On our way to Twisted Oak for some drinks and snacks during our snow day! We carried our snacks home on the sled.
Snow days also means that everyone may eat in the living room for dinner...
During the winter, basketball is still going strong. Here Elle is with her coach and team debriefing after one of their games.
Ellie had created flyers for our neighbors for the new business she is starting. On it she listed all of the ideas she could offer them. Our neighbors, Maddie and Ed, called her and offered her a job! She was asked to take feed their cats while they were away. Ellie was so excited to help and did such a great job that they gave her this card when they got home. Ellie, be so proud of yourself!
We had an Oxford Strong night at LCA. My old principal, Kristy, was getting honored with the Game Changer award from the families of the victims. We love you, KGM!!
Super bowl!
And of course the tradition of Ben's Superbowl Sausage.
And the next very early Monday morning was Valentine's Day!
All set for the Monday morning wakeups and out the door for school...
Drew reading all of his Valentines!
And Elle...
Elle's Valentine to her bros...and yes, it does say from Big E. LOL.
The kiddos cashed in one of the CMas gifts, a certificate for a day at Sky Zone!
Then out to eat at Red Robin...
And finishing the day with family game night playing Bananagrams! Drew was so proud that he could spell his own words too (Using his snap words!).
Another snow day! Pancakes for breakfast!
One part of Ben's job is taking the STEMi to different school districts across Oakland County. Ben was still working on our snow day, so after a trip to the library, we stopped by while they were on break to have our kids play on it!
We love STEM and Dad!!
Happy Birthday Grandma Uitti! We partied with homemade pot roast...
And Ellie's famous ice cream cake. :) Happy birthday, Grandma! We love you!!!
There was a time long, long ago when the word COVID was something we were just starting to hear about in the news. That winter Luke was in 4th grade and auditioned for a part in our school musical. He got the part of Zazu! (see blogpost from Spring of 2020) Well, he practiced everyday after school for 6 weeks, had a blast at the dress rehearsal and then school closed, and life changed quickly. Lion King was canceled and school was closed the rest of the year.
Time passed and Luke was now in 5th grade. They were hopeful that perhaps they could pull off this production with the same cast in the Spring however, COVID had us remote for way longer than anyone expected and so it was canceled again. This brings us to the current school year, The Lion King is a go however, with a new cast.
This is just one very, very tiny sliver of an example of how us parents and kids (ALL of us) had to shift and function drastically different these past two years. However, " the show must go on" and so here we are...2 years later. Luke never got to star in his role. However, I am so proud of him for understanding and still showing up to cheer on his sister and the rest of the McG crew.
All 4th graders, including our Elle, were invited to be part of the choir!! Elle we are so proud of your hard work and heart! Now, break a leg! But not really, because that was also part of our story and we are over it!!
Luke and Kolbe, Zazu and older Simba, now in 6th grade, watching their younger siblings in the musical.
Here we go! The show was spectacular!!
Elle with her favorite teacher of all time...Her current 4th grade teacher, Ms. Werner! AND I have to add that Ms. Werner is a former Oxford teacher and so she is pretty awesome!
Elle in the choir!
We had all ordered shirts when Luke was in the show and we weren't going to buy new ones. SOOO, we all wore these Zazu shirts even though we had no one from our family playing Zazu!! It was hilarious!
Drew at the high school for a STEM fieldtrip!
Drew has been rocking his Friday night/Sunday afternoon baseball camps! He got an invite to tryout for the Motor City Hit Dogs travel team butttt we aren't quite ready to make that leap quite yet. I mean he is SEVEN!!! Click here to watch him in action with his coach:
And the Daddy/Daughter Dance is back!!!
My heart.
Walking into the dance at Elle's school!
Ellie with her favorite girls: Riley, Amelia and Ophelie!
Elle with Ms. Cunningham! Luke and Elle's 3rd grade teacher!
And life with her BFF, Riley 💜
Ben's tradition is to take her out for a milkshake at Ram's Horn afterwards.
Ben and Brian surprised Mol and I with a date night in Kalamazoo! We had so much fun!! Eating downtown, cheering for our Broncos at a hockey game and walking all around campus at night! It was such a warm Spring night and it was great being back together at our ol stomping grounds!
While we were gone for the night, the kiddos had a blast with Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy!
Just a regular morning eating breakfast at the counter...Nothing to see here.
Luke performing with his 6th grade choir at Stoney Creek High School! (Last row, right side of pic, long-sleeved blue shirt)
One of the coolest moments from the basketball season! It was a low scoring game for Luke's team. With 45 seconds to go in the 2nd half, they were down 14-17. Coach Megan was yelling, "Pass the ball to Luke! Pass the ball to Luke!" They passed the ball and Luke threw up a 3-pointer. Now, Luke has never made a 3-pointer in a game before. We all clenched and watched the ball swish through the hoop! We ALL went crazy!!!! They tied the game on Luke's 3-point shot!! Such a cool moment.
Luke, take that experience with you to know that you can do hard things. Even under pressure, even when people are counting on you...Keep this memory and continue to build your confidence.
Here is the team pointing at the scoreboard....17-17!
(Moments before Luke's big shot!)
Debriefing with coach and his team afterwards.
Listen in to hear Coach give Luke some props!
Harlow's in the house!
Drew helping us clean all the things dropped behind the fridge. :) Cutie.
I feel the weather changing. While Elle was at gymnastics, I took the opportunity to walk around town. The ducks were waddling around the pond, bikers were biking, the sun was shining and it feels like hope.
Setting up the trap to catch that pesky Lucky the Leprechaun!
Maybe we'll get him this year!
Welp, not this year but he left some treasures...
Sometimes we are just tired and need a nap.
Elle's basketball team went undefeated!
At Elle's end of the season basketball party! These girls played with so much toughness each week. Elle, you are a baller!! You lead on your team with so much confidence and skill. Great season, Jayhawks!
Drew's last game of the season. Drew, you are a baller too! You dominated on you team and your confidence and coordination wowed all of us!
At Drew's end of the season party...
We have loved having all 3 kids part of the Upward program. This was the last day that all 3 kids would be playing. Luke has aged out of the program and now has the decision to make if he will tryout for his 7th grade middle school team next year. Time, slow down!
Papa and Gma U. came to cheer every on for the day!
Great season, Warriors!!
Luke, you led your team with confidence and heart. We are so proud of you! At Luke's last end of the season basketball party. I'm not crying...
We love you, Coach Megan! Coach has been with Luke for 2 seasons and we love her! She is also a middle school teacher in Rochester and so it has been great to have her pouring into Luke.
Fun at Innovation Park...
