I already posted about the biggest and most important event of our February, Luke's 2nd Birthday and Party, but there were other happenings going on too of course.
The first week, we had a surprise visit from my niece Annelise who was in town with my SIL for a few days and came over with my Mom. The girls loved playing together and Luke held his own as best he could. Audrey also had her rescheduled Toastie Toes (Pajama) Day at school that week since the first one was cancelled due to the snowy weather we had in January. She loved wearing her pink flannel nightgown and slippers and they got to "roast" marshmallows and watch a movie.
And, lest we think we were finished with the snow days, week two of the month had a different plan. The snow starting falling around noon on Tuesday and Audrey's school was cancelled that Wednesday and Friday. David worked from home on Wednesday and Thursday. And by "worked from home", I mean actually worked. For some people that's code for a day off, but not my dedicated hubby. He did take it a little easier on Thursday and we were able to enjoy some family time outside in the snow in between conference calls. It's nice that he gets to avoid the commute, but for the most part, him working from home holds no benefit because of the added headache of me trying to keep the kids away from him and quiet. I tried to be creative this go-round with our snow day activities. We did science experiments, had a pretend trip to the beach in our living room, made s'mores and snow cream, and watched a movie or two. I even brought over a neighborhood teenager that keeps the kids during our small group to entertain them for a few hours one morning so we didn't go completely insane. Still, come Friday, we were out the door and at Chick-fil-A....with the rest of the county.
The end of that snowy week was Valentine's Day. It was very low-key this year. We had a neighbor/friend of Audrey's over that morning for a play date and then took a meal to a friend that afternoon. That evening, we ate a fancy dinner of hot dogs and gave the kids a small gift plus...drumroll, please...tickets to the circus! We went the next day to the Big Apple circus, which is small and not as showy as the Ringling Bros, but also not as expensive and are known for their better treatment of animals. The kids enjoyed watching the acrobats, the juggling, and the horses and their tricks the best. There were clowns (yuck) and a tightrope walker as well. It was a fun family night out complete with a stop at Cici's Pizza on the way home. Life doesn't get much better for a four year old and a two year old than the circus and pizza. For that matter, it was pretty grand night for us too...minus the clowns.
It was also prime consignment sale month. I dropped off my load, which was much smaller than usual since I just did the previous year's season for both kids and not every spring/summer thing they've worn since birth. I shopped the seller's presale and found a ton of cute, cheap outfits for both of them for the warmer weather. (Please oh please oh please come soon and stay, warm weather!)
The other big news of the month was that we started leading a couples' small group for our church on Sunday afternoons. We're studying the book Home Run that our pastor Kevin Myers co-authored with John Maxwell. It's been an interesting experience for us, but a good one. We've never lead together like this, nor have we opened up our home to 14 complete strangers and their children (who stay in the basement with two teenagers we hire to watch them each week)! It's been a big commitment for us - the weekends fly by faster than they usually do - but as with most things you do in serving the church, it's been a cool blessing too.
What else this month? Let's see....Audrey had Donuts with Dad which she was more excited about than Christmas (no, really.) There weren't a whole bunch of home improvement projects in February. I did drive nearly an hour each way to get a bunch of pictures printed from Wolf Camera to update some frames, but other than that, it was low-key DIY-wise. Of course there was a ton of party planning, prep, cleaning, decorating etc. that ate up most of the month. I have no doubt we'll make up for our lack of projects as the weather warms up.
I'm still running a lot and am scheduled to do my third half marathon at the end of March. I think I'm going to cut back after that because the time requirement and toll on my body are both wearing thin, but I guess time will tell.
The kids are doing very well, other than Luke having an ear infection before his birthday and both of them having a nasty cough earlier in the month. It all gets a little fuzzy with the lack of sleep.
Luke's vocabulary, sentence structure, and ability to reason have all sky rocketed in the past couple of months. My absolute hands-down favorite thing he does/says lately is when he gets on to Audrey. I know it's terrible of me, but he's had to listen to her nag him for two years. Now he can give a little back and often does: "NO, Audrey. Dat's RUDE" or "NO, Audrey. You no do dat. Go time out." She gets so stinkin' mad. I have to turn my face away and snicker before intervening.
He still loves tools and "fixing/hammering" things. Of course, as most boys his age, cars and balls are also still at the top of his list. He loves the show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (aka "Tiger Hood") as well as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Elmo stuff. We try to limit viewing time, but if we're out for lunch and then driving home after 12:30 or sitting in carpool line, you'd better believe the DVD player is on to keep him awake. Anything to avoid a missed nap!
He sings a lot and is getting good at remember lyrics. His attention span is getting a little longer, too, so he'll actually sit through a book or two. I'm really trying to do better about reading to him more. We've started going to story time at the library at least every other week which he really enjoys. He sticks close to me and doesn't participate in the songs a whole lot, but he'll run right up to get his activity (bean bag, bubbles, etc.) for the short time and his hand stamped at the end.
Audrey is reading like a champ and devours books. She is also spelling pretty well (there goes that parenting secret code). I've noticed her humor taking a real leap lately. She still makes silly, nonsense jokes and phrases, but she's really understanding and making a lot of puns. She's also fine-tuning her sarcasm and Mama couldn't be more proud.
A few times lately she hasn't been thrilled about going to school, which makes me a little sad. I know it can't always be 100% enjoyable, but I had hoped she wouldn't start feeling that way until at least second grade! I think one of her little friends whom she adored has started making friends with some other girls in the class and isn't as close and kind to Audrey as she once was. It was heartbreaking the first time Audrey brought it up and we had a long talk about it. The other little girl isn't being mean or ugly, I don't think. She's just expanding her circle of friends. I am trying to convince Audrey to do the same and encourage her to make new buddies, but that child is more of a creature of habit than even I am. She would eat yogurt and Honeynut Cheerios for breakfast, a turkey sandwich, pretzels, and strawberries for lunch, cheese and crackers for snack, and one of three things for dinner every day for the rest of her life if I let her! Hopefully she'll learn to branch out in the area of friendships, but as she put it, it'll have to be with the girls because "most boys in my class are quite rude and talk potty talk...even at lunch. I am not pleased with them." Don't let her fool you though. That girl can hold her own in bathroom jokes and thinks any type of gas is hilarious. We're raising a real lady.
The two of them together still alternate between best friends and worst enemies. The sibling bickering can get fierce around here and it's sometimes a race just to see who can yell louder. (I usually win.) Still, they are sweet as sweet can be about 60% of the time, which gets me through the other 40%. Audrey is such a helper and even when Luke begins exerting his independence, as he does quite frequently these days, most of the time she has learned to step back and try to calmly talk him through something while respecting his space. They are quite the dynamo duo when they go off on an adventure together and will sometimes play for periods of up to 15 minutes together peacefully. Small steps of sheer bliss!
So that was our February and our latest happenings. Things change frequently, though, so check back soon!
In the meantime, here are some photo album links in the gallery for you to catch up on:
Happy March and many wishes for an early Spring!
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