The month of February was a hard one, but we got through and things are looking at lot better now! It's even better that things with Covid are starting to look up, with a light at the end of the tunnel. We are very excited for things to be going back to normal in the next while.
Our Valentine's Day was quiet but really nice. The night before, we had our Valentine's Day dinner. We made pink pancakes (some in the shape of a heart) and had dinner for breakfast. The girls and I made some Valentines leading up to the day, and Saturday night we all made Valentines together as a family for each other. Then we left them at each other's spots at the table for the next morning.
These are the Valentine's we made to send to cousins and give to grandparents. The girls had so much fun tracing their hands, it was a simple activity for me, and Ben appreciated the lack of glitter this year.
This was our Valentine's Dinner (on Valentine's Day, we had family over and ate Sweet and Sour Chicken, so we did this the night before). By the time I took the picture, the heart shaped ones were gone, but it was yummy!
To help the girls make Valentine's for each other and for Ben and I, I simply traced hearts onto a paper and let them color the hearts before helping them cut out the hearts. It was simple, but they loved it!
This was Grandma Dee's Valentine's package for the girls. They especially loved the candy bracelets that they got! After opening hers, Parker ran around the house yelling and singing about how much she loves Grandma Dee. She told me, "I love candy, but I love Grandma Dee even more!"
This was from the primary. Rylee really enjoyed her candy from them! Our sweet neighbors also brought the girls some Valentines and cookies and Melissa and her kids and Cassie and her kids sent Valentines that I didn't get a picture of. We felt so loved!
The girls loved their Valentines! I got them little hearts that had chocolates in them with the Valentines I'd made them. I got Ben jerky and nuts, since he doesn't eat candy and myself some Swedish fish that are sweetened with monk fruit instead of sugar.
We survived the rest of the month, but also had some great moments. Here are our highlights!
Grandpa Danny got a snowmobile near the end of January, so before the snow melted at the beginning of February, he took all the kids for a ride. Parker and Ashtyn loved it! Rylee says she loved it too, but she got really scared.
Since it was starting to warm up (30's instead of below freezing), we did a hot dog roast. We had told Ashtyn we could in January, but never did, so she was especially excited.
Most of our time spent at Danny and Lindi's house was spent inside still. These are some random pieces of a toy collection that Ashtyn found and kept making different things out of.
This is Ashtyn, playing her DS hiding under the blanket lol
Rylee went through a phase where she would take a long time to fall asleep for her nap, or wake up in the middle of her nap and then go back to sleep. I'd have to then wake her up so that she could go to bed, but she usually took awhile to wake up when I did. I loved the snuggles though!
One of the biggest highlights of our month was when Caleb came home! Ben went with his parents to pick him up from the airport and was gone all day. With him gone, the girls and I spent the afternoon cleaning the house and then got pizza and had a picnic movie night together.
The girls were SO excited to see Caleb again. They knew he was coming home, but he didn't get back until after they were in bed. The first thing Rylee asked when she woke up was, "Where is Uncle Caleb?" We had to break it to her that he was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He did come over later that morning though, and Ashtyn got dressed up and did her hair special to see him.
We colored these maps as one of our homeschool activities. Ashtyn especially loved it. She had me look up things to do in each state before coloring it. Red meant she wanted to go there someday. Yellow meant she didn't want to go there.
One thing we did in the evening together one time was bowling. I kept score and Ben was in charge of the cups. The girls then took turns rolling the ball to knock down the cups. The girls had a lot of fun with it and it's definitely something we'll do again in the future!
This was the Friend to Friend that the church put on for the primary kids. I thought it was so well done and the kids loved it! Afterwards, Ashtyn decided she wanted to read the Book of Mormon herself and has started. Below, I shared Parker and Ashtyn's drawings from it.
Parker didn't want to draw what they were drawing, so she drew a picture of Jesus.
This is Ashtyn's drawing of herself praying.
In a Princess in Black book, she fights a monster with a plunger. Since then, we've had a hard time keeping Parker and Rylee from getting our plungers out and "fighting" with them.
We spent lots of time with Uncle Caleb! It's been so fun to see him so often!
We also made Valentine's bookmarks. Parker especially loved making them, though Rylee has carried hers around calling them her cards.
This is Ashtyn working on her math. And Rylee, doing what she usually does during homeschool!
This is a picture Parker drew of Rylee.
Ashtyn and Parker have been best buddies lately (when they're not fighting, of course!). They play Super Mario Bros together on Ashtyn's DS, play pretend, and play outside in the back when it's above 35.
For Chocolate Covered Nut Day, we made homemade chocolate with cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and maple syrup. The girls helped me and then we covered almonds with it. It turned out so yummy!
This was during a Sunday dinner one week. Navy and Rylee were "helping" Grandpa and they were adorable doing it!
Ben has been teaching Ashtyn to play chess and she loves it. That board is a game she was playing against herself. When Ben teased her that she won, she excitedly told him she had, and then told him that she was both people.
Parker has really been working on her letters. She puts in a lot of effort when drawing letters to make them look neat and the way she wants them to.
We've been reading the Princess in Black books together at bedtime in Parker's room on a little couch and it's been fun, but easier.
So there was our month of February! We are glad to be past the coldest part of winter and are looking forward to spring and summer!
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