Couples Cruise, Part 1

 Last Fall, Matt and I began toying with the idea of booking a cruise for our couple's vacation for the year. We had put off cruising for years because of all the COVID restrictions and fears of being quarantined at sea away from our kids. But with the restrictions lifted, we were ready to go and we convinced four of our favorite friends to join us. 

Since we generally vacation in the Spring and Fall, we decided to try out a winter cruise, and Matt insisted that we make it a birthday cruise for me. With all twelve of our kids safely cared for for the week, the six of us left Broken Arrow at 3:00 in the morning and set off to Galveston for a relaxing and refreshing vacation. 

Our boarding time was slightly delayed, so we took a quick detour to Buc-ee's on the way. 

There's trouble in Bucc-ee's!

We made it to Galveston and saw our home for the week.

After looking forward to the cruise for months, we finally made it!

Matt's first stop was the ice cream machine- no surprise to anyone

After our early morning adventure, we all needed an afternoon pick me up (coffee, not alcohol, ha!). This was the first of many times, where we felt our age on the ship.

We changed and freshened up and enjoyed our first dinner of the trip. 

We're smiling so big because we don't have to plan, cook, or clean up any meals for seven days!

The best part of a Carnival cruise- the warm chocolate melting cake! I had been dreaming of this cake for over our decade since our last Carnival cruise. 

After dinner we tried out a comedy show- that was a huge bust. It was so bad we left in the middle of the show. 

We had two days at sea before our first port, and our first sea day was my 38th birthday. It's a birthday that will be hard to top!

Again, we showed our age with shuffle board that morning. 

My plans for our sea days included a lot of reading, relaxing, napping, game playing, and snacking. We accomplished everything on my to-do list!

If I counted right, this was my 23rd birthday to celebrate with this guy. He's my favorite. 

Reading and relaxing, check! I have such a hard time reading for pleasure in my everyday life, so I thoroughly enjoyed it on the cruise. 

Our room steward spoiled me with birthday surprises. 

Game playing, check!

The whole cruise dressed up for my birthday, ha! It was good timing that my birthday fell on the formal night. 

These sweet people made my birthday evening such a special time. They shared memories and special things about me, and Matt gifted me with a beautiful crystal bracelet. That evening was such a special evening. I'm so thankful for these precious friendships and the way they loved on me as I walked through my first birthday without my mom. 

Warm chocolate melting cake was a pretty great birthday dessert. 

My 38th birthday may go down as my favorite of all. 

Day two at sea was pretty similar to day one. 

It included towel animals and ice cream. 

We explored the ship a little more on Monday and tried out some of the attractions. 

We also relaxed, read, and napped a fair amount too. 

And we enjoyed lunch at the Asian restaurant on the ship. 

And of course, we played some games in the afternoon. 

We enjoyed a yummy dinner.

And spent the evening playing games. 

The forced relaxation on a cruise is one of my favorite things. No chores to do, no things to plan, we didn't even have Internet to connect us with reality. We had nothing to do but have fun together. It was the best!

February Fun

 February has been such a fun month for us!

At the beginning of February we got some ice that stuck around for a few days. All our activities were canceled for most of the week. Matt ended up having to travel during the mess. Thankfully he was safe and only was gone for one night. 

The kids begged me to take them to our pond on Tuesday, and since I didn't know what time Matt would be back (that's usually his thing to take them out in the cold), I caved and took them, and I'm so glad I did, because we all had a blast. 

They even convinced me to try.

We came home and warmed up by the fire. 

We had so much fun that we went back with the neighbors later that day. Daddy was able to join us this time, yay!

Later that week, Samuel spent the afternoon with the neighbors building snow forts and having snowball fights. He claimed it was the best day ever and wouldn't stop talking about all the fun he had. 

Elisabeth celebrated Sarah's birthday at an Anne of Green Gables Tea Party. It was a super cute party. 

The same afternoon (after Sam's basketball game), the girls went straight to Mackenzie's gymnastics party. They showed off all their tricks at the party. 

Free time at co-op means coloring for these girls. 

When your friend is also your daughter's Sunday School teacher, you get pictures of her during Bible Drills. Elisabeth is blessed with the best Sunday School teachers this year. 

This is what happens when Katherine asks to borrow my phone to play music while she cleans her room. There were also several videos of her as well. 

We were at Hobby Lobby, and she saw this sign and asked to take a picture. She said, "Bubba would love this!"

This girl optimizes her screen time. She watches a show on her kindle while she plays Roblox on the laptop. Making the most of those 60 minutes a day. 

This has been Katheirne's go to hair style lately. A half ponytail bun thing. She asks for it every day. 

We're still in the middle of basketball season, and Samuel improves every game.

These three had the best night at the Daddy Daughter dance. The girls and I shopped for new dresses for the dance, and they each chose their hair style and accessories. They were so excited. 

They are blessed with such a wonderful dad. 

They went to eat at Olive Garden afterward. When they got home, they all three talked about how much fun they had. Elisabeth had a bit of a bummer experience last time she attended, but adding Katherine in the dynamic helped. Her energetic excitement always makes everything more fun. Katherine said, "The Daddy Daughter Dance was a 100." I think that means she loved it. 

Meanwhile, Nathan was at an event at church, so Sam and I had our own date night. We ate at Hideaway, and then he asked if he could teach me how to play Minecraft. He was very patient with me. When I said I was done, instead of continuing to play on his own, he asked if we could play a different game together. Sweet boy. I treasured some rare one on one time with him. 

The kids participated in Super Duper Sunday at church on Super Bowl Sunday. They were supposed to wear their favorite team apparel, and of course they got fun snacks, and came home with a football. 

We invited the Breedens to watch the Super Bowl with us. It was only fitting that Nathan and Liana got to watch it together. They've bonded this year over the Kansas City Chiefs (and the Tuttle Twins and the Keepers of the Lost Cities book series, among other things). 

They all played Spoons during halftime. 

Nathan went all out and decorated and filled balloons with confetti that they popped at each touchdown. Thanks, Chiefs for having the right number of scores for each kid to get to pop one. I'm glad they took us into consideration while they were playing. 

It was another nail biter, but a great ending. Thankfully, these fans didn't go home disappointed. 

Love all these kids! They have so much fun together. 

Funny story- the next morning, Katherine innocently asked, "Mommy, did the Chiefs win last night?" Apparently, she was very invested in the game, ha!

This girl hit a big milestone this month. After four levels of her reading program, nine readers, and two and a half years, she completed her last lesson/story of her program. Until we started homeschooling, teaching her to read was something I never thought I'd do, and while it tried my patience many times, seeing her steady improvement throughout the last couple of years has been rewarding for both of us. 

And now we're starting back at Level 1 with Little Sister, ha! Send some patience my way!