February 23

My kids amuse me!

I couldn't help, but laugh to myself when I saw the magnet board with this on it.

And here's Ashton's purchases with his paper money from the month. Trix cereal, white bread, batteries, a toy for Calvin, a Skylander for Matthew, and a little toy for himself. I love that kid!

February 22

Today was the last day of the Ephraim Elementary book fair. These are some the books Calvin and Ashton chose. One of my favorite parts of my job is that I can spoil my kids with books. When Ashton was little he said, "We may not have lots of money, but we are book rich." I am so happy my kids love to read and learn new things.

February 21

They LOVE baths! Sophie gets so excited! She loves to kick and splash and Calvin loves to "swim." They also love each other... it makes me so happy!

February 19-20

So... I guess I missed another couple of days. Let's just say I had a book fair going on then. BUT this sums up the first part of that week, for sure! Our piano was delivered! We let Kiersten play it first since she was leaving on her mission soon. Katie played it next. After the rest of us had a turn Katie and Kiersten played and sang songs from Wicked for awhile! I will never grow tired of listening to them sing!

February 18

Stacie came down for the long weekend and Sophie and Haylie were little twiners (gray fleece with pink hearts). I just love these three girls!

February 16 and 17

I love Sophia in her cupcake dress! She has so many cupcake things... blankets, hair bows, a couple of outfits, a couple of pairs of pjs... it is so fun! I think it is perfect since I LOVE gourmet cupcakes. :)

Somehow I missed the 17th... bummer!

February 15

This is what February was for me... Reach for the Stars!! Each week I was either kicking off one, working at the book fair at the end, or doing the paperwork for one. It was a lot of work, but by the end of the month I had $1,800 saved for our Mediterranean cruise in May.

February 14

Wow... I have a month's worth of photos to catch up on! That feels SO overwhelming! It has been a very busy month. :) Here it goes...

February 14... Valentine's Day... was also Sophie's 5th month "birthday." Here she is in her February tutu. She kept putting the toule in her mouth. I think she liked the texture.

For our Valentine's Day date, Jer took me to lunch at one of the only places I could eat (without Sophie getting sick later), Tucanos. It was so fun and delicious. After lunch we went to the Piano Gallery to check out their sale. Our piano was in serious need of tuning and major repairs. It really wasn't functioning well as a piano. After spending a couple of hours in the store (and being prepared to leave without a purchase) we ending up getting a great deal on a beautiful piano. The kids called while we were there to tell us about a different piano sale and were so excited when we told them we had just purchased a new piano! It was definitely my best Valentine's Day ever!

February 13

This was the BUSIEST day! I left my house for Cub Scouts at 3:15, stopped back home for a minute to pick up Katie and Sophie to take Katie to Musical Theater, brought her home an hour early so she could go to her class Utah History program, and then as soon as it was over went straight from the elementary school to the middle school for Matthew's semi-finals basketball game. Matthew, Katie, Sophie Jeremy and I got home after 8:30 pm and they hadn't started their Valentine boxes yet. (Thankfully I had helped Will with his valentines that morning before school and Matthew and Katie did theirs while Ashton and I were at Scouts. Also thankfully, Kiersten had the little boys in bed when we got home.) Although she was a perfect angel during Katie's program and Matthew's game, Sophie was still not feeling well from her immunizations and WOULD NOT sleep after the boxes were done!

 I couldn't get a decent picture because the lighting for the program was weird, but Katie looked adorable and did a great job on her solo. After the program, one of her classmates mom's came up to us and said she sang like an angel and that she could listen to her all day. Sometimes I take it for granted that all our kids can sing pretty good (at least carry a tune most of the time) and that Katie's voice is especially good. Mr. B. also said, "Her voice is amazing. You really, really need to pursue that. You really, really do." I know she is talented... I just don't know what to do. We've thought about putting her in voice lessons, but she is already SO busy with musical theater, technique and piano... I don't know if she would have time to be a kid! We thought about just having her do voice instead of musical theater, but she LOVES the acting, dancing, and socializing in musical theater, just as much as the singing. So... I don't know what to do with her!

 This is probably Mr. B's last year of teaching. He is such a wonderful teacher! I feel very blessed my kids were able to have the same wonderful 4th grade teacher I did.

 Here are some pictures from Matthew's game. They lost by one point in the last 3 seconds of the game. It was such a heart-breaker for his team. All the boys were crying. I really felt for them, but I was also kind of relieved because if he would have won they would of played in the championship game that was  starting at 8:30 pm that night. Does that make me a bad mom!

I bought all kinds of valentines in the morning... sports ones, laffy taffy ones, Disney ones. We also had some angry birds ones left over from last year. But Ashton wanted to make his "more special," so he made homemade ones. He is not one for aesthetics. I tried to convince him to tape his homemade ones onto the cute store bought ones, but he wouldn't. It's kind of embarrassing, but if  you know Ashton it is really cute. I hope the second grade moms don't judge me!

February 12

 Sophie had her 4 month check-up (a month late). She has hit all the developmental milestones that  a 5 month old should have reached, was in the 86% for height and 37% for weight. Katie was a tall baby (and still is tall for her age) too. She got her shots and then a fever... so she was a sad little girl all afternoon and evening, but I managed to catch her sleeping just after we got home from the doctors office.

February 11

Jeremy was holding Sophie so I could exercise and they both crashed. While they were sleeping I gave Calvin some crackers and he offered to share them with me and Will. When I went into Sophie's room I discovered that he tried sharing them with Jer and Sophie too. He is so cute and kind most of the time... I just wish he would obey!

