February 2012

Ah, February, the month of LOVE! Here are some of the things we loved about February.

CARS!

We have quite the extensive collection of Disney's Cars. A whole basket full. The kids had dumped them out and were lining them up when someone (moi?) suggested that they line them up like a rainbow. This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but they had fun doing it.

Their was mass destruction afterward. (I was trying to figure out who took this picture. I'm on the couch and Kannon is walking. I think we didn't want to take this picture, but Ben was adamant. He used the timer!)

A Snow Day in the Mountains with Extended Family

My sister and her family came over from Sacramento and we came up from Fallon to meet at my other sisters' in Incline Village. We had some lunch and visited and then went over to Mt. Rose and did some sledding. We were there for an hour and a half. Enough time for most of us, not quite enough for Ben.

Joshua loved it, too! He was pulling Sarah in the sled.

His poor mittened hands! I wasn't able to find good mittens for him until after this trip. The ones he was wearing got so wet! He ended up wearing two pairs of mittens at once and still had frozen fingers.

Kannon and Sarah

Baking Brownies

I made 8 boxes of brownies for our Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. (I didn't love this about February, but everyone else did!) I cut out each brownie and put powdered sugar on them to look like checkered flags. It was SO time-consuming! And I hate how brownies don't come out of the pan. So I was eating the extra stuff that stuck to the knife or the pan or my fingers. Definitely NOT on the diet! And I didn't even get a picture of the finished product!

Marshmallows!

I had a bag of heart-shaped marshmallows for the month. I also had some mini marshmallows and a bag of regular marshmallows. A couple of times I gave Joshua a marshmallow or two for going potty. I was trying to get him excited about potty-training. That didn't happen. But, he did get excited about marshmallows. And even found his own way into the cupboard!

The Pinewood Derby!

This was Ben's first Pinewood Derby and Kannon was very careful to help him without taking over. It was a fun design and Ben did the painting himself. Kannon tried to figure out the best ways to make it go fast. They really enjoyed working on it together.

Ready to Race!

Ben got 3rd place in his age group. There were about 12-15 boys in that age group, so we felt like it went pretty well.

Ben - 3, Jack C. - 1, Sam R. - 2

DATES!

For my date with Ben, this month, we made slime. We used a Pinterest recipe, putting together, Elmer's glue, water and borax, with a little food coloring. It was "ew!" and "cool"!!

They liked how you could hold it by an end and it would slowly stretch out, longer and longer without breaking.

Dad took Sarah out to dinner. I told him it had to be special. I want him to start now, to teach her how she should be treated on a date. She was so excited to wear a special dress, get her hair fixed up pretty. They picked a restaurant and she made sure Daddy wore his fancy shoes.

Valentine's Day!

I got strep throat on the 13th. Ugh. So, I wasn't doing to good on this day. I did my best, though. I'm sure I made heart pancakes. I tried this heart thing in Sarah's hair; it looked pretty bad by the end of the day.

I also cut out some felt hearts to wear on her uniform buttons. You can kind of see them in this picture we took as we ran out of the house.

I did a few other fun things for the kids throughout the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. Not as many as last year, but I blame that on being sick. We had a few visits to the Valentine's mailbox. I hope they felt loved anyway. They got to have a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's since I didn't feel like cooking! or eating. =(

Sorting.
I tried to engage Joshua a little more this month. We'd gotten into a rut. We'd take the kids to school, go straight to the gym and then he'd eat snacks and watch shows while I showered and browsed the computer or worked. Then, we did lunch, nap and then the kids would come home. So, I got busy and tried to do a few more things with him to help him have a more fulfilling day.

We did sorting! This was fun for him. I didn't know he'd take to it so quickly. Although, I didn't let it go on as long as I had hoped because he soon turned to scattering. We have a bag full of dice and marbles. I liked the idea of using the muffin tin to sort.

The Great Outdoors

Joshua loves to be outside and has struggled with our colder winter weather. He goes out anyway and Any Way. At the beginning of the day when he's still in jammies. With, and without, shoes and/or socks. At the end of the day, when I want him to stay clean after his bath! With a coat or jacket or without. This one was just too adorable to pass up!

FHE

We had a fun Family Home Evening one night. Kannon was in charge. He had me pick up some white powdered donuts when I went to the store. Then he locked us up in a room while he prepared. We got to follow the iron rod ( a rope) around the house. There were obstacles, temptations and even the sound of water close by. The rod led us to the Tree of Life. And the "fruit" was truly delicious. (I was a good girl and didn't eat any - only spiritually this time.)

Just Dance

We had a code for a free game rental from Redbox and I used it to check out Just Dance 3 for the Wii. Kannon says it's not as fun as the one for the Xbox Kinect, but the kids and I had fun trying it out anyway. Ben got really good at some of the songs!