February 2012 part 1

Previously I have referred to the toys on Amanda's car seat as her "friends" . I captured her holding the hand of one of her "friends" one day.

A cute random picture of Amanda playing that shows how strong she is getting.There was another multi school race in early February but this time Taylor decided not to participate. The girls played on the playground instead while we waited for the race to begin.Nathan participating in the race (the one wearing all blue)Rehydrating after.Showing he placed #85. I was proud of Nathan for finishing. He had a cramp in his side most of the race and did have to walk a couple times, so he wasn't as pleased with his results.Nathan received his Bear Badge at our pack Blue and Gold Banquet. He is going into the Bear Cave to take on the "Bear" and receive his badge.

One of the scouts is holding up Nathan's shoe that was thrown out of the cave by the "bear".Happy that Nathan survived the "Bear".

Receiving his silver and gold arrows.

Me receiving the Mom award. I do have to say I think the BSA program is smart to recognize the Mom's when the boys receive their big awards.

Amanda's "You talking to me?" pose. :-)Another cute picture on her 4 month birthday.

We went on a family hike on a Saturday after Nathan's 8 am basketball game. We headed to a 3 mile hike at Usery Pass called the Wind Cave Hike.

The girls were done about 1/2 way up so Preston headed back down with them and I continued on the hike with Nathan and his buddy Hayden.

On Valentine's day this year it was also the 100th birthday for the state of Arizona. The kindergarten teachers handed out these temporary tattoos.The morning of Valentine's Day we had waffles with strawberries and cool whip. The kids all got valentine goodie bags.

Preston and I along with Natalie and Amanda went out to lunch and then we headed to the hospital to meet our new Nephew Kael.

He is adorable. Kael is the first boy cousin on Preston's side that shares our last name. So now some pressure is taken off of Nathan to pass on the family name :-).

Rest of January 2012 Activities

Taylor officially stopped sucking her thumb right before Christmas. She has been trying for about a year without luck. We had to wait for her to commit completely to stopping. The kids received personal emails from Santa and he told her that he heard from the elves that she was trying to stop sucking her thumb. That sealed the deal for her and she stopped. She was rewarded with a toy of her choice (ice-cream playdoh shop)
Okay so I am a little embarrassed to admit but I will for journaling. In January Taylor and Natalie got head lice. I am sure you are all scratching your heads right now. My head itches everytime I think about it. This is the stack of bedding/towels etc that I had to wash. We had 2 rounds of it and I had to wash EVERYTHING a couple of times, vacuumed all couches,beds and floors. This is the only time I can honestly say I am grateful my girls have thin hair, it made removing the lice easier.
Natalie did okay for the most part with it all. One of the days I had her wear a shower cap to try to prevent the spread. I knew holding on to the ones from the hotels would come in handy some day.

In between the 2 rounds of lice our washing machine and dryer broke for 10 days. I used different family members the first weekend and then I resorted to traditional methods with Amanda's clothes and a batch of jeans later on. This is my makeshift clothesline in my kitchen.

Natalie became a Sunbeam in January. She is really proud of the fact that she is a Sunbeam now.I took the kids to Skateland on MLK day. It was really crowded but the kids had a lot of fun.

Preston met up with us at the end and took some laps with Natalie.In January Nathan started his winter season basketball games. It is so nice that he can play with the same coach every year with the majority of the same teammates.

Nathan and Taylor do running club at the elementary school. Here they are before their first race on January 26th.The mass of elementary kids that participated from the other elementary schools.Taylor lined up and ready to go.Nathan after the race. He was the 66th boy runner to cross the finish line out of 200 plus.Taylor finished at #228 for the girls.

After the race we headed back to the school for the science/art fair. Nathan's science project was about electromagnetism.

Taylor's project was about the five senses.Taylor's portrait of herself.A couple days later I took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's to play. Preston had been out of town for work for a few days and I needed some adult interaction.

Sunday January 29th was the Articles of Faith Reception. Nathan and Taylor were recognized for memorizing and reciting all 13. They were treated to ice cream sundaes at the end.Then we picked up Preston from the airport later that night. YEAH!!!