Daddy Daughter Dance

Last night, Tim and Lauren went to the Daddy Daughter Sweetheart Dance at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines. They went with our friends next door, Lance and Leah. Lauren said her favorite part of the evening was the dancing.

Trent in Spelling Bee

Today Trent competed in the spelling bee hosted by the Knights of Columbus at church. He earned 2nd place among 4th graders and gets to compete at the regional bee on February 22nd. Way to go, Trent!

Jill Turns 40!

To celebrate my birthday, I had a fun girls' night with some friends. My friend Jeanne talked me into doing the splits to show what a 40 yr old can still do! Lauren joined me.

Clothes!

My cousin Amy generously sent us lots of clothes her kids have outgrown. So yesterday was like Christmas at the Gilbert house! Lauren and Claire love their cousin Abby's stylish outfits. Drew learned to say, "Josh," his cousin who sent him the clothes. So today at storytime, he kept pointing to his overalls and saying, "Josh!" The librarian thought that was his name.

Fresh snow!

The forecasts of 1-2 inches of snow underestimated it a bit.  We have over 6 inches now and it's still falling.  Drew and Claire took advantage of the new snow and played in the front yard.  The snow was so deep and fluffy that it made it hard for their little feet to walk around.  Drew didn't mind - he enjoyed a snow cone (minus the cone).

King Cake

Trent's 4th grade class was doing projects about immigration to the U.S. His group studied French immigrants. As part of the project, Trent and I baked a Mardi Gras King Cake, which is a tradition during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We used the recipe in the immigration book from school, which produced a bundt cake. The colors are supposed to be yellow, green, and purple, but we couldn't find purple sprinkles so we had to use blue. The cake has a plastic baby inside, which is supposed to bring good luck to the person who finds it.

Trent's teacher got the slice of cake with the baby. The class enjoyed the cake and had fun with the tradition.

Drew Uses the Potty!!

It was a banner day for the Gilberts! This morning, Drew peed on the potty! And after lunch, he did it again! It's the start of the process, but considering that we have had diapers in the house nonstop since January 1999, it is major progress.

Drew was very happy and proud. He is really excited about the whole deal, though he looks a bit dazed in the photo. Yay!