Making No Promises: February 2013

February 26, 2013

Another snow day. These kids with the extra pink cheeks are sunburned from playing in the snow all day.

The blizzard of '13 started sunday evening at six, tapered off for a couple of hours and then dumped non-stop until three in the afternoon on monday. According to our local weatherman, we got 19 inches of snow, amid hurricane-strength winds. Some parts of our yard we can still see the grass, and others have 4-5 foot drifts. Luckily school cancellations were posted on sunday night, so we didn't even have to set our alarms for monday. Even Jeff got a snow day. He was all dressed for work when he got the call that NOBODY was in the ER and he could just stay home. Awesome!

This picture was taken by me, inside, of our new snow hill. I figure there's about four feet of snow in this corner.

This picture was taken by Jeff, who was much funner today than me, and actually went out to play with the kids.

February 24, 2013

The kids rocked out to Band Hero tonight. Ryan's pounding those drums so fast you can hardly see the drumsticks. Very serious business. And since Bailey was having a hard time sharing the drumsticks, we had to give her her own drums.

February 23, 2013

Mad grab for Saturday lunch.

February 22, 2013

The last six months of our time in New Jersey I babysat this cute little boy and his newborn brother every day. I'm pretty sure that I'll never take up babysitting again, but this was the perfect situation. The newborn still slept much of the day and Shelbi and *Leroy would keep each other entertained. Even though he had a tough military dad, Leroy was not above playing house. He even brought his own doll sometimes. I made $200 a week, and thought I was rich.

February 21, 2013

You're welcome, Jeff, for introducing you to digital Phase 10. Now you too can waste too much time on this stupid, addicting game.

February 20, 2013

What the inside of Bailey's cup looks like after snacks. Mmm, yum.

February 19, 2013

Tonight we caught an old episode of Minute to Win It. You can see where I'm going with this, right? The challenge was to get the cookie from your forehead to your mouth by just moving your face. Not easy, especially with crumbs in your eye. It must be said that I was the winner. And by winner, I mean I have the funkiest face muscles.

February 18, 2013

Cuddled up in there, right against the wall, is Ryan. This is how he sleeps every night. I once suggested that since there was so much space left that maybe I could sleep in his bed with him. He didn't like that idea so much.

February 17, 2013

Ahhhh...Sunday afternoon. Home from church, which was Stake Conference that actually ended fifteen minutes early. What makes this even better is the quiet golf tournament that is playing on the t.v. in the background.

February 16, 2013

February 2008

Oh yeah. I guess I don't miss snow that much.

February 15, 2013

Remember this?

Bailey has rediscovered this cupboard full of pitchers and water bottles. She pulls them out multiple times a day and plays "picnic." This game will seriously last thirty minutes to an hour. I have no complaints.

February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

Helium balloons can make even Taco Bell for dinner seem festive.

Cute kids in cute Valentine shirts from Grandma and Grandpa Larson. It's a fun tradition that my kids look forward to every year.

February 13, 2013

I really can't figure out what went wrong with these cupcakes. They came out of the oven looking like this. I specifically remember measuring and adding all of the ingredients correctly. Maybe it was a bad cake mix? Once I slapped some frosting and sprinkles on them, no one was the wiser.

Aren't these cool cupcakes holders? Once when Jeff's mom was visiting I had to take some cupcakes into Sydney's class for her birthday and couldn't figure out an easy way to transport them. The next time she visited, she brought these to me. Very handy!

February 12, 2013

I love today.

It was the kind of day that I could have taken a picture of nearly everything that took place because things were just right. I sat by this window all morning, reading a good book and occasionally looking up to see the snow fall. Bailey rediscovered the kitchen cupboard that holds all the water bottles and plastic pitchers. She had some silly scenario going on in her mind all morning, toting different bottles and pitchers from room to room, babbling and giggling. The laundry got done and the banana bread got baked. Thank you, today, for being lovely.

February 11, 2013

You know what I love about Valentine's Day? It's a rare holiday that hasn't changed much since I was a kid in elementary school. The kids still have class parties and decorate shoeboxes to exchange themed Valentines with cheesy sayings ("May the Force be with you on Valentine's Day!") I suppose I feel nostalgic about it. Here's a Valentine's Day from seven years ago.

February 10, 2013

Love is in the air.

Our evening was spent constructing Valentine's boxes for school parties and writing Valentines cards. Ryan took his "Balance times" cards especially seriously. I told him he could give one to his friends in Primary and he was thrilled. He carefully chose which Star Wars card was appropriate for each of his friends and then meticulously copied their names from the cheat sheet I had written for him. Again, Ryan please be four years old forever.

February 9, 2013

Cruisin' Historic Route 66 on a Saturday night.
(Trust me, there is nothing historic about it.)

February 8, 2013

Tonight the elementary school held a Sock Hop. The kids were excited to dress up and dance the routines they've been learning in Gym and Music. Their enjoyment lasted about fifteen minutes. Sydney danced, Shelbi found some friends to help with at the tattoo booth, and the boys and Bailey complained and wandered and cried.

But the two highlights of the night for me were Ryan's Twist dancing and Erik dancing with *Leia. Leia is in Erik's class. As soon as she saw him come in tonight, she dragged him on to the dance floor and they twisted together. Erik was blushing like crazy. He told me tonight that she's his Valentine.

*Name changed

February 7, 2013

One thing I really like about our house is our back patio. It's large, covered and well lit at night. But it's really hard to like it when it looks like this most of the time. Someday we're going to get a grill and some patio furniture. The kids will just have to find somewhere else to ride Big Wheels and mark up with sidewalk chalk.

February 6, 2013

GRRRRR...Remember this rock wall we paid our landscaper to build a couple of years ago? The same landscaper that I fired for charging us for work he didn't do? It's now falling down. The bigger rocks weigh more than 100 pounds. Can you imagine what would happen if one of the kids were playing by the wall when a rock falls? Jeff started to fix it, but realized after a whole day of working, and little progress, that this isn't a one person job. Now we've got to find another landscaper to re-build the wall. GRRRR...

February 5, 2013

This is the mess of hair that Bailey has every morning. She should be on that Huggies commercial with the babies with crazy morning hair and the song "I Feel Pretty" playing in the background.

February 4, 2013

Time to say goodbye to the bink. This yellow one was Bailey's favorite. She had used it so much that the tip began to tear. That was our signal to just cut it off. It's a great way to wean her off of pacifiers. We didn't actually have to take it away from her. Once she discovered that it didn't "work" any more, she just didn't want it. Although when she tried it, she did ask if we could "fixth it?"

Making No Promises