My girls....

I can't recall if I've mentioned this or not but I think my girls are pretty awesome. Of course, there are times they drive me absolutely crazy and then there are the times that I just look at them and love them so much I can actually feel my heart growing. I've had some pretty proud mama moments in the past few days and wanted to share.

Yesterday Grace competed in her free throw competition with stellar results. The preliminaries took place a couple of weeks ago with the two top free throwing girls and two top free throwing boys from each of the four 4th grade classes moving on to the finals. Grace and her friend Sadie, were the representatives from 402 and did a great job. Grace looked like an old pro stepping up to the line and tossing up sweet shot after sweet shot. She ended up taking 3rd place out of all the 4th grade girls. Where did my shy, reserved Gracie, who would never in a million years have the confidence to stand in front of her classmates and bleachers full of adoring parents with all eyes on her, go? I'm not sure who was more proud, Grace or her mommy and daddy.

Today was Lily's 3rd of 4 dance classes and once again, I was struck by her sweet little nature, her impeccable manners and her fantastic listening skills. Throughout the 45 minute class, she is so attentive and determined~following the teacher's every move. After class the teacher approached me and inquired as to Lily's age. When I told her she was 3, Miss Becky replied, "She is a very mature three. I hope you continue with classes for her." and handed me a flyer for an upcoming class. Of course, Lily just smiled at Becky with her beautiful little smile and told her, "Have a nice day." oblivious to how absolutely wonderful she is. And then there is Ella. Poor Ella has struggled with a cough, cold and sore throat for about a week with very little complaining. Upon discovery of the strep throat bug that has invaded her, Ella's greatest concern and source of bummer-dom was the fact that she would have to miss school. Bless her heart. Plus, could she be any greater in this brown hat that she loves to wear?

It just never ceases to amaze me that these three little girls~sisters, daughter and best of friends~can have the same biological make-up and the same upbringing and be so incredibly different but still fill me with such love and happiness. I love Grace's analytical, stoic demeanor that hides so well the thoughts and feelings that I know are rolling around in that pretty little head of hers. Ella's determination and highly intense emotions are the essence of Ella and make her unafraid to share with the world what's in her heart. And my little Lily~so fantastically sweet and easy going that when that spunk that resides inside pops out, it catches you off guard.

How do I possibly deserve these three? Today is one of those days when things, circumstances, petty annoyances were at the forefront of my mind~a bill paying snafu, a car that is running at less than 100%, the endless cycle of cleaning the house. And then I took a moment, a much needed moment to stop and think. Watching Lily dance gave me the time to realize the miracles I have been given. Somehow it was decided I was the protector and guardian of these beautiful girls' souls and no checkbook mistake, bad fuel pump or messy room can change that. While every day chores and errands are part of my life, ensuring these little miracles know how meaningful they are to me is my life.

"The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him."~Pablo Casals

Our fun filled weekend.....

Weekends with the Kolbs are nothing if not abounding with fun and excitement and this weekend was no exception. After a hearty lunch on Saturday, Jason and Grace set off on a mission. The mission being selling the final 12 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in order to meet Grace's goal of 200 boxes sold. I wasn't a first hand witness to the struggle but reports back from the front lines were not promising. However, upon return home, Grace walked in triumphant. She took along her secret weapon, Lily and proceeded to knock and coax her way to her goal. Final tally~201. Jason and I are so proud of her determination and willingness to persevere but our pride was nothing compared to the pride she had in herself.

Saturday evening brought the much anticipated shower/bachelorette party for my good friend, Jes. We were dazzled with fun food facts and demonstrations from our Pampered Chef consultant...
and then set off for the often talked about but rarely visited Sioux Falls nightlife. As all parties in attendance are known for our extreme maturity, we opted for a low key evening and had a fabulous time toasting Jes, Jay and their lifelong happiness.

Sunday morning blew in (literally) and along with the snow and wind, brought Valentine's Day and all the trappings that go along with it. Beautiful flowers, treats, a swim suit and spring jacket for me from my lovely and loving family. The girls couldn't wait to check out their treats.... And seemed quite satisfied with our tokens of affection... Church was cancelled due to blowing snow and so we settled in for a day of relaxation and a surprise concert by our one and only, Lily Jane. Please note that while the song she is singing along to is "Jump Jump", the lyrics she has decided on are "Show Show"....

I think it's pretty safe to say we can all be looking for her on the Grammy stage before too long.

Obviously my sweet babboo wasn't going to set me in front of the hot stove on our day of love and when supper time rolled around, where else would we go to celebrate our amour but Fryn' Pan? Who would have guessed that Fryn' Pan serves up a mean prime rib? Well, we would, I guess, as we selected this fine dining establishment as our Valentine's meal last year as well but other than us, who would have guessed?

