The days seem to be passing quicker and quicker! How is it already March?!
February was full of fun - with one party after another! We did it all - from a birthday breakfast with friends, lunch with friends (twice this month), friends birthday parties, valentine party for moms, kids valentine parties, church RS activity, baby shower, play dates, basketball party for Madi (which we didn't go to cause we just couldn't fit it in), and Elle's 8 is GREAT celebration! It was a busy month!
And Spencer was in trial the entire month of February (home Friday night - Monday night), so the kids and I just did our thing.
On Thursday, February 2nd Grandpa Al invited all of us over for a Groundhogs Day party! We watched Groundhogs Day, ate hot dogs and chilli for dinner, and then had these cute Groundhog desserts made by Aunt Lindsay. It was a fun way to start off the month!
The next day was Pajama day at school. I dropped the girls off early cause Elle had a test to take. I had to snap a picture with them looking so cute fresh out of bed - Madi with her bag of knitting to work on while Elle did her test.
That afternoon we invited Elle Bowen over for an American Girl party! She got her first American girl for her birthday in January and my girls wanted to show her and her doll a good time!
They ate snacks, did a craft, danced, painted their doll's nails . . . it was fun!
I haven't taken any pictures of Madi this basketball season (mostly cause she hasn't been enjoying it much this year), but she had games every Saturday (January and February) and practices Tuesday evenings. Oh how I want to see her love it again! I love watching her hustle out there on the court. She doesn't touch the ball much, but she's got great defense!
Madi finished the whole Harry Potter series at the beginning of the month . . .
and didn't waste any time getting back to the library. She decided to do some studying of the law!
I look forward to seeing the great many things that Madi ends up doing with her life!
We've had TONS of rain this year and lOVE getting to use our umbrellas!
Picking Cal and Macee up from preschool:
Madi and Maddi
Elle and Ella
We LOVE our Nelson friends!
And not to forget James - who pulls up on everything now and started walking along furniture at the beginning of February!
My friend Jessica hosted such a fun Valentine brunch on the 9th. Cal and friends played in one room while us mom's got to eat and chat about life and then had a fun "favorite things" gift exchange at the end!
Valentine Cards arrived in the mail from Gram and Papa on the 8th.
Then a big Valentine package from them arrived the next day!
The kids used their McDonalds gift cards to get happy meals!
Perfect dinner while Dad's away!
The first Monday of the month we wrote notes to each other on hearts - telling all the things we love about each person! This wall made me SO happy! Even Elle commented the next morning how she had lots of good dreams that night - of people telling her how much they love her and how awesome she is! Definitely a tradition we will keep doing!
Valentine Breakfast - smoothies, muffins and fruit!
I had to capture this sweet moment of my kids Facetiming with Gram and Papa. The girls had knitted them each a scarf and mailed for Valentines Day!
One great thing from February was enjoying Sundays! For the past 4 years Sundays were always SO busy - with morning meetings, preparing for primary, etc. I now get to sleep in, relax, and enjoy my family! This particular morning it was cold and rainy so we had a big waffle breakfast and then watched home videos snuggled on the couch together!
Poor James has had one miserable cold after another since December.
One of my favorite things to do Sunday mornings is go for a family walk. The kids don't get as excited as I do about it, but we always have a good time! Especially when I challenge them to climb the big hill with me.
Sunday mornings always fly by so fast though and before we know it, it's time to get ready for church. Elle has been so stubborn lately and pitches a fit about the littlest things. This particular Sunday it was about having NOTHING to wear! Just for the record - her closet is jammed packed with a dozen beautiful dresses and just as many skirts, but all she could cry about was how she had nothing to wear! I finally convinced her to wear this "itchy" dress as she called it. She wasn't happy about it but I guess got a bunch of compliments at church so she was feeling especially pretty after church and posed for a picture (inside and outside)!
My handsome babe in his Sunday best!
My kids got lots of time with Grandpa Al this month which was a HUGE treat! Boppi, Aunt Corinne, Bailey and Allison went out of town for the 4-day weekend, leaving Grandpa Al home alone! I took advantage of his freedom and got him to baby-sit Friday night for me since Spence wasn't going to be back from Orange County until 9pm. It was Anneli Neilson's birthday and a bunch of girls were taking her to dinner. It was nice to be able to get out and know that my kids were having fun being with their Grandpa Al. We actually got to see him 4 days in a row which Madi excitedly commented on when he invited all the kids over for breakfast Monday morning! I found them playing an intense game of checkers when I came to pick them up.
We had some nice days that allowed for fun imaginative play in our backyard!
I love that James is getting included.
Lots and lots of play dates in February!
Mail from cousin Porter!
Cal wanted to match James. This was what we came up with:
James waving to all the kids on the playground while waiting for Cal to get out of school.
Morning computer time for Cal - he's really gotten into reading and writing his words lately. He writes me notes all the time - always with a picture of the 2 of us.
I let him have 20 -30 minutes on Starfall every morning. Here he's reading the word . . .
then writing it before one of the letters change to make a new word.
A rainy Friday morning with no school put us at Chuck-E-Cheese. It was a reward for super responsible baby-sitters while I attended a RS parenting class put on by the Wildes the night before. The kids were fabulous and totally deserved a fun outing.
We also hit up Costco in the pouring, windy rain! It was totally crazy and we all got a good laugh. Then I let them watch a movie while James' napped. Mama needed a break!
Morning time with my sweet, almost 5 year old is so precious to me.
And lastly, I took down our Christmas cards at the end of the month. It's always hard for me to say good-bye to all these beautiful faces that make me so happy to see in my kitchen everyday.
