Red, Blonde, and Blue

 Matthew got highlights in his hair again, and this time he added blue to the red -- although the only blue they had was kind of dark, so it doesn't show up quite as much.  Still looks good, though!

Chess Club Champ

James has been doing chess club at school (which is apparently a very popular club!), and he won the tournament. He was very pleased!

Swim Team

Matthew did a great job with his middle school swimming team season. (The middle school seasons are short, just a couple of months.)  Each swimmer usually swims in three events, so he was usually part of a relay team, and his coach also had him swim butterfly and breaststroke (and finally at the end of the season he got to do freestyle -- I think she put him on the more difficult ones because he does all the strokes pretty well!)

It was funny that during one of their last home meets, they had the snowshoes on a rack in the background (the gym classes did snowshoeing) -- very Buffalo!

The coaches gave "awards" at the end of the season, and he was Lane Line buddy because he always helped the coaches with the lane lines (the dividers).  

 

More Snow

Plenty of snow around here! Since it was MLK day, the kids did not get a snow day from school. :)

 

Concert

The middle school chorus concert was on Monday (rescheduled from the snow day last week).  Possibly not the greatest idea ever to have a concert in the midst of the Omicron wave, but everyone wore masks and the seating was distanced (every other row blocked off).  The kids did a great job!  It was fun to see them perform.  

 

First Snow Day!

Yesterday was the first snow day of the year!  The kids were very excited, and James's friend slept over (the first sleepover for them!  So of course they were up until midnight or so...)

There wasn't much snow when we woke up in the morning, but by the afternoon we had about 5 to 6 inches, which was enough for sledding and playing outside.  (Matthew instead decided to come out in crocs, which he said was the perfect way to annoy his mother!)  Apparently the airport and downtown Buffalo got around 17 inches.  

 

Springs

Matthew, Mike, and the Sethertons went to Blue Springs on Friday -- they said the springs (72 degrees year round) were not as cold as the pool!
 

Work and Play

The boys helped Grandma add a layer to her retaining wall, and also had time for swimming every day (including night swims and diving contests for Matthew and Seth).

 

Happy New Year!

We had a nice New Year's Eve at home with football and fireworks -- the boys were happy to make their own non-alcoholic concoctions.  :)