Happy Girl!

Genean Blauer gave me the recipe for some delicious treats! They are gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free. I love them! I am trying to see if a dietary change can make a difference with my fibromyalgia symptoms.

February 10

I love these girls! I am so happy they have each other.

Calvin takes his trains very seriously!

February 9

Matthew had a basketball game first thing this morning. It was the last regular season game. His team made it into the play-offs which start Monday. 

The kids and I got the house cleaned up by lunch. It isn't perfect. The basement needs to be vacuumed, Katie's room is a disaster, the bathrooms need to be scrubbed and the floors need to be mopped. But it is livable. And for today that is GOOD ENOUGH! So, we are having a lazy day. Ashton asked if we could have a "Readasaurus Birthday today." So, we are in our jammies, reading, playing games on iPads/iPods, etc. It was much needed. Maybe we'll play Pit when I finish this post. :)

February 8

Warning: Below is a VERY gross picture, but it was the only one I took today and it was MOMENTOUS! I had to pick up Katie from the church after Activity Days and when I got home all the kids ran up to me and said, "Calvin pooped on the potty! He did it himself! We didn't tell him too!" He has had #1 mastered for over a month, but still didn't have #2 down. I am not declaring victory, yet, but this is definitely a step in the right direction. I took a picture to text to Jeremy, who was, of course delighted and not grossed out.

February 7

 I got this new book with Calvin in mind, but was going to wait until the Reach for the Stars book fair before I gave it to him. Well, he found it, of course! He said, "Look! It's my new book! It's my big new big train book!" So, how could I resist. It is actually pretty interesting.

Sometimes when Jeremy does Insanity, he lets the kids do it with him for the first 20 minutes. If only this picture could capture the smell of sweat and sounds of pain coming out of their mouths. Katie definitely looks the most graceful when they exercise... you can tell she takes dance.

February 5 and February 6

 Yesterday I said Sophie was getting way too big... Well, speaking of WAY too BIG... Tuesday was Matthew's first Boy Scout Troop meeting. Yep, he has left the world of Cub Scouts behind and is an official boy scout. He can't wait to get his Eagle. He is a bit of an overachiever. I am not ready for the planning and paperwork!

 Sophie has discovered how to work this and she LOVES it! It is very handy for me. If she is fed, rested and changed she will play in this for 20-30 minutes while I get something done!

As I was tucking Calvin in he said to me, "Baby Tiger and Zippy are sharing Zippy's pillow." It made me laugh so I had to snap a photo. He is SO funny the way he carries these two around. The stuffing inside them is getting kind of soft... I am worried they aren't going to last as long as he needs them too.

February 4

 I was giving Sophie a bath and Calvin wanted to hop in too. They both LOVE the water!

How cute is she?!? And way too big!

February 3

 Sophie wore this little jacket to church. It is the last time I can squeeze her into it. So sad... the first time I put it on her, she was drowning in it.

Will is such a little jock. My other kids don't really care about sports. Matthew plays football and basketball, but he doesn't LOVE it... it is just something fun to do each season. Will LOVES sports. He loves to practice sports in the backyard with Braxton. He was so excited to watch the SuperBowl. He had to get in costume.

Sophie looked so grown up sitting on Jeremy's lap while he worked on his homework. 

 While Jeremy worked on homework, I spent the evening tabbing our guidebook for our cruise. I marked each city we are visiting with two or three tabs so I could find them easy. On the one hand I CAN NOT wait! Jeremy and I need the time away together. On the other hand, I already get a little homesick for my kids if I think about it too much. And I would really love to lose some serious weight by then.

February 2

I started doing coaching calls again this week. I am learning to be a better coach and this little notebook is part of the process! I am LISTENING and taking notes and that process is helping me not only stay more focused, but also remember what they said the week before so I can hold them accountable. I love learning new techniques.

February 1

This chocolate is dairy-free and gluten-free and very dark and delicious. A little piece a couple of times/day is just what I need. Sophie could smell it through the packaging, grabbed the chocolate bar and shoved it in her mouth. She may look mostly like Jeremy, but she is SO my girl.

She is the SIXTH one of our children to use this walker. Annika Hyer and Evie Cragun also used it. That is a good baby purchase! She isn't quite sure how she feels about it at this point. 

Calvin is too cute at times. I looked out the french doors and saw his walking home from my mom's after preschool. When he saw me a HUGE smile spread across his face and he started jogging. He always wants to be with me... that must mean something. 

January 31

When Sophie was a couple of weeks old I subscribed to a "Tutu a Month" for a three months. So we got tutus in October, November, December. They were so FUN and adorable and can actually fit her for the next couple of years. Then I got the idea of taking her picture in a tutu for each month of this year. Katie figured out how the tutus were made and we thought about making them ourselves, but then I decided making one at a time wouldn't save us that much money, so I upped the subscription until the end of the year. Her four month tutu pictures are a little late, but her they are nevertheless. At some point, maybe when she is 6 months and 12 months, I am going to do a tutu post and put all the cute pictures on there!

Katie has glasses and an eye-patch again! She had gotten her vision up to 20/30, but over the last couple of years it has regressed back to 20/40. The doctor isn't sure it can be improved at this point since it is a neurological issue now. If she doesn't improve then lasik and other surgeries won't help because it isn't an "eye" issue.