2022 :: week 7

February 13

When Lauren and I went to Target last Thursday they were already sold out of Valentines! On February 10th!?! We decided to go the homemade Valentines route because I didn't want to guess and check at various stores around town. Will opted to not exchange Valentines this year so we only had to worry about making Valentines for Lauren and Elliott. For both kids we cut pieces of construction paper into squares. We got out our collection of stickers and Elliott put a sticker on each paper and then signed his name. Then I taped a Starburst on each one. Lauren personalized her Valentines by drawing a simple picture for each classmate. She drew soccer balls for her soccer loving friends, a stack of books for her bookworm friends, etc. Then we taped a few Starburst to each card. I feel like other parents have ruined this holiday for me. After spending $15 on ring pops and stretch pop toys for class gift bags my kids wanted me to spend more money on treats to pass out with their Valentines, and were disappointed that I would only buy one bag of Starbursts. 

February 14

When Luke and Gemma dropped off a Valentine for Miles Monday morning he was thrilled!  

February 15

When we gather to do Come Follow Me, or are all sitting together on the couch, it is almost guaranteed that Elliott and Miles will fight over my lap. I enjoy it more than I would like to admit. As our time with very young kids is winding to a close I am appreciating more than ever the sweet feeling of little bodies on my lap. All our kids are very sweet, but Elliott and Miles are probably the most cuddly. We sometimes joke that if there is two inches of space on the couch between people, Elliott will do his best to wiggle his body into the space. Over the past few months Miles has become increasingly territorial of my lap real estate. I held a baby for a friend a month ago at church and he ran from across the room and yelled, "I'm the baby!" at me. 

 

February 16

The most "exciting" thing to happen to us this week happened on Wednesday. After a busy lunchbreak helping a member of the ward avoid eviction Anthony got word that the bumper was ripped off his parked car. Apparently as a larger car attempted to leave the parking lot, it clipped the bumper and ripped it completely off! He told Anthony it sounded like tinfoil. Eeeks! Our car was towed to a body shop and we are awaiting news as to when it will be repaired. In the meantime we have a rental car, both things being covered by the insurance of the man who did the damage. We feel pretty lucky, all things considered, but it is discouraging that even when the responsible party does all the right things, it is still terribly inconvenient and time consuming to deal with the aftermath.

February 17

We were told we'd get a snowstorm and we got a pretty big one! I was a little dubious when I got the text that school was cancelled when it was 65 degrees and clear, but the schools made the right call. We never put out a ruler, but neighbors reported between 6"-8" of snow. It didn't start snowing until a little before sunrise, but it snowed until lunchtime. I don't remember the last time we had that much snow fall so quickly. We had a pretty quiet family day at home as Anthony didn't have to work either. We played several rounds of One Night Ultimate Werewolf in the morning and sauned in the afternoon. I baked some chocolate mint cookies, which we ate while we watched Olympic figure skating in the evening. It was a very cozy day.

February 18

Friday Anthony had to go back to work, but the kids had another inclement weather day. The Wilsons came over for a bit and more games were played. It was much warmer on Friday and a lot of the snow melted. That evening life was "back to normal," and we were able to go watch Elliott play in his weekly basketball game. 

February 19

When I got home from the gym Saturday morning I was a little confused as to when the Primary Friend to Friend was going to be on. I forgot that the listed time was for the Mountain Time Zone, and so I had the kids re-watch the previous Friend to Friend. Lauren was really enjoying the drawing instruction and decided to keep drawing. She drew this picture of Elliott referencing a picture I took of Elliott earlier in the week. Our kids are much better artists than I ever was.