February

February usually calls for survival mode. It's still cold, still snowy and we all have a bad case of cabin fever. I always have to tell myself to be positive. I tied to think of things to do that get us out of the house but don't cost a ton of money. We visited the library a few times, and the nursery. Ellie had swim lessons two days a week which was really fun for her. She was in level one and she will have to repeat it because she wasn't very confident with putting her face in the water. We are going to re visit swim lessons in the summer. 

We got a few new windows to replace the old wooden ones. Its so nice to have clear glass to see out to the beautiful mountains and they open!! The old ones were not only hard to open but they have a storm window on the outside. We are excited about letting the breeze blow in this summer. 

Ellie enjoying "don't eat pete" for fhe.

Our spot in the house to thaw out. Catching the afternoon sun is a must.

The winter allows me to sit inside and stare at spots I want to decorate or paint, or walls we want to tear down! Revamped my shelves with stuff we already had around the house. Always nice to refresh things. 

Ellie in her heart shirt for Valentine's Day. She is sitting in front of our "heart chart". We each had a heart and took turns writing things we loved about each other. Ellie loved Lucy's silly faces, and that's about all she could come up with. We love Ellie's jokes, singing and dancing also her art work. 

We had so much snow and then within a week it melted, fast. A lot of people in the neighborhood had flooding. We have a sump pump so we lucked out but the pump was going off constantly for weeks. We got a few wet spots on the opposite side of the house, we'll probably have to replace a few pieces of carpet. But with the snow gone we got outside to play a bit. The girls were happy to be able to see the sandbox again and rediscover their sand toys.

Heart shaped pizza by candle light for Valentine's day dinner. Very Romantic!

Oh Lucy. Your hair....mullet/rat tail. No one else but you could pull it off so well.

Grandpa wrote Ellie a letter asking to be pen pals. Of course I cried while reading it. We've sent a few pictures in the mail, Ellie digs it.

Ellie usually want to help me cook, she helped me cut carrots and potatoes for curry. She didn't eat the curry though. She's also loved watching Master Chef Junior, we might have a future chef on our hands. She just has to start trying more food because there's no way she's going to make it on the show making peanut butter and jelly.

At the end of the month Jared and I got terrible colds. Most likely the flu. We were both so sick for about 2 weeks. Jared stayed home, which was nice to have some help with the kids. With the kids having colds then us we missed about a month of church. So happy to be on the mend just in time for allergy season.

Getting out of the house after being sick and taking a drive to Antelope Island. We have a state parks pass this year so I think we will be going there a ton. 

Ellie has taken her art up a notch lately. She sat down, traced her dinosaur then began to paint and this was the result. Her attention to detail impressed me. She has become more focused in staying in the lines while coloring. I love watching her creativity develop. She is definitely inheriting our artistic abilities.