this month and is now 53 inches.
Big girl still likes building forts in her room!
Personality
She's funny and silly and creative and kind. She's a good friend but can get sensitive easily if we tease her a bit. She has big emotions out of nowhere sometime and we're trying to help her learn how to navigate them. I'm trying hard to remember how BIG things seemed to me when I was getting ready to transition into double digits so we can parent with empathy and support. She's amazing and we love her.
Silly girl.
She cares a lot for her friends and we are proud of the healthy and strong friendships she's forming, like her friendship with her buddy, C!
Developmental Milestones
We continue to be thrilled with Little Sweetie's development. She earned high honor roll again, which is great, but what's really great is we can see her understanding and synthesizing the concepts. We are trying to make sure she understands that grades aren't what matter. She's ready for lots of activities again this semester, including chess, choir, Girl Scouts, piano, (speaking of, her new piano from Christmas has helped her finger strength so much already!) and track!
Our little book worm loves school!
Fun Tidbits
I finally got Little Sweetie to watch the movie Newsies with me and she's OBSESSED. It's amazing. She's pretending to be a newsie and learning all of the songs. It might be my favorite phase!
Wanna buy some paps, lady?
By next month we'll be in the full swing of the year! I can't believe it!
Good night,
LSM
Little Sweetie's Momma
