The start of a new year

 

This is one of the many reasons I love my coastal Mississippi home.  Because only here can we jump in the rain in our bathing suits (because it was in the 70's) in January and...

 

Dance and play with Olaf in the snow in the same week.  

When the rest of the country gets an arctic blast, we sometimes get it as well.  Granted, it is not as severe but it still can get cold here.  I was driving Addison to school the morning of the "cold day" and I noticed snow flying in the air in our downtown square.  So of course I could not pass that opportunity up and I pulled over to check it out.  Our sweet town, brought in a snow machine and Olaf for the kids to enjoy the snow!  So fun for Addison...

 

She made a snowball, played with some friends and then told me she was cold and ready to go to school.  Ha!  Enough of this cold stuff, I guess but it was cute.

 

Getting together with my girls, love them.

 

Notice both my dogs kissing Mary Claudia to death, they can always find the one that has a heart for dogs.  

 

Amelia's gifted and talented class has been studying underwater robotics this month. Each group got to design and build an underwater robot and then for the last few weeks, take it to the pool to test it out in different obstacles and tasks.  The above obstacle involves the kids manipulating the robot to slide the red ring across each bar.  I cannot even fathom controlling that thing, or designing it, or even dreaming about it.  

Love these kids brains.

 

 

Amelia got another awesome opportunity in January.  She and the rest of her youth group went to Twin Lakes camp up in Jackson for the "Polar Thang" middle school camp.  And look who went with her!!  Our wonderful and amazing Ashley is now one of the youth leaders as well; so Amelia gets lots of special time with Ashley and her two best friends, Mckenzie and Lizzie.  

 

Rock climbing, games, singing, bible studies, all that great bonding stuff.  She loved every minute.

 

Capped off by doing the "polar plunge" into the lake.  I put it in quotes because I think of a polar plunge as cutting a hole in ice and jumping in water while the air temperature is below zero.  It was like 65 degrees that day although Amelia did say the water was FREEZING!!