Girl's Night

Melissa, Little Lady, and I went to go see one of my students in their high school production of Grease.  We decided to make it a full night and go out for dinner beforehand.  We went to Desi Bites, and it was absolutely delicious.  They had Indian street food that we had never tried before.  We were the only people there who weren't Indian, so I knew it was going to be fabulous food.  

The production was one of the best high school shows I've seen.  I was impressed with their depth of talent.  I'm a little surprised you can get away with this show in 2026, but they pulled it off.  On the way out Little Lady commented, "The moral of the story is you should lower your standards to fit in." It made me laugh, because she's not wrong.  That's the message of Grease.  
 

Starry Night

I finished this do.Good Stitches quilt while we watched Lord of the Rings.  I chose loopy lines with stars for the quilting.  I like how the quilt turned out.

Bible

 Little Guy is loving his new Adventure Bible (NIRV).  He asked for marking pencils.  

Snowball

The boys are missing baseball.  They tried playing baseball with the snow.  The results were questionable, but at least it kept them occupied for a while.

No Church

We had a snow storm blow through this weekend.  All activities got cancelled for Saturday, and church was cancelled today.  Poor Joel still had to go into the hospital while the rest of us hunkered in.  We played our new game from Christmas.  It's definitely a good one.  It's kind of a combination of Jaipur and Splendor.  

We also started a Lord of the Rings Trilogy Marathon.

Honors Orchestra

Little Lady had the opportunity to participate in an Honors Orchestra for the school district.  It was fun to hear her play on this very frigid evening.

Not the Heartiest of Fellows

 I have a couple of sons who help reinforce the notion of "man flu," and my youngest may just take home the prize for being the most overly dramatic when sick.  He stayed home from school, because he wasn't feeling well, and I'm pretty sure he was convinced he was dying.  Here he is laying on top of the heating vent with a heating pad and his robe.  I'll let you know if he survives.  

KC Restaurant Week

 We look forward to Restaurant Week every year.  It technically lasts for 10 days with two full weekends.  It's a wonderful way to be with friends and try new places.  Two new fun finds were Los Gallitos in Shawnee, LaPez in Leawood, and Brown & Loe downtown in the River Market.  Joel and I also went back to a personal favorite, Los Piropos, an Argentine Steakhouse.  

Best appetizer was the hush puppies from Brown & Loe.  Best main course was the smothered pork chop from Piropos, and best dessert was a tie between the churro cheesecake and horchata cake from LaPez. 

The most notable worst dish was Rebecca's ramen from Jinya.  The broth was actually burnt.  I could smell it from across the table.  I've never seen anything like that before, and they were also missing half the items off the restaurant week menu.  That was the only miss of the week. It was still so fun to be with Rebecca.   I loved being with friends this week.

No Substitutes

 BB's school play opened tonight.  It was set up a little odd, so that parts were split by scene instead of whole play, but we still liked seeing BB on stage.  Little Guy was maybe a little less enthused.

The funniest/saddest part of the evening was his biography.  He thanked Natali, but she broke up with him a week before opening night.  It's a good reminder to only thank permanent fixtures in your life and not flaky girls.   

Quilt Cuteness

 Kai may be the cutest baby ever.  I love when the quilts I make are loved and used.

Comings and Goings

 Little Lady had a comfy night at her church youth group.

Little Man injured his hip over Thanksgiving break. He's been resting it, and now he's doing physical therapy for the next month.  He wasn't a fan of the evaluation shorts, but they were funny enough that he wanted a picture of them.

Little Guy is up to his usual skullduggery, but he's cute, so we keep him.

New Eyewear

 Little Lady is thrilled to have new glasses.  Her eyesight slightly improved and her old glasses fell apart, so it was time.  

3 Kings Day

The kiddos look forward to Día de los Reyes Magos every year.  BB was thrilled because he found both baby Jesus' in the Rosca this year, and he even got one in his Spanish class as well.  The Wise-men always bring the kids a book each year, and we eat Pozole for dinner.  

 

Getting Tall

 Little Man's days as the tallest boy in the family are numbered.  BB is giving him a run for his money, and will most likely be taller than him this year.  

New Year's Eve Festivities

New Year's Eve is our family game day.  We all pick a game to play.  Little Man went with Uno for the second year in a row.  We used the Colombia version.  Little Lady chose Take 5.  BB chose our new game from Christmas: Another Man's Treasure.  Little Guy chose Skyjo.  I chose Ticket to Ride.  Sadly, Joel had to work, so he didn't get to join in with our fun.  

Every year we host the youth from our church for dinner before they all head to the New Year's Eve dance.  The theme for the dance this year was the Roaring 20s.  

While the older 2 were at the dance and afterparties, the younger two boys wanted to play Otrio and have our customary root beer floats.

We're looking forward to a great 2026!