Brrrr!

February was cold!  I'm talking record breaking cold.  The ground was snow covered the entire month.  Usually I want it to snow in the winter; the sparkly, white snow might as well cover the ugliness of winter.  But this is taking it a little far! 

Our biggest event of the month was Luke’s birthday.  We celebrated all weekend long!  It started with Luke helping (I use that term lightly) to make his birthday cake.  

 

 

On the Saturday before his birthday, his cousins (and aunt & uncle) came over from Springfield.  That’s really all you need for a party!  But Mono, Papa, and Aunt Jenn came too.  We had macaroni & cheese, Lauren’s chicken (rotisserie chicken), and chocolate Monster Truck cake, just as requested by the birthday boy.  It was a fun afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, his actual birthday, we sang “Happy Birthday” as many times as it took for us to burn the candles down to nubs.  Kate was disappointed that I didn’t have another cake for his “real” birthday so she made her own out of a doughnut (half-eaten, mind you).  

 

Like I said, the weather has really been too cold to play outside but we did manage to bundle up and head out a few times.  Drew’s friend Justin pulled the kids on a sled behind his four-wheeler one afternoon.  The kids had a blast!  I was amazed the kids never once complained about the cold; it was -7!  We lasted about ½ hour, until Ben took a tumble that knocked both his boots off.  His socks were then snow covered so we headed up before he lost his toes!  Good memories!

 

 

 

 

 

The kids attempted sledding on some of the mounds in our yard.  The way they hooted and hollered as they slid down the little “hill” you would’ve thought they were on a roller coaster!

 

 

 

 I let the boys “paint” the snow with colored water.  Luke got a good giggle about the yellow water looking like pee.  Life with boys…I should’ve known when I mixed up yellow that I’d get that reaction.   

 

I got to chaperone Ben’s class on a field trip.  Once again his favorite part was riding the bus!  This time I got to ride with him.  We went to the post office for a behind the scenes look at how mail gets processed.  Then we visited the nursing home.  The kids passed out Valentine’s Day cards, sang a few songs, then colored pictures with the residents.  It is fun to see Ben in action and I love the fact that he loves to have me with him. 

 

 

Here are just a few random snapshots from the last month:

You know it’s has been a long winter when the boys play “tow the car out of the ditch”. 

 

I can’t count how many times Drew scooped our drive this month.  I got this one to prove the Abdominal Camo Man is back!

 

 

We have cabin fever…possibly our worst case yet!  I’m running out of things to do to occupy my kiddos!  We’ve been playing lots of Go Fish.  My kids are fiercely competitive (and not in a good way). 

I just love this picture of Luke!  He has a tutu, a purse, and Monster Jam on the tv...life is good.