The kindergartners had their 100th day of school today. Maggie was so excited to wear her new shirt (I blurred out her teacher’s name in this photo). Her teacher loved it and Maggie had an awesome day full of things related to the number 100.

It was time for Annie to move out of her infant seat and, while I don’t have anything against hand-me-downs, car seats do have expiration dates and ours get a lot of use.

Annie was given some gift cards and money for Christmas so we put them toward a new car seat. Dave got it all set up today and she loves it.

Today was Luke’s 100th day of school. It was Adam’s too, but fourth graders are old and lame and don’t celebrate fun milestones like this anymore. Maggie’s 100th day will be on Monday because the kindergarten students had a staggered start to the school year.

Anyway, the non-lame second graders dressed up like they were 100 years old. Luke borrowed a pair of Adam’s pants so we could hike them up.

Luke also had to write a story with exactly 100 words.

In case you’re not able to watch the video, here’s what Luke wrote:

Once upon a time there was a kid that was really nice. His name was Luke. One time Luke went through the snow. He was digging with his gloves. He was walking around and found something very crunchy. He dug there. He found some money. At first Luke thought it was one dollar, because the snow was covering it. He cleared all the snow off and noticed it was a one hundred dollar bill! Luke went around town to try to find the owner. Everyone he asked said it wasn’t theirs. So Luke got to keep the money.

The End

Here are some songs that Adam is currently working on.

I was spoiled this Christmas and got a bunch of fun new sewing tools. I’m excited to put them all to use.

I’ve already tested some of them while making this Harry Potter sweatshirt for Adam. He asked me to make it for him in the middle of December, but it got bumped to the bottom of the list due to all of my Christmas sewing.

He was really happy with how it turned out and is already planning several more.

And last week I finished Maggie’s Easter dress. Early, I know, but it’s done and has pockets. So that’s a win.

This is parent observation week at Maggie’s dance studio. So I was able to sit in on her class last night.

Her instructor even had the girls teach their parents some of the ballet positions and stretch with them.

Maggie really loves her dance class and it was fun to be a part of it.

I’ll apologize in advance for the shoddy camera work. Annie was “helping.”

About a month ago,  Adam decided he wanted to learn to play “What a Wonderful World” as a Christmas gift for my mom. The song has special meaning for my family and was my dad’s favorite.

Adam’s ukulele teacher thought it was a great idea and converted the sheet music into an Adam-friendly version. He worked with Adam on it for the past several weeks.

Adam surprised my mom with the song yesterday afternoon. He did a fantastic job. I am so proud of him for thinking of such a thoughtful gift and working so hard on it.

Adam and my dad had an incredibly close relationship. They said that they were,  “Two peas in a pod, always and forever.”

This time of year is bittersweet. My dad loved Christmas and watching all of us, especially the grandchildren, open presents. He’d be the first one hunting down double A batteries and playing with the kids (and their new toys) on the floor.

We all miss him and feel his loss more acutely this time of year. I know he would love listening to Adam play his ukulele. Based on how my dad treated my brother’s drum set when we were growing up, I am sure he’d borrow it and play his own “songs” on it too. (I feel like now is a good time to point out how glad I am that Adam chose to learn the ukulele, and not the drums.)

I am also incredibly thankful that I had the dad I did. I know he is watching over us and is super proud of his other pea in a pod (and all the grandkids in his and Mabel’s crew) too.

Annie had her 18 month checkup today. She’s up to the 8th percentile for weight, which is awesome for her. The doctor was happy and so was Anne (no shots!).