Our final day of President's Day break brought some good and some not so good. Ella has been struggling with a cough and cold for about a week and Friday a sore throat reared it's ugly head. With no improvement on the horizon, it was off to the clinic for a strep throat test and as expected, it came back positive. Luckily, we caught it, no one else is showing any symptoms and Ella hasn't been feeling terrible. A few doses of Amoxicillin under her belt and she is on the road to recovery.

As a special treat for the girls, I decided a scavenger hunt was in order. Scavenger hunting is one of their most favorite activities of all time and so announcement was met with glee and happy faces... Following the incredibly cryptic clues, they were led to the coat closet where an extravagant prize of a collection of fuzzy posters was awaiting. One would think after all of revelry of this weekend, we would need to slow our roll a little bit but that is just not how we do things around here. More good times are up ahead. This afternoon Grace earned a spot, among only 7 other 4th grade girls, in a free throw shooting competition and we will be there cheering her on. Tonight my highly skilled volleyball team is playing in the championship game and hoping to bring home the championship t-shirts. A couple of days of normalcy and then we are off to conquer St. James for the weekend. Trying to keep with us crazy Kolbs could be seriously hazardous to your health. Seriously, we are rockstars.

Our Annual Valentine's Day mini-vacation....

Yesterday Mr. Kolb and I took advantage of the girls' break from school, his light work load and the upcoming Valentine's Day and loaded up the Kolb party bus for our annual Valentine's Day mini-vacation. Taking the girls to stay at a local hotel for a fun night away has become one of our favorite family traditions. This year we selected the new Springhill Suites and were not disappointed. The room was perfect and we had the pool to ourselves for almost the entire time we used it. The past 24 hours have been spent....

checking in...

settling in....

posing as the most adorable luggage ever... trying to contain our excitement by holding on to each other....

perfecting the swimsuit model pose...

treading slowly together into the somewhat chilly pool...modeling sweet goggles...
jumping into the pool...
playing ball...

goofing around....

sucking down root beer...

enjoying each other's company...

chowing down Godfather's Pizza in the lobby...

being tossed around like rag dolls....

playing hotel in a hotel while sipping on hot chocolate...

checking out looking like world travelers...

pigging out at Red Lobster...

And wondering how I ever got so lucky... Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

Happy Birthday Nanny, Mom, Connie.....

Our lives have been very busy the past few days with school parties, conferences, teacher appreciation events, hot dog feeds and assorted other activities. The next few days look to be pretty full as well as we anticipate one of our favorite outings of the year: our annual Valentine's Day hotel stay. In addition to this mini vacation, I, personally, am looking forward to a rare night out on Saturday celebrating the impending nuptials of my good friend, Jes. The fun just never ends when you are a Kolb.

Because of our unusually full schedule, Jason's mom's birthday passed by yesterday without a shout out from our little birthday singing trio...

It would have been impossible for me to have hand selected a more wonderful, loving, thoughtful, caring and kind mother-in-law. Your patience and love are endless. Your ability to make anyone feel comfortable and welcome is a true gift. Your compassion for others is unequalled. Connie, you are a blessing to Jason, the girls and I. Happy Birthday and we love you.

Lily's Big Day...

After weeks of anticipation, Lily's big day of dance had finally arrived. Luckily Jason was free and was able to chauffeur his little starlet to the studio...Deciding her hot pink tutu may be overkill for her first day on the scene, Lily carefully selected a more demure and understated leotard with pants ensemble and settled in for introductions and directions...
With the formalities out of the way, it was time to pull out the glittered, rattle eggs and bust a move...

Without hesitation or shyness, Lily quickly made a new friend. I believe it was the colorful skirt Lauren wore that drew Lily to her...
Sashaying was the next order of business and Lily showed them how it was done...

Every once in awhile, she gave Jason and I a quick look just to make sure we were still paying attention and were witnessing her awesomeness...

Leaps followed the sashay practice and though Lily could jump over that fake mud puddle with the best of them, the graceful leaping may need some fine tuning...

Check me out Miss Becky, I totally rock...

Lily was a model student. She took turns, volunteered to be a helper and most importantly, listened closely to instruction...

Finally it was time to break out the true ballet moves~the circle arms...

Fortunately Lily has practiced this particular move most of her life and was an old pro...

And was pretty stellar at twirling as well, if I do, as a completely unbiased mama, say so myself...

Stretching, not so much. I guess we will work a little bit on the fine art of stretching...

Class dismissed and this, my friends, is the face of a blissed out, satisfied, beautiful little dancer...
And for those of you who thought this day could not get any better, well, you would be wrong. When we got home, there was a bright red, perfectly round, juicy tomato grown by Miss Thang, herself, waiting to be plucked off the vine. Today was the stuff dreams are made of with a cherry tomato on top.