February 2019: Random Moments from the Month

Peter had back to back site visits in areas of Texas and Louisiana where really good King Cake is sold. So, he brought home 2. They were delicious and the kids were so anxious to find the baby! 

 Samantha dresses herself and does not always take suggestions. Socks with sandals was a thing in my day and she is working to bring it back. I did not however have unicorn valentine socks to go with my sandals. 

 We installed this desk space at the top of our stairs. It was so perfect for my studying and paper writing. Peter and I learned a few things in doing it and it sort of makes you want to do more home updates. 

 Peter all dressed up for Camporee- it was a post-apocolyptic theme. Tonkawa Wasteland was the name of the camp. 

 A coworker was gifted a very large can of hot cocoa and knew she would not finish it. I drink a cup of cocoa almost every shift and so she gifted it to me. I was so happy! 

 The Blue and Gold Pack Meeting was a bit more low key and not one person seemed upset by it. Peter is enjoying his role as cub master. 

Arabella did a good job at the tent setting up challenge. 

 School picture day for these two beauties! 

 Fixing the clock in the Relief Society room at church. 

The guy on the far right is Elder Barber (Blake), he served in our ward awhile back. He was a fantastic missionary and it was such a fun surprise to have a random knock on the door and find him and his mom standing there. (I just realized that this was actually over Christmas break but I never saved the picture until February and so here it lands). 

February 2019: Skating Lessons

The girls had been doing lessons on Saturday mornings this school year. We have not been for several weeks due to all sorts of Saturday conflicts but this day in February was an epic one! 

 Samantha finally leveled up to a level 2! She had been working SO hard to get there! She was so proud! 

And Arabella leveled to the Red Class, which means she has class earlier on Saturday and would learn some pretty advanced things. These girls have worked so hard! So proud of them!

February 2019: Sharkarosa Ranch

For Christmas, our Booth cousins gave us a groupon to Sharkarosa Ranch, a wildlife rescue/petting zoo type place. We had been waiting for a weekend that we did not have anything and the weather was good and finally settled for a weekend that we did not have anything. It was super cold, at least for us Texans. 

 We tried so many times to get a good picture of us with the Camels behind us. This one was pretty good and we caught Joseph too. 

Joseph is trying to make his best bear face. 

Some of the animals were totally unwilling to leave their habitat due to the cold- I could not blame them. We glimpsed the bear. The kids want to go again when it is summer time or at least warmer. 

The kids had so much fun feeding the animals and seeing weird things like a zebra/donkey mix (Zedonk), zebra/horse mix (Zorse), a beefalo (cow and buffalo), and a binturong (which gives off the odor of buttered popcorn- really)! 

February 2019: Valentines Day

The problem with blogging so long after an event is you do not remember all of the details. 

Samantha's class had a party and it was so fun to see her loving school and her friends. 

This song makes me smile so big! All of my girls have learned this song over the years and it may seem a bit sacrilegious but I love that they pray before they eat. 

And we ate dinner as a family outside because the weather was wonderful! 

Joseph is always ready to dig and I love that his big old self was right there with his sisters using a small shovel to dig to China. 

I love my family more than they can ever know, and yet someday when my kids have kids of their own I do think they will come to understand. 

February: Valley Ridge School Dance and CALMER

Arabella has the best group of friends! They are giggly, creative, smart, friendly, and inclusive. 

Arabella asked if they could come over after school and play/hang out and then get ready for the annual Valentine's dance at Valley Ridge Elementary. We made it happen and it was a great experience. 

 They all love a few different cooking shows or shows with cooking in them and so we decorated cookies. The sugar added to their level of energy!
They also had fun loving on Frank- they are all obsessed! 

 Arriving at the dance, we met up with a few more friends. 

 Lily had more than one boy that followed her around and wanted to dance with her. 

 Samantha was in heaven hanging out with the big girls. 

 It was a fun night for me too, hanging with my girls and seeing them love their friends and their school. They have a great school with great teachers. I also really enjoy the moms of Arabella's friends which makes it great for me too! 

They gave themselves and acronym: CALMER

Chloe, Arabella, Lauren, Mia, Ella, and Riley

(Pictured above L to R: Arabella, Riley, Mia, Ella, Chloe, Lauren)

February 2019: Hair Pictures

I got a haircut and it took me a few days to find a good way of doing it (the hairstylist always makes it look so good but I struggle to replicate it). Anyhow, I discovered it was really easy to do curly and it looked good. I have really enjoyed this shorter hairstyle. 

 And I tried a few new things on Arabella's hair that was worthy of a photo. I love her long hair and I love that she is willing to let me do her hair in a fancy way now and then. But the fancy hair really does nothing because Arabella has a beauty that comes from within her and it is strong and I hope she always knows it and feels it. 

January 2019- Other Happenings

I tired my hand at making challah bread and this was one of my results. This was a chocolate challah and it was absolutely delicious! And worth all of the work. 

 The above series of pictures was taken during Sunday morning scripture study. As you can see, there are many emotions about this part of our day. But, what I am most grateful for, is that there is never whining. Our kids know that we read the scriptures as a family, we do it almost every day (room for improvement on the parents part), and I am hopeful that their lack of whining is because they are aware of the blessings and spirit it brings into not just our home but their lives as well. 

 In January, I started my master's program. It was a scary step to take but I know it will be worth it. 

(And now, that it is over and I am playing catch up on this blog, it has been such a huge blessing in my life. It was definitely challenging and frustrating at times but I have felt myself grow, stretch, and learn. I have been reminded of my intelligence, creativity, and desire to speak up and make things happen. I am more than just a mom and a nurse, I have the ability to change the world around me, but I need to take action.)

 I ran a race on Saturday morning and it was the coldest race I hope I ever run. Wind chill of less than 20 degrees. It was a good race though. 

 Jon was home sick from school and Samantha loved having someone to hang out with. She kind of stuck right by his side. 

 Samantha had a week to hang out with the classroom stuffed animal (it is the caterpillar, not the giant flamingo). She did all sorts of things with him. 

 It was also Western Day at school and so she was sporting her boots one day for school. 

And, here is the caterpillar and Samantha on her bike. 

January was a good month and a good start to a new year, 2019!