March Family Memories - Cousins and Snow!

March felt like it lasted a lifetime. It was cold and we faced some difficult challenges as a family, but we also were so blessed in many ways and I will always be grateful for the memories we made with family as we survived the cold and snow for another month. And now there is warm weather and the hope of spring ahead 💗

We continued to have cousins visit for the first half of March and cherished the time we had with them. We miss them a lot. 

Near the beginning of the month, we had a little birthday party for Melissa.

These boys 💗 Just missing their cousin Kolson!

Grandpa loved to do "Survivor Kids" with the grandkids outside and when they couldn't do that, he would turn on Bugs Bunny cartoons for them.

One of the kids' favorite past times is to turn on dance songs on YouTube.

We also got to spend some time with Ben's cousin's family 💗

Oliver loves to "play" video games with people!

Cousin love! 

We had a great time celebrating Dr. Seuss Day! We had Green Eggs and Ham, a tradition my kids love. We also read a lot of Dr. Seuss books and a biography called Who Was Dr. Suess, which we all really liked. 

I also made the kids "green eggs" out of baking soda and water, and then they got to melt them with vinegar. The kids had fun with it, but it actually made a big mess. 

Then we had cousins over for dinner and made "Cat in the Hat" pancake stacks.

We got so much snow. The chair was our measuring stick until the kids moved it.

The kids got outside quite a bit to play, despite the snow and the freezing weather.

Ashtyn did a lot of crocheting in March, especially with her cousin Lizzy. 

This was a little basket she made on accident and turned out cute. She also made a lot of washcloths and is practicing perfecting those.

I have recently started keeping my vase filled with flowers, often theming them for the current holiday (green for St. Patrick's Day in this one). It is such a simple thing, but it brings me such joy every time I look at it. 

Rylee falling asleep while watching Liberty Kids with her sisters 💗

I took a picture of these papers we did for President's Day as I took them off our bulletin board.

The kids also wanted a picture of their hearts (I put one up each night while they were sleeping in February until Valentine's Day) before we took them down. 

On St. Patrick's Day, we had cousins over. 

Like every year, we watched Riverdance. Oliver loved it!

 

Parker loves "Irish dancing"

We were so lucky to have cousins here to celebrate with us and to be with Grace on her birthday!

These boys have my heart.

We did green waffles for dinner!

Such sweet cousins!

The kids were in heaven because we let them have a sleepover for their last night here in Vernal. They didn't get much sleep, but they did have a lot of fun. 

And we had a slow morning, since no one slept much. 

And the Melissa/Jonathan aspect of this picture is just hilarious.

We had a rest day after cousins left and sure missed them. 

Ashtyn and Parker made themselves a little garden and then were very worried about their plants when it kept snowing afterwards.

Magnet blocks!

Cartwheels!

Ben and I made a five year plan (Ben for making money by making games and me taking steps toward eventually getting a novel published). It has been really good for me and helpful in getting me consistently writing again (I've struggled with it since having Oliver).

Oliver put on one of my shirts and looked so silly in it. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but he looked like a monk.

💗💗

Rylee is really into playing kitchen right now.

Selfie!

Ashtyn and Parker's guitar performance. 

We even got tickets to come in.

Oliver loves wearing Dad's socks!

Oliver reading 💗

I was doing pushups one morning and Oliver would do them with me. 

Then I would get up to take a video of him doing pushups and he would stop and come over to me, pushing me down to do more pushups 😂

The girls dressed Oliver's dog in his clothes and Oliver loved it.

And Parker loves to dress up Oliver too!

Oliver really likes bread and jam!

Oliver sits and sings while playing sometimes and I love it.

Oliver selfies!

Oliver knows I have a stash of breakfast bars in my room and begs for them.

He loves them, just like his mom!

We also discovered this month that Oliver loves Barney and it's adorable.

Raising readers.

I love Rylee's snowmen! She uses a circle stencil.

As part of homeschool, we have been studying the American Revolution. We've all had a lot of fun with it. This was our favorite book so far--it is a historical story based on a female spy and the girls loved it. It has a recipe for cornbread in the back, so we made it as well. All the girls liked it, except for Parker. 

Ben and I recently watched through Leverage (one of our favorite shows) again. We named Parker after a character in the show, so we were telling the kids about it and showed them a couple clips. The kids then started playing Leverage and made Hardison's computer (Hardison is a computer hacker). I love it more than I can say. 

Oliver took down my old alphabet decorations and they got bent and ruined. I finally got knew ones and laminated these ones and I am really happy to have my homeschool wall back again.

I apparently read a lot in March. I think reading is a coping mechanism for me.

I also finished every book on my TBR list (a rare event) and participated in Middle Grade March Readathon, which I always love.

Ben and I did a date where we went to the library and picked out a book for each other to read. He picked out a mystery book that I've never heard of for me and I picked a YA Scifi for him. My mom came out for a few days and babysat for us. She also watched the kids while we went to do sealings at the temple. We loved having two dates in just a few days!

While my mom was here, we went to storytime at the library. Between being sick and having cousins visit, we hadn't been in quite awhile. The kids had a lot of fun and Oliver found a bunch of dog toys to carry around.

I love seeing my kids love books and reading!

After my mom went home, we had a day of snow and then a day of 35 degree weather, which with the sun felt heavenly. It was the perfect way to end the month and we are looking forward to a fun, warm April!