February Wrap-Up

As I am behind in the blog posting, let me wrap up the month sensitive photos right now:

At school, Conrad did all kinds of heart/love/valentine related projects, including charting. (I love these projects!)

Also, I got to go in and help with his class party--too fun! At my party center, we decorated cookies, ate them and read books. I loved the newness, the excitement, the energy. And, thankfully, the girls were with a friend with little ones around the same age (well, she has a little boy Millie's age) and I didn't at all about them over-running her already toddler proof house.

Thanks to the internets, we made a Countdown to Valentine's Day for FHE and even did half of the activities! It was fun to have the kids glueing and even choosing the activities, and Grace mentioned every day how our "counter is so beeeuuutiful!"

Conrad learned all about George Washington and Lincoln, our 16th President, like the prophet Abraham of old--at least thats what he told his primary class. Did I mention I love these school projects?!? Especially Washington's frilly shirt (not a beard like I first guessed--and offended) and the 3-Cornered Hat.
Our district combined all those one-day holidays in February and a few furlough days and we had the week off from school. So, we headed down south to my mom and dad's, where we hung out, celebrated a bunch of birthdays, and helped Katie and Ryan with their new house by mowing, sweeping, painting, playing fighter plane in the back yard, shop-vac-ing and "water-painting" the sidewalk and driveway. That is a crazy wonderful invention by my mother in-law. Even my 5-year-old smartie pants was more than happy to paint with real paintbrushes, content with just water as paint for over an hour, as a painter-in-training, just like his daddy did when he was a kid. In the end, he asked for dirt to make the paint brown, which my mom traded out for a promise of watercolors the next day. We hope those will come off the driveway. And if not, Katie can always use a scrub brush or bleach...

The rest of the time, I was just trying to survive three active kids, two girls who woke up a lot, and a jumpiness in the middle of the night which caused me to pop out of bed at each squeak, mumble or stir, fearful the kids would wake everyone else in the house. My family was quick to help, but it just wasn't the same as turning them over to Tyler, who was at home working. We're glad to be home, getting back into a routine, not hearing the kids in the night (I don't even hear them crying when we're at home--crazy!), but miss everyone terribly. Con and Grace asked me last night when we'd go back, "maybe next week?" I don't know if its the video games, the Uncle Ryan to play with, the PlayPlace, the walks in the stroller or the "Inka-bink," but our next trip is not soon enough for them.