February

January was a crazy long month, but February seemed to zip right by! Highlights included- 

Seeing Shucked! And talking about corn, of course. 

Upholding the walking on ice tradition- 

The ice was exceptionally blue this day!

Groundhog Day! This little critter haunts my dreams. 

Just some cute little kids and their cute little piggies- 

enjoying heart-shaped pancakes!

We had very little snow this winter, but there were two ice storms in February that cancelled school and another one that made it awfully tricky to get out of the slick driveway. 

After school pup snuggles are the best. 

Emma got henna at International Night!

And Leah played in the West Des Moines Global Philharmonic!

Nanette's baguette got a photo shoot- 

We went tubing! 

Noah and I had never been before and didn't know what to expect - the first run was a shock to my tailbone but it was so fun! Dad clocked us going almost 40 miles an hour. 

Emma and Noah wrapped up the archery season.

Noah and I went on a field trip to see the Sweetheart Show!

It was a noisy bus ride with lots of scream-singing choir kids!

But Adam's show made it worth it! And we got to see Emma too!

Most days around 3:00 Laney assumes her watchdog position- 

In the winter, some days we just don't want to get out of bed. 

We finally had a big snow day on February 12th! It never really feels like winter until there's snow. 

The yard is extra magical when it's covered in a blanket of white. 

These crazy kids went straight for Suicide Slope this year- 

And lived to tell the tale. 

Back inside we enjoyed boba, 

sorting buttons (a favorite activity from grad school days), 

and puzzling with hot chocolate. The puzzle table has been a staple in the living room this winter. 

Plus a whole lot of Gang Beast screaming and laughing. These four know how to have fun!

More pup snuggles, 

homemade pretzel dogs, 

a Mrs. Gobble Gracker sighting!!

And a day of love- I was in a rotten mood on Valentine's Day, and we never did manage to have our kids-prepared Mom and Dad dinner this year. Schedules are just crazy these days. But the overall vibe was still LOVEly. 

Chicken Minis will do that. 

Erm, actually. 

We went ice skating! 

Alas, we didn't go skiing this winter. We had exactly one day off from all the happenings of life this winter, and it turned out to be the day after we were at the ski hill for tubing. But I think we still managed a good bit of outdoor fun this winter! 

And plenty of happy indoor time together too- 

These boys have love designing their own Lego stickers

The girls tried to give Noah a new hairstyle- 

I call this picture, "What it means to have three teenage siblings". Notice Noah outside while the big kids text on their phones. Oof, I am so grateful that screen time is generally at a minimum around here. 

Lunch date with my senior!

Noah and I spied on Adam and Grace- 

A puzzle date!

I think they had fun- 

Emma is one social butterfly!

This picture may be from last summer, but it's a pretty good representation of how we all felt by the end of February. Bring on spring! 

Laney is 6!

No one believes me, because that sounds too old, but our sweet little crumb of puppy goodness turned 6 this January! 

She loves her traditional pup cake and duck face! Look at those big brown eyes!

And we love her!  Laney has five modes- sleep, eat, watchdog, play and zoomies.  

She spends 80% of her day sleeping, 10% eating, 8% acting as the world's fiercest watchdog (got to look out for those leaves tumbling across the front lawn!), and the other 2% evenly split between playing with her squeaky toys and zooming around the room/doing "the ritual" on whatever pillow or blanket or article of clothing she wants to rub her scent on. 

She is the master of the stiff arm- don't get too close- but she also always wants to be within sight and sound of me, or whatever lesser family member happens to be around if I'm unavailable. 

The ritual!

She is the perfect snuggly pup, and while she isn't invited to sleep on everyone's beds (the girls and Dad say no, the boys and I say yes), she will never stop trying to sleep anywhere other than her crate (which we only do occasionally so that she remembers how to sleep there when she's at the pup sitters). 

Her favorite place is right where I put my feet on my bed, in the evening- 

and in the morning- 

She resists going up the basement stairs (they are ridiculously steep steps), so she waits at the bottom and whimpers until she gets a lift. Jason hates carrying her up those stairs since she has no problem with any other stairs in our house, and jumps on and off beds and couches with no problems, but I don't want to encourage any back injury, so she knows that she can turn and hop into my arms when we're going up the stairs together. 

Just look at this beautiful twilight pup- 

She is always so happy to see any of us when we walk in the door, and snuggle up- she is the softest pup in the world- and Adam likes to tease her with one singular piece of kibble when she's asking for dinner. 

She also likes to stick her face in the dirt holes that occasionally pop up in the yard (darn moles), she barks wildly at the Amazon and UPS and mail trucks that go by every day, and she has zero interest in men in general. She is my sweet companion on the rare-ish times that I am in the house by myself. You're never really alone when you've got a pup by your side!

Laney is definitely the worst and the best pup we've ever had, and we tell her that often. But not as often as we tell her that we love her!