February 2011

In february we finally took down the Christmas decor and decorated for Valentine's day.

Lucy did a little Valentines party at school but I was a little disappointed she didn’t get to bring Valentines for her friends or make a box.  The teacher sent a note home stating they were going to make Valentines at school.  Then I come to find that they assigned a person for each kid to make one Valentine for in class, boys to girls and visa versa!?!  Did it have to be like that!  Boys have cooties!  Anyway, she had a fun day and some kids brought valentines to pass out anyway.  Lucy dressed up like Cinderella one day and had me do her hair just like her (I did my best ;).  Logan dressed up like her prince.  Lucy got the whole families tooth brushes ready one night, she set them up and put toothpaste on them, how thoughtful! :)  She is reading and writing well and doing great in school, we are really proud of her!  She comes home and tells us all about everything that went on so we know all the kids in her class and what goes on, it’s great!  I know all the kids in her class :).

Logan enjoys tying things to other things constantly - for example, he takes his dress-up scarves and bandanas and ties chairs together, he takes Lucy’s headphones and uses it as a tie to bond Lincoln’s toys together.  Just interesting stuff like that, ha ha!  He had fun playing with his friend Isaac this month (they both love superheroes and are a lot alike!)  We took a trip to the museum with some moms from the Branch, they had fun riding the carousel and exploring in the kids discovery place. He also got to go to a Valentine’s party some of the moms in the branch put together.  We made him a “Valenbot” (robot Valentine’s box) for Valentines.   It was a fun time :).  He loves playing with his brother Lincoln although it’s been quite the struggle getting him to play nice with him :(, maybe not on purpose - he is so used to wrestling with Lucy.  It’s a work in progress, as most things!!!

Lincoln enjoyed the Valentine’s party too, he grabbed all the cookies and candy he could find and shoved it in his mouth - he knows how to get what he wants!!!  It is official, he has tasted sugar!  So much for the first birthday cake sugar surprise!  ;)  He is all over the place and is really close to walking - he can stand for a long time and even bounce his knees a little while standing, and crawl up stairs.  He says “mamama” when he wants me, usually if he’s hungry or hurt, and he says “dadada” randomly, nothing on request ;).  But he does love to say “ooh” a lot, sounds like a monkey, it’s really cute!

We've had a ton of snow this winter and it's been terribly cold, but for two days this month it was warm!  It was beautiful!  It felt so great and so Logan, Lincoln and I decided to hang out in the front yard after we picked up Lucy from school.  I asked her to join us and she said “It’s too cold!” and went inside.  A few minutes later she came out and tested the weather then went back inside again.  A few minutes after that she came out in a dress and sandals!  She said she was ready for Summer!  That’s how warm it felt.  It was great.  Too bad it was such a tease though because after those two days it went back to being cold!  It was nice for even the short time though :).  It’s been a long winter and we are anxiously awaiting spring!!!!

I have been busy with the kids, home management ;o, taking pictures ;), and my Relief Society calling at church.  We have a great branch and I am blessed to be able to get to know everyone so well.

Lucy had a week off school so we took a trip to Utica (two hours away), got a hotel there while Cory did some counseling nearby for LDS Family Services.  The kids and I swam at the hotel and then went and picked him up from his session, it was a late night!  The kids had a blast swimming and jumping on the hotel beds.  I forgot how difficult it is to bring an infant to a hotel though, so the night was a little rough, but the kids had fun and that’s really why we did it!  The next day they swam some more and then we drove an hour to Syracuse where we visited some friends who moved to there from here in November of last year, the Malouf’s.  Their daughter, Olivia, was Lucy’s best friend so we hung out quite a bit.  It was a good visit.  We then came home, another late night :).

Cory has been busy with school and work with LDS Family Services.  He has also been playing basketball at the Stake Center with some other men from the branch and another ward on Wednesday nights. 

Here is a recap slideshow of our month... just pause the music on the right sidebar first and enjoy ;).  Since we are so far away from family and friends, this is so you can feel like you are a lot closer - the internet is really a blessing in that way!  We love and miss you all!