February Fun

 February has been such a fun month for us!

At the beginning of February we got some ice that stuck around for a few days. All our activities were canceled for most of the week. Matt ended up having to travel during the mess. Thankfully he was safe and only was gone for one night. 

The kids begged me to take them to our pond on Tuesday, and since I didn't know what time Matt would be back (that's usually his thing to take them out in the cold), I caved and took them, and I'm so glad I did, because we all had a blast. 

They even convinced me to try.

We came home and warmed up by the fire. 

We had so much fun that we went back with the neighbors later that day. Daddy was able to join us this time, yay!

Later that week, Samuel spent the afternoon with the neighbors building snow forts and having snowball fights. He claimed it was the best day ever and wouldn't stop talking about all the fun he had. 

Elisabeth celebrated Sarah's birthday at an Anne of Green Gables Tea Party. It was a super cute party. 

The same afternoon (after Sam's basketball game), the girls went straight to Mackenzie's gymnastics party. They showed off all their tricks at the party. 

Free time at co-op means coloring for these girls. 

When your friend is also your daughter's Sunday School teacher, you get pictures of her during Bible Drills. Elisabeth is blessed with the best Sunday School teachers this year. 

This is what happens when Katherine asks to borrow my phone to play music while she cleans her room. There were also several videos of her as well. 

We were at Hobby Lobby, and she saw this sign and asked to take a picture. She said, "Bubba would love this!"

This girl optimizes her screen time. She watches a show on her kindle while she plays Roblox on the laptop. Making the most of those 60 minutes a day. 

This has been Katheirne's go to hair style lately. A half ponytail bun thing. She asks for it every day. 

We're still in the middle of basketball season, and Samuel improves every game.

These three had the best night at the Daddy Daughter dance. The girls and I shopped for new dresses for the dance, and they each chose their hair style and accessories. They were so excited. 

They are blessed with such a wonderful dad. 

They went to eat at Olive Garden afterward. When they got home, they all three talked about how much fun they had. Elisabeth had a bit of a bummer experience last time she attended, but adding Katherine in the dynamic helped. Her energetic excitement always makes everything more fun. Katherine said, "The Daddy Daughter Dance was a 100." I think that means she loved it. 

Meanwhile, Nathan was at an event at church, so Sam and I had our own date night. We ate at Hideaway, and then he asked if he could teach me how to play Minecraft. He was very patient with me. When I said I was done, instead of continuing to play on his own, he asked if we could play a different game together. Sweet boy. I treasured some rare one on one time with him. 

The kids participated in Super Duper Sunday at church on Super Bowl Sunday. They were supposed to wear their favorite team apparel, and of course they got fun snacks, and came home with a football. 

We invited the Breedens to watch the Super Bowl with us. It was only fitting that Nathan and Liana got to watch it together. They've bonded this year over the Kansas City Chiefs (and the Tuttle Twins and the Keepers of the Lost Cities book series, among other things). 

They all played Spoons during halftime. 

Nathan went all out and decorated and filled balloons with confetti that they popped at each touchdown. Thanks, Chiefs for having the right number of scores for each kid to get to pop one. I'm glad they took us into consideration while they were playing. 

It was another nail biter, but a great ending. Thankfully, these fans didn't go home disappointed. 

Love all these kids! They have so much fun together. 

Funny story- the next morning, Katherine innocently asked, "Mommy, did the Chiefs win last night?" Apparently, she was very invested in the game, ha!

This girl hit a big milestone this month. After four levels of her reading program, nine readers, and two and a half years, she completed her last lesson/story of her program. Until we started homeschooling, teaching her to read was something I never thought I'd do, and while it tried my patience many times, seeing her steady improvement throughout the last couple of years has been rewarding for both of us. 

And now we're starting back at Level 1 with Little Sister, ha! Send some patience my way!

Valentine's Celebrations

Valentine's Day fell on a Tuesday this year which is our busy activity night, so we had our family celebration a few days early. 

Papa Joe joined us this year for our traditional Baugher Family Valentine Dinner. You know, we have traditions in our family for each major holiday, but Valentine's Day always stands out for the kids. Maybe because we do some more unique traditions than the other holidays. I don't know for sure, but I hope my kids will come home from college and expect fondue on Valentines Day :). 

We had cheese fondue for dinner, and we went around the table sharing reasons why we love each other. It was such a sweet time. Barry was tearing up for a lot of it. My favorite was when all three of the big kids said they loved Papa because he always puts their needs ahead of his own. So very true. 

Katherine said she loves that I play games that I don't like with her :). I mean, that is the definition of true love, isn't it?

The kids talked about how they like that their siblings play with them, how Samuel always finishes the projects he starts, how Katherine makes everyone laugh, and how Daddy throws them in the air and tickles them.

Fondue is always a favorite dinner around here. 

After dinner we did our annual scavenger hunt. A couple of years ago, the kids started making one for me and Matt too, and I'm about to have them take over because they did a great job. One clue was mirrored, and we had to hold it up in the mirror. 

That clue led to Samuel's keyboard where Samuel had written a piece of music. The title of the song was "The Hunt." When I read the notes, it spelled out egg, and when I played the note on his keyboard, there was a tiny piece of paper hidden in the keys that said living room- Egg hunt in the living room. They also tried to trick us and hid the item we were looking for. Their creativity was still amazing though even with the trickery. 

Then it was their turn. I stumped them on a couple of clues and they needed some hints. 

We surprised them with a huge gift this Valentine's Day. 

They've all been saving their money for months to buy a VR headset. Papa agreed to contribute to it, and he gave me some money a while ago with instructions to save it until Matt and I had decided they'd earned enough on their own to buy it. We thought Valentine's Day would be a good time to give it to them. They were just a little excited :)

While the headset charged, we enjoyed our dessert for the evening. 

They each tried out the headset for a bit, but it needed to fully charge before they could really play it. 

They were all up early the next morning anxious to play. 

I baked some cookies for our co-op's Valentine party that afternoon.

The kids all had fun decorating Valentine boxes for the party. Their personalities shine through in their boxes. 

This is what happens when Nathan gets up early to play on the VR headset. 

I helped with the party and ran a game station. We played Musical Hearts, and I think all the kids liked it. 

There were also plenty of treats. 

Isn't looking through all the Valentines the best part of any party??

Katherine still wasn't finished with her Valentine celebrations. She had one more party at school. They ate ice cream and played an intense game of Bingo. 

Later that night, she got to have another Valentine's Day party with her American Heritage Girls Troop. Lots of sugar that day!

On Tuesday, Katherine performed her Valentine's Dance for the parents. She is loving dance this year!

 We had a SWEET few days sharing the love.