Nelson Family Blog: January Updates

We are quickly approaching the middle of January already. Again, time seems to just continue to fly by. These past couple of weeks have mostly just been getting back into a routine. Last week, a couple days of school were cancelled due to the weather, so John worked from home and tried to keep at the craziness under control.

Otherwise, last week, both kids started basketball practice. Elliott was pretty excited to be able to play basketball this year. There is going to be a C team that the second graders will be on, so that will be fun to watch. It's going to be like herding cats, but it will be cute. And frustrating. Emma was also excited, but she's already been playing basketball since November, so she's not quite as pumped as Elliott, but she's having fun as well.

This past weekend was crazy busy. On Friday, after school, I took the kids sledding at Spellerberg Park. They had a blast, and the hill was pretty quiet which was nice. We only lasted about an hour because it was pretty cold out, but we had a good time. After the sledding, we went home and had some hot cocoa, and then went to the Stampede Game. It was Wizard Night, so both kids wore some version of a Harry Potter costume. Emma absolutely loved the game. There was a Harry Potter themed scavenger hunt with prizes, so she loved that. And there was also a photo booth and trivia. The Polzins were also there, so Emma and Hannah spent the game together, and Elliott and Jacob spent the game together. They had a blast!

On Saturday morning, we participated in the Frosty Frolic. We walked a 5K on the bike trail from Spencer Park to Yankton Trail Park. It was a beautiful morning. There was frost on the trees, and it was just quiet and beautiful. It was only about 6 degrees out, so we bundled up and got to walking. Elliott almost died, and did not handle the walk well. But, Emma seemed to enjoy it, and John and I liked it as well. It was a fun way to spend a morning. We ate some breakfast at Hy-Vee afterwards to warm up a little. In the afternoon, John and Elliott went ice fishing, while Emma and I went to the gym and just enjoyed an afternoon at home.

On Sunday, we went to church, and then we brought the kids to the Midco for a Boga Board lesson. Basically, it was a form of yoga/exercise on a board that you are balancing on in the water. The kids really enjoyed it. John and I watched the Jacks Championship game on the sidelines while the kids swam (The Jacks beat NSDU by the way and claimed their first ever National Championship Title, it was awesome).

After the swimming, we rushed home to shower and change kids, and then we headed to East Way bowl for our 4-H Christmas Bowling Party. We spent two hours bowling, and then ate supper at Pizza Ranch. It was a fun day, but holy cow, it was tiring.

This past week has been a little on the stressful side. Emma continues to struggle in school, and I sat down with Emma and her teacher, and we hopefully figured out some things to help Emma in school. She did get 100% on her social studies test yesterday, so that was a good sign. Emma had a basketball game on Tuesday night, and her team won. Emma didn't play her best game, but she hustled and played hard, and I was still proud of her.

Yesterday after school, we celebrated a good ending to a bad week with some Juice Stop. I have today off with the kids because it is the end of the second quarter. We have been cleaning, doing some reading and memory work, and just enjoying a quiet day. Pretty soon, we are going to pick up Hannah and Rachel, and go to Midco for some swimming and then they are coming to our house for a sleepover. The kids want to play Nintendo, play outside, and have a movie night tonight with them. They are very excited.

We also got our new kitchen table today!! We ordered it back in September, and it finally arrived today. I really like it, and I hope it's the last kitchen table we ever have to buy. It's an amish, custom made table, and I really like it.

The rest of the weekend is fairly busy. Tomorrow, we have to un-decorate the church, and then I have my work Christmas Party at Vinyl Taco. The kids are going out to Grandma and Grandpa's house so we can go to the Christmas party, and then possibly go downtown. On Sunday, after church, John wants to take me ice fishing, so we will see how that goes.

Here's to the beginning of another year being busy!!