Marching On

The big news this week is: Sabine got a hair cut! The last (and only other time) she went to the hair cutter's, she just got a trim. But this time we took off quite a bit, she's got a short little bob, and I think it is darling.



She was a little nervous, but as you can see, she was willing to sit in the chair by herself this time (as opposed to on my lap) and watch Nemo on the TV. I think she was unsure about cutting off her hair, especially since Rapunzel, with her long, long hair, is her favorite movie character right now, but combing knots was becoming a battle every morning, so we sold her on the idea of cutting out the part that gets tangled. It worked, and her hair is definitely easier to brush out now. Plus the purple bows that the girl put in Sabine's hair really impressed her.

I also took her to the toy store next door, as a reward after it was all over, and she picked out a new puzzle, so all's well that ends well. She is really into puzzles these days!

She's also really into playing dress-up, so we spent some time in that section of the toy store, too.



And at home her favorite costume is still her witch costume from Halloween. She'll play alone...



With the cat...



And with friends....



In other news, we got a break from all the recent snow, and went to the playground today because it was 70 degrees out!

Sabine's getting more and more comfortable on the big girl swings, and is much better at pumping these days.



It's been a fun, eventful week. We're off to the mountains again this weekend, hopefully the cold will hold out long enough to let our aspiring figure skater practice on the lake once again.

Figurative Drawing

I've all but been holding my breath, I know that usually around this age kids start doing figurative drawing, and I have been so excited to see what Sabine wants to draw. But until just the other day, it's been all scribbles.

Behold, out of nowhere, Spiderman:


(If you look really closely you might be able to read my grocery list through the back. This list will be saved forever.)

I haven't seen anything else since, but now we know it has started.

In other news, it was 60 degrees today, so we were running around in short sleeves to soak up as much sun as possible before the next snowstorm hits!

Because Why Not

We love her so!

Happy Birthday Special Ladies!

A big happy birthday to Nana Lin and Great-Grandmom. We got to talk to Great-Grandmom on the phone, and then celebrated with Nana Lin in person over the weekend, starting with a breakfast out with the whole Kitson side of the family



and then a dinner out with just the grown-ups.





In other news we had a good Mardi Gras, complete with our first King Cake, which we shared with local friends, although we completely forgot to take pictures.



We also had a lovely Valentine's, daddy sent us lucky girls a beautiful bouquet.



And visited with Uncle Eric one last time on his extended stay in Colorado.



Somewhere in there we also tried our hand at bread making.



Success!



We've been staying busy and happy, and wish both Nana and Great-Grandmom a very happy year to come!

xo

White Family Ski Vacation

We just spent a long weekend in the mountains with the White side of the family. Eric and Diana were in town visiting, so we took it as a good excuse to get everyone together.

It started off exceptionally well, with a new pair of butterfly wings from Uncle Eric and Aunt Diana.



We went ice skating on Keystone lake the first night we were there, and I think that was one of the highlights for Sabine. She currently thinks she is going to be an ice skater when she grows up. (We had fun watching the National Championships earlier this month, she's very taken with the sport in general.)





Sabine even skated a little by herself.



And a requisite picture in the tunnel under the highway with Grandpa. The echo was another highlight.



We went hot tubbing several times, Sabine LOVED "cooking" herself.



And Aunt Diana was a good sport and sang many, MANY verses of "Little Bunny Foo-Foo." (They are doing their own signs for "goon" in the picture below.)



The real highlight for us was, of course, the skiing. Sabine spent a full day in ski school. Six and a half hours was way too much, she was exhausted, but overall I think it went well, and she got some great practice in.



Most shockingly, Sabine was not the only one to go to ski school this time!



We got to go out for a nice dinner with the family to celebrate.





And we all worked on puzzles that evening.



And we hit the lake for a final round of ice skating before heading back home on Saturday.





There was also a lunch stop at a family favorite, the Buffalo Bar, in Idaho Springs, on the way back down the mountain.





It was wonderful to be all together, and we are so grateful that everyone is safe and sound and happy. Miss Aunt Diana and Uncle Eric already!

Ski Bunny

It's official. Sabine skis, and we are so proud. (Mommy, in particular, is still giddy.) We had a wonderful long weekend in the mountains with some good friends over Martin Luther King Day, and we packed a lot into 48 hours.



Sabine and her friend E slept upstairs in the loft by themselves. They had a great time playing together, we were really impressed how much time they were able to spend happily without any adult intervetion.



Although there was plenty of hanging around the adults and their boring conversations, too.



We had some good meals



And the older girls really did well with the younger girls

 

Even all watching a movie together.



We managed to get a hike in



Where Sabine and E both practiced jumping off of rocks with Sabine's daddy



and E's daddy




Relaxing in the snow with mommy




as well as in the dirt. That sunshine was welcome!

 But, of course, the highlight of the whole weekend was skiing. Sabine and E took a lesson at the same time. It was a mad scramble getting everyone ready and suited up in the morning, and there were tears and carsickness, and we told ourselves that it would be fine if all they did was play in the snow. Sabine seemed like such a big girl, right up until I sent her off with her instructor. Watching her walk away, I had an overwhelming sense of just how small she still is, and I had to wonder if we had pushed too much.



I didn't have to worry.



She is such a big girl! She did that, over and over, for an hour and fifteen minutes. E's mommy and I were ridiculously proud. (I may have mentioned.) I wish I had some pictures from closer up, but we didn't want to interrupt the lesson. Hopefully we'll have a chance for more pictures soon. In the meantime, we called the whole trip a success.



The girls had a delicious lunch of mac and cheese and M&Ms



And we headed back to the cabin



After a quick rest in the car, we changed clothes and hit the local hot springs.



We all slept well that night! It was a really fantastic weekend, for so many reasons.