we wrapped up winter break with a bang... a theatre afternoon for lucy and a legoland day for the girls per their request (really betsy's persistence, but it didn't take much convincing to get everyone on board:) i was sad to see our days together end. with the exception of eloise and betsy's constant cat-fights, i really, really love our time together. 

getting back on track after a break is always an adjustment, and i was afraid lucy was going to completely crash when she got home last night after 2 full days of school followed by 2 full nights of dance with her new ballet schedule in the mix (4-830 wednesday and then 4-730 thursday), but she came home on a high and got right to her homework while sharing all the details of her day. we tucked in a more confident kid last night than had woken up yesterday morning. 

it really is an honor getting to see and guide these girls as they grow. 

xoxo, 

-ivy

hello, new year!

the girls have played with friends, had chill days at home, spent hours rollerblading at skate city and jumping at urban air, and we rang in 2023 fast asleep after our 8pm sparkling beverages, balloons, puzzles and watching new year's specials on tv. this age of not needing to be out with friends 24/7, but full independence is magic and i am so so excited to soak up more of our little family in 2023!

bangs and braids- my faves!

cheers to another year!

xoxo, 

-ivy

c h r i s t m a s 2 k 2 2

we had a full week of kansas city christmas magic... even down to a beautiful snow! 

the girls and i spent a day [like literally 8 hours] walking between crown center and union station. we got cocoas, ice creams, lunch, dinner, did all the fun festive window shopping, and ended up shopping for ourselves, too :) we saw a charlie brown christmas and the girls decided it was way too cold to ice skate... so we did more shopping instead. it was epic and what a fun, fun age they're at!

we finally found my favorite christmas coffee of all time at the roasterie brewing facility... all the grocery stores were completely sold out!

wishing for a frog for christmas :)

in big lucy news, she was moved up in ballet class including being asked to start pre-pointe (separate from ballet levels, apparantely), which has truly been a dream of hers. 

jon and i took the girls for our annual drive to see christmas lights, drink peppermint cocoas and listen to an obnoxious amount of arguing coming from the back of the car...

freeze day! i found the girls in our bed. it was less than zero degrees outside, and they hardly moved for hours...

with a -25 degree wind chill, we snuck away for candy cane sushi rolls and frog shopping. e v e r y w h e r e was sold out on our first attempt-

christmas eve mass was extra special this year with lucy and eloise singing in the children's christmas choir-

and we celebrated christmas with the dandurands and crawfords following mass... fun memories and late bedtimes before santa's visit!

prepping to sew lucy's pointe shoe ribbons <3

visions of sugarplums!

and after 5 different locations, jon finally found 2 frogs in a pair who hid out in our room for a couple of nights before the big reveal christmas morning...

she named her new roommates pickle and cat :)

airpods for lu!

a hatchimal llama which i found on ebay because santa doesn't need to spend $130 on a toy we won't be playing with a month from now. the first hatchimal llama i ordered was defective, but i still spent less on 2 used ones than i would have on 1 new, lolllll.

my boys-

lip balm all over every surface of the house...

and the very first thing lucy did after opening gifts, while wearing her airpods of course, was fill out her new calendar. she filled out every day of dance through march. i love seeing these girls come into their own.

and to all... a goodnight.

xoxo, 

-ivy