thawing

hey look, it's an icicle!  that is a good sign.

it means that we are thawing.

the temperatures are up and kids are back at school.

gabrielle's elementary school has a sweet tradition each february.

every year, the kindergarten class offers a 

valentine pony express

for 5 cents

you can send a valentine to any student in the school!

just put the valentine into the class basket

then in the morning, the kindergardeners collect the valentines,

put them in their little satchels,

hop on to their hobby horses and ride around the school with their special deliveries.

the money is then donated to a charity.

gabi will be getting a pink surprise on monday!

                                                   

roxy found a foam sword and has carried it around all day.

i think she is hoping to duel it out with someone.

really roxy, you are taking this protective role just a little too far!

we had our friend mike (left) over for dinner along with caleb and josh.

mike was ben's very first football coach -

ben joined his team when we first arrived in boulder from australia.

ben was in fifth grade.

mike has continued to coach ben all the way up to fairview high school and now

he is moving on and we just wanted to say, "thank you.  you have been a very positive influence

and a huge support for ben.  best of luck in your new pursuits, mike!"

thanks, rox!  you are such a big help after dinner parties.

my car is in the shop getting all fixed up after the fender bender i had a couple of weeks ago.

i miss bianca!

but, for the meanwhile i was given a rental car.  so now i am driving a black mini van.

 a friend commented, 

"instead of being the good girl in the white van, now the bad girl in the black van is on the loose."

i can do that!