My Birthday!

Is there anything more magical than that one day of the year when you pause and reflect on your own life, growth, blessings and goals?  Birthdays are a wonderful thing, even when you're an adult and your birthday is on a very busy Wednesday.  But my piano students were sweet to celebrate with me!

And I felt very celebrated this year!  My birthday comes just before around the kickoff to spring break so it's a fun time all around!

My high school Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat musical sweatshirt is in constant rotation between me and my girls. It really didn't seem that long ago that I was dancing around in yellow platform heels and floral bellbottoms!

Oh, so many candles. 

Holy smokes these babies spoiled me with my very own first ever LEGO set!  Noah was an excellent teacher (I have never once followed the building instructions before, the kids have never needed my help) and it only took me about four days to fully finish my beautiful floral bouquet.  I think it almost killed the boys to wait that long to finish such a simple set but they were patient with me!

I also enjoyed a fancy hot bath, set up by Emma, 

and lots of sweet notes all around the house- my favorite from Noah said "Don't forget to wash your hands" and from Adam, on the ceiling above my bed, "We Love You!" and from Leah, appreciation for all of the things that I do that generally go unnoticed- "Thanks for Ubering us around!", "You make delicious food!", and "Laney thanks you for feeding her!" 

Ahh, the dream.  Some nights I can't wait any longer for bed and I let all of the babies tuck me into my bed.  They know this is my happy place, made even happier when they are here with me! For a few minutes anyway.... there is no way we can all squeeze in there for long, especially with Laney tap dancing all over us. Still, happy birthday to me!

Laney is Weird

I mean, sure it's a less wobbly than the rocking chair next to it, but what kind of silly and tiny little pup would think to perch on the side table to get a better look out the window?  

Only Laney. 

Auntie Al Came Back!

Auntie Allison came to visit us in February!  It was the highlight of our whole winter. 

And she brought us treats from Grandma, chocolates for Valentine's Day, and lots of love and laughs!

We had all kinds of plans for her visit- dancing and eating and talking and kickboxing 

and mall walking and outdoor walking and baking

and visiting American Gothic!  Not the real one, but this replica in the State Historical Museum was pretty perfect. 

Look at those faces!

We make pretty great scowly Midwestern farmers. 

This was a fun day- and with the snow day the kids ended up having a five day weekend.  A perfect time for a visitor!

We also ate tacos and watched Hamilton and played several of our latest favorite games (Chameleon, Hues and Cues and of course SkyJo), introduced Al to the weird goodness that is Casey's gas station pizza, and all around just loved having her here with us!

Hair train!  Auntie Al knows all kinds of cool hair tricks.

We went on a date downtown!

And when it was time for her to head back to Utah no one wanted to see her go.  Auntie Al always fills our home and our hearts up with love.  Come back soon!  We'll feed you chocolate!

Discovering a Snow Day

  "It's a snow day." 

 Is there anything more magical than those four little words whispered in the dark hours of the morning in the bleak mid-winter?

Valentine's Day!

Our day started out right with the appearance of some beloved chocolates and Chick-fil-a gift cards- 

which were promptly enjoyed within 24 hours. 

Valentine's Day at school gets less and more exciting as the years go by.  Class parties get less exciting- Noah's was great, but Emma's class was especially disappointing as her 5th grade teacher didn't encourage swapping Valentine's and so only three kids even brought any- Adam's school sold carnations for a dollar, which resulted in stories about rejected offerings of love that broke my motherly heart, and Leah witnessed giant boxes of chocolates delivered to squealing girlfriends from bold boyfriends... ahh, young love. 

Daddy brought his girls flowers, so there was a bit of squealing at home, too!

 The best part of Valentine's Day is getting spoiled by the kids at the Kids Café Restaurant.  I love this tradition- date night at home!

Ooh, we are just! so! in! love!

Look at this fancy restaurant!

We scootched our chairs close together and enjoyed conversation and a nice meal at home while the kids took care of everything in the kitchen.  I espeically appreciate hearing just how stressful cooking can be and how tricky it can be to get all of the pieces of the meal on the table at the same time. They are learning!

The kids all work hard to make this night magical for us, but we had an extra fun time after dinner was over playing the shoe game as couples.  Some questions were funny, some were thought provoking, my favorite was "which one of you goes outside of their comfort circle to do things for the other more often?" (the answer was Daddy because he comfort circle smaller than mine) and "which one of you is more likely to eat cookies for breakfast?" (the answer is definitely Mommy!). 

Then we did Adam against Noah- 

and Leah against Emma- 

We got some good laughs and good answers all around.  What a happy way to end a happy day!

First Half of February Happenings

We've taken advantage of the warmer February days in our favorite room in the whole house whenever possible. One Sunday evening we cranked up the heater, bundled up with blankets and watched Face to Face with The Piano Guys.  It was so nice to be 'outside' again, and now, thanks to Jon Schmidt, Adam officially knows how to play the piano upside down. 

Leah and I went to the symphony!  It was incredible, as always, and extra sweet as we saw several  familiar teachers, musicians, and friends there that night. 

Shrek continues to haunt us day and night. 

An another warm-ish day, we took care of the gingerbread houses. 

Adam and Emma wrapped up their second season of archery!

Leah got her drivers license!  She is getting closer and closer to confidently driving by herself. 

There were a lot of windy days this month. 

We have had some crazy visitors in our yard this week- coyotes! One Sunday afternoon they just ambled right across the backyard while we watched with fascination and a bit of fear from inside the house. Laney stayed with us and now has had an escort every time she goes outside.  The coyotes have been howling and 'screaming' at each other in the evening and night and at least half of us have had nightmares about them even though we know they're more nervous about us than we are about them. 

Laney doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. 

Adam, Daddy and I went to the temple!  

And then to visit our friends in their new house. Prom pose on the stairs!

Adam has been staying after school preparing for the Science Bowl- his team took third place at the tournament!

We've had a lot of unseasonably warm (40s and 50s) weather so far this month.  The snow is gone, the snow gear is no longer packed along to school, and I have to keep reminding all of us that winter isn't quite over just yet.  But it sure feels like it is!