We have this giant chalkboard in our master bathroom. I’m talking like two feet by three feet. It has been fun leaving notes to each other. Stephen’s notes usually always bring a smile to me face.
One day he left the following note…
As I was doing Jerrica’s hair in my bathroom she looked up and read the note. Then without hesitation she told me “Dad thinks about you, like I think about the toilet”. I couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. That girl kills me with her funny comments!
February flew by and I need to document all that happened before it is forgotten. I tried downloading pics from my phone to keep with my pics on my computer, and hopefully this year will be more organized!
Ashley had a lot of fun with friends. She is always going to some party and SO badly wants to have a phone of her own to text all of her friends.
She brought Gabby to one of Jerrica’s basketball games and they were “chosen” to keep the clock, maybe a new job for the future.
We kept the kids’ mailboxes stuffed with goodies and notes from the first until Valentine’s Day. One day after school the little girls helped me do origami hearts out of five dollar bills for the mailboxes. I was a little bothered when the kids quickly unfolded them to stick the money in their wallets, but I guess you can’t hand a cashier a fancy origami heart.
We had our annual fancy chocolate fondue party with the kids’ photo books for Valentines. Those books are always a labor of love, but I sure enjoy those sweet faces as they carefully look at each page. I printed a paperback book to send to Jacob in Mexico. Stephen surprised me with an InstaPot and favorite treats.
Lots of trips to Great Wolf Lodge with the kids and their friends. Nathan works there and is always quick to hook us up with passes. He even took his friends one day. Stephen had a member of his team die during February. Stephen had called me from work emotional that this young man had died the night before. We both talked about how quick life can pass by. When I got off the phone I drove to the school with swimsuits and pulled all of my high schoolers out. I told them we were going to go play at Great Wolf. We ended our afternoon with a special treat at a restaurant, but the real treat was spending the day with them!
We saw quite a few movies. I really enjoyed Hidden Figures!
Nathan got an amazing patriarchle blessing. Everyone was crying. The Stake Patriarch said "I have given over 200 blessings and I can say this man is one of the most special that I have been given the privilege to bless.” Oh how we LOVE Nathan! I too think that he is pretty incredible!
We have had a very mild winter, like not much snow at all. However, one day was very frosty and crisp. Everything was white!
Lots of basketball games for the month of February. I will have to highlight a few of my favorite pics in another post. Jerrica’s teacher from last year LOVES Jerrica, like in the way that she still gives her sweet notes and gifts. They are Harry Potter nerds together. Anyway, she usually takes tickets at the door for the basketball games and Jerrica curls right up beside her to help. I almost enjoyed watching them giggle and talk more than I enjoyed watching the games. I would always text Ms. Kane to send Jerrica over to me so that she wouldn’t be bugging her, but she would always beg to let Jerrica stay and keep her company.
The girls had New Beginnings at church with a Wizard of Oz theme. It blows my mind that Ashley will turn 12 this year and be part of Young Women! The big girls also had a fun youth conference at the Broadmoor building during the month of February. I am always grateful for the little uplift that the talks and activities are for my children spiritually.
This month was also filled with ward conferences that kept me busy. It was weird how I longed to be sitting with my own family in the chapel. There is just something about being together as a family, and with mine growing so fast I know my time is ticking.
Also this month, everything broke and stretched our budget a little further than it’s used to. However, there were blessings mixed in with all of it and our outlook changed on certain things. Our old neighbor came to fix our oven. He has an appliance repair business. I took one look at him when he came to fix it and knew that he would die in my house. He has leukemia and his color was so ashen and his weight loss was so unbelievable. He couldn’t walk on his own. We cried together as he talked about probably not making it through the summer. I thought of my problems and it put them right back into perspective.
I love when I’m able to have a treat when the kids get home from school. There is just something about those sweet faces that light up when they see a goodie I made that TOTALLY lights up my heart. I bake cookies and bars, but have been trying a few other treats lately and thought that I would share.
This was a churro Chex mix from the other day. A friend of mine makes goodies for the girls when they have away games. She gave me some and I was sold on the texture and taste. Here is that recipe…
This next one is one that I haven’t personally tried because I really don’t care for peanut butter. However, I have tried finding recipes with peanut butter to help give my kids a little more protein. Kaylee LOVES this treat!
Our last week of FHE on prayer was centered around a treat the Stephen picked up in Denver on his way home. HOT Krispy Kreme’s…. well maybe not too hot.
They were in these cool Power Ranger boxes, which made it even more exciting. I printed off a cut printable to add to our fridge collection on prayer.
We discussed Enos and the verbs that are used in that chapter. We talked about how he prayed and how we should. We shared thoughts and ideas on prayer. I think I have sufficiently inundated them about prayer this month, and you know what…. you can tell that we have talked about prayer just by listening to them in our family prayer.
“Prayer unlocks the powers of heaven in our behalf” – Gordon B Hinckley
The month of February we have been focusing on prayer. One night we pulled out the quote by Corrie Ten Boom to analyze.
We talked with all of the drivers asking them how often they touch and use the steering wheel as they are trying to get to their destination. Then we moved on to the spare tire and asked once again how often that was used. Is it really important to have a spare tire? Of course in an emergency it’s essential however for everyday we MUST have a steering wheel. The steering wheel is what directs and guides us. Yet so often prayer isn’t used like that, but instead in those emergencies of life we pull out a prayer for a plea of help.
After our discussion we headed to the Overdrive Speedway that just opened by the kids’ school. SO much fun!
As we drove home we finished with another discussion of how often they used their spare tire versus the steering while during their race. I challenged them to make their prayers a daily steering wheel guiding them through their days.
