February Fun, Part 1

 Our February was packed full this year with robotics tournaments and basketball, and a few other extras thrown in. 

Samuel and Elisabeth took a Biztown class this year that Erica and I taught, and as we were assigning jobs, they participated in mock interviews. They both did really well and gained valuable experience. It was such a cool, real world simulation. 

Katherine's sweet friends Rowan and Quinton invited her to see the Sleeping Beauty ballet in Tulsa. She was so excited to get dressed up and spend the evening with her friends. 

They were such gentlemen and even bought her gifts. 

She had such a fun night even though she said the ballet got really long, ha! I think she was tired by the end. 

For my friend Kelsey's 40th birthday, some friends hosted a 1920s themed murder mystery party. We all had such a fun, silly time dressing up and acting out our roles. I'm always grateful for such a wonderful community of friends.

It's always wild that it can be warm enough in February for a snow cone stand, but these girls did it! These neighborhood friendships are just the best!

For Christmas this year, I gave Katherine a shopping day with mom. We were finally able to redeem it in February, ha! She found such great stuff and not has more than enough clothes and shoes. 

We stopped to refuel with hot chocolate and dessert before more shopping. Spending time with this girl is my favorite. 

Katherine is my last elementary kiddo, and the only one who made a box for valentines this year. She had a whole plan and executed it perfectly for her Valentine's Day roller skating party. 

These boys had a busy February with back to back important FTC tournaments. Their regional tournament was the first week in February- their first competition that included a judging presentation and alliance selection and play off tournament. They were both so excited and so nervous. 

Their awesome tri-fly bot. 

The drive team ready for action. 

They had such a successful day- alliance selection captains, robot design winners, and advancement to state, woo hoo! What a banner year for this first year team. 

The drive team even got interviewed for a YouTube channel. Nathan was starstruck.

While the boys were busy with their tournaments in February, Elisabeth's weekend were full of multiple basketball games. These kids keep us busy!

Elisabeth has developed a love of the sport, made some great friends, and improved so much this basketball season. Watching her play is one of my favorite things. 

The next Saturday which happened to be Valentine's Day we were back at it with an all day robotics meet, and multiple basketball games, whew!

I shuffled back and forth between the robotics tournament and basketball games. Nathan was so excite to compete at state. 

There's no one else I'd rather spend Valentine's Day with, even if we're sitting in a crowded, noisy gym all day long. 

The boys competed great. Their robot game is definitely stronger than their engineering notebook and judging presentation since they're such a young team. 

The boys were disappointed that they didn't win an award at state- they have some things to work on for next season, but they did perform well enough overall to win an slot to advance to another competition. Nathan was relieved that their season wasn't over at the end of that competition. 

In the middle of robotics tournaments and basketball games, we also managed to squeeze in a Daddy Daughter dance for Matt and the girls. It's such a special night that all three of them look forward to each year. I love the intentionality that Matt has with the girls. 

The girls started a conga line that grew and grew. They were so proud of what they started.

Our months always include a high school hangout with our homeschool group. Nathan never turns an invite down. 

Since our Valentine's Day was filled with robotics and basketball, we delayed our family celebration by a day and celebrated Sunday evening. We look forward to our Valentine celebration every year- cheese fondue, a scavenger hunt, and chocolate fondue. 

I sure love these sweet kiddos. We also share reasons why we love each other at dinner. 

The kids shared money and candy for their prize this year. 

After presents it was time for dessert. 

Samuel and Elisabeth are taking a literature based Oklahoma history class this year, and after they studied Will Rogers, they all took a field trip to the Will Rogers museum in Claremore. They learned rope tricks and outdoor games from the time period when he lived. It was a wonderful field trip. The kids learned a lot about his life, and they learned some cool rope tricks.

They had a really cute children's area. I wish I had known about it when the kids were younger. It would have been a great outing for them.

They still had a ball even though they're older. 

Samuel and Elisabeth practiced their rope tricks all week.

I celebrated my 41st birthday in February. It was much more laid back than my 40th, but I still felt very loved by my family. We ate out for dinner and enjoyed my favorite cake for dessert. Katherine made me the sweetest card and bought a gift with her own money. She even asked Papa to order it on his Amazon account, so I wouldn't see it.