I am SO excited to see this month come to a close! The older I get, the more I despise winter. I seriously DO NOT like the cold. In my dreams, we move away to warmth... but I don't see that happening anytime soon. So, we endure and count down the days to temperatures that allow outside play and warm SUN!
Our month started off with our first ever child diagnosis of Strep Throat...
This poor child really knows how to get SUPER sick. She couldn't even keep her eyes open. She also didn't eat or drink anything for 2 straight days...seriously, nothing! I was getting a bit freaked out. She held her mouth kind of open and wouldn't swallow. On day 2 when I took her to the doctor, her breath was the absolute WORST thing I have ever smelled. It literally made me start dry heaving if I even got the slightest whiff. On top of her strep throat diagnosis, she also had scarlet fever!??? What? What era are we living in? I guess it's related to strep throat and manifests itself in a whole body, sand paper, rash. Weird. I have decided that strep throat is not a bad diagnosis because the next day....
She was totally happy and SO much better!!! (Chris came home from work this day puking his guts out! His trax ride home from downtown will go down in the history books as "worst nightmare experience ever! Poor guy!) The rest of our family lucked out and didn't get infected with either of their germs :) Hooray!
Fun with play doh. Some people despise this activity... including my husband. He thinks it's too messy but Ava loves it. I can't tell her no (it's a problem) and, I don't mind a few bits of play doh on the ground after, it sweeps up nicely after it dries out. I love to see this happy face!
I had to ask google what size my bread maker was because I lost the little instruction booklet and it doesn't say on the front?! Recipes vary according to the capacity of your machine. I was told it is a 2 lb capacity. Um... Really? I checked on my bread after about an hour to find this.... I now know to use recipes for 1.5 lb size :)
Bella had her first Volleyball tournament! We were overly excited to finally see them play! Friday and Saturday full of matches. They did great after warming up to each other in a game setting and ended up winning 1st place in their bracket. (I know my child is a giant.. most of the girls on her team are in 6th grade. I love it and hope she keeps sprouting like a weed!) What an awesome weekend! The venue was up in Ogden and SURPRISE, it was a blizzard all weekend. We decided to get a hotel room instead of driving back and forth 4 times. The girls thought that was a great adventure.
I went into sheer panic when Micah (Dr. Mortensen) said Bella would get braces in a week.... I haven't had the girls pictures taken in over 2 years! Slacker. I called Heidi and begged her to take some shots. Best photographer ever! Seriously... talented! I'm so happy. I wish I could have pulled off family pics but couldn't get Chris home from work early enough and what to wear?
Bella's big day of braces came a few days later. I could not stop taking pictures of her, pre braces. Her whole self will be so grown up and changed in 2 years when she gets them off so I really wanted to capture the "before" Bella. I know I have issues. Don't even get me started on how fast my kids are growing up... Tears!
Ta-Da! And here she is. So cute!
The dreaded science project! Bella came up with a great question - "Which fruit will blend the fastest - A banana or a pineapple?" Ha! It's a pineapple in case you're wondering!
Happy Valentines Day! Love my little Valentines SO SO much! I'm so blessed to have these beauties as daughters! Such smart, talented, good hearted, girlie's!
And, my one and only Valentine... Love that man! He is truly my knight in shining armor, my best friend, my soul mate! I woke up to this awesome note which brought me back to my school years :) I'm spoiled and so excited to have a Spa day!
Our traditional Valentines family dinner... I'm so sad I didn't take a picture of the food. I made homemade heart shaped pizza's for each person and of course salad- (seriously easiest dinner and oh so yummy). Everyone got a big grin on their face when I served them their plate of food... but the favorite??? Homemade pecan pie for dessert! We save that one for special occasions.
Cute Quinn and Ava playing at the South Jordan Museum. They have a blast here and could play for hours. The employees, who are all Grandma's, could ease up a bit on their hovering
and rules, but it's still a great time!
My poor middle child is neglected! I need to work on recognizing her more and most of all, just giving this Mya girl the attention she is so desperately seeking. Before I know it, she's going to be a teenager and I'm going to be kicking myself for missing her sweetness! Love her!
Another volleyball tournament! Lucky us! 3rd place overall this time! Great job. I should do better with taking pictures.
How can I not include this photo? Seriously, the love I have for her could just explode! Fun times up at the Mortensen's! Thanks for having us over for dinner and catching up! It's always a such great time hanging out... not sure why we let so much time pass in between gatherings :)
Big celebration at our house for 2 outstanding report cards! Their favorite celebration venue - Menchies! Cake Batter is the flavor of choice... gross :) I really lucked out with these girls and their natural excitement for school and learning (I'm afraid this youngest child is going to give us a run for our money in the school department.) GOOD JOB GIRLS! SO PROUD!
We had Parent/Teacher conferences - both girls received high praises and honor roll status for both academics and attendance. I had to take a picture of Mya with her artwork... She drew her sun into the shape of a football. This child is the boy Chris never got in the athletic/sports department. She is obsessed with football especially, and plays every single day at recess with a few girl friends and all the boys. She is really good at it too!
I mean.... look at her! She was having her own shopping spree while Bella was trying on clothes. I told her I wanted a picture and this is the pose she came up with. She was especially happy about her hand pose :)!!!!!
Well, I have a daughter turning 12 this year which means she got invited to New Beginnings to hear about all the fun she's going to have in Young Women's! She got this cute vinyl saying which is the theme of the year for the youth. Why didn't I get a picture of us that night? Oh, my mind was pre occupied with Volleyball news we received just before the event...more on that later but let's just say, you can't talk about rearranging teams in the middle of the season... it's not going to go over well with
most parents and kids!
I was getting so tired of my long hair... I decided to chop and go darker. I'm happy. I'm not that happy about how old I look though :) I may not be able to wait much longer for botox to become my friend!
And to finish the month off... a few shots of my dressing up, playful, imaginative, sweetheart,
whom I can't get enough of! WHY is she turning 5 in a few weeks???? Breaks my heart!
This pose is awesome!
