Winter Update

The kids got their school pictures.  Karina's 3rd grade picture is on the right.  On the sheet, they also included her pre-k, kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade photos as well.  It was fun for me to see how she has grown. 

Likewise here is Lydia with her 1st grade picture on the right, and her pre-k and kindergarten pictures on the left.  I'm not sure why her preschool picture didn't show up, since she attended Ilchester Elementary that year too. 

And Derek's preschool school picture:

The kids decided to take Snoopy for a walk one day.  Surprisingly, Snoopy was thrilled and loved it!  He enjoyed sniffing, pulling, and exploring and was a happy camper.  He has been on a few walks since then with success.  We still don't take him on regular walks though.  Snoopy doesn't walk so much as 'sniff', and he definitely insists on his own snail pace.  It's not an exercising pace. I'm glad he has had the energy for his version of walks though.  He is still doing great on his prescription diet for kidney disease and human heart medication that he takes for his heart murmur.   The food and the medicine seem to be working wonderfully for him.

Yet another Buzz Lightyear costume for the kids.

And here is my adorable police officer pirate fairy:

Karina decided to paint Derek's face and hands with marker, and her little brother was thrilled!  He loved the attention and the end result and Karina enjoyed having someone to decorate.

Lydia made a cool ramp with Magformers and Karina made a castle influenced by Elsa's ice castle from Frozen. 

Karina loved carrying Derek high in the air, and Derek enjoyed it at least as much as her.

Lydia found animal tracks in the mud as part of a Girl Scout badge she is working on.  Actually she was supposed to find tracks in the snow, but for the first time in 150 years, Baltimore will have no snow the entire month of February, so we improvised with mud.  

Lydia also did some weaving at a Girl Scout event about cultures around the world.

We had our old fireplace removed and got a new gas fireplace.  It was a big job for the workers.  We are going to do the fireplace surround, mantle, and finish work ourselves.  Derek was a big helper with the drywall patching.  He loved to sand and vacuum the dust all by himself!

We have been using the fireplace multiple times per day despite there not being any snow outside.  It keeps us toasty, and the best part is it turns on and off and adjusts however we like with the push of a button on the new fireplace remote. 

Hopefully, we'll have pictures of the finished product soon!