February Begins

 Once Feb 1st hit we shifted our focus onto 14 days of love!  We threw up some festive decorations.

 And the Valentine envelopes were tied onto the chairs.  Each morning the kids wake up to a new little surprise, a love note and a little treat or treasure (a note pad, pencil, bouncy ball, stickers, etc).  Daddy has even gotten in on writing notes for the kids which I love.

 I've been trying to make more of an effort to be sure that little WR gets in more craft time.  I honestly love/hate play doh and hadn't gotten it out in oh so long.  WR loved every minute of it.  JA was loving it too. Helped make all those bits and crumbs on the floor after worth it.

 JA made so many awesome dragon creations!  AL even made a couple when she got home from school after seeing his.

 Happiness! (and good exercise for his hand ;)

 More dragons

 This kid loves the envelopes and absolutely loves to tuck little things into his sister's envelope when she is at school. AL was really cute and came home from a birthday party and proceeded to divide up her treat bag treats into the envelopes.  My biggest hope for the envelopes would be that the kids would make an effort to show little acts of love to each other.  Success.

 Had to capture this beauty on our Winter Walk to School Day.  So cold but this was so pretty!

 I have been busy with Cubs each Wednesday night (and missing my assistant leader this past month).  Anyway, after a crazy night with no leaders last min and scrambling to find help I was feeling a bit tired.  When I dropped off a couple kids at my friends house afterwards, she greeted me with a tray of rising cinnamon buns to take home to bake.  Best surprise.  Gotta love having kind friends and neighbors.   My kids loved waking up to them the next morning!

 The kids were so excited to pick out Valentines to give the kids in their class.  JA wasn't a huge fan of actually writing on each one (I may have had to encourage him with a few treats).  Note to self: Make sure the cards aren't so tiny that it makes it hard for him to squeeze his name on them lol

 Last Thursday a massive snow storm rolled in and it seemed like the perfect afternoon to surprise the kids with a little Valentine making after school

 They loved making creations for their Great Granny to be sent in the mail along with ones for their special friends.

 Even Grandma got in on the action (my Dad has been away every week the last 4 weeks so we have enjoyed a bit more Grandma time)

 Lots of love

 WR woke up from his nap to a new pink "cast" and Valentine from his sister

 Ahhhh so much snow and huge snow drifts.  Hard to believe we could see grass a week before.  This was the scene after trudging back from shovelling out my mom's driveway and then finishing ours again.

 AL has had two non stop party weekends back to back  (4 parties total - lucky girl).  She was oh so excited to be invited by two of her friends to a tea party for her and her doll, just for fun.  She insisted that they wear matching outfits.  The party was oh so adorable and fun.

And while she partied (and before too) I shovelled.  I really can't complain because we have been spoiled with lovely non snowy weather this winter but after going out the weekend before my back was a bit sore before I started.  Thankfully T helped and we were able to leave the boys with my mom while AL partied and we got the remaining boxes done quicker (3 hrs total which isn't bad for how much snow we had)!

 We raced from one thing to the next that day.  4 kids in AL's primary were being baptized and AL and I were excited to go.  Here she is with two of her lovely friends.  I am so happy that she has so many wonderful girls her age to grow up with !

 Tomorrow the kids celebrate their 100th day of school!  A pretty big deal.  Amazing how much they have learned in 100 days.  AL's teacher wanted them to create a poster with 100 things in groups of 5's or 10's so thanks to google we came up with this fun idea.

 All done with some glitter to add a bit of sparkle!

 And one last note worthy moment.  Last night marked 3 weeks of wearing his cast and his release.  Thankfully I was able to just unwrap it myself.  This kid needed a mega scrub down after very limited bathing.  His poor arm had several sore spots from where the cast rubbed ouch.   He is loving the freedom and starting to slow use his arm a little bit more.  Hooray for being able to dress him in clothes that fit opposed to giant shirts that fit over his perma bent arm!