March

Some day our kids are going to put together a band and be rockin'! They can constantly be found playing the guitar or beating on pot or pan! 

One night Anthony and I bought Wreck it Ralph for the kids on Amazon and we finished painting our basement. I know it looks like a puky pink but it's actually a dark brown that really makes our basement feel comfy and homey! It only took us a year to get all the walls painted! At this rate, we should have the whole house done in about 6 years! 

March 13th Anthony's parents arrived home from their mission in Australia! It has been so awesome to have them home and to feel complete as a family again! It makes me homesick for my brother and sister but I soon we will all be together again too! 

To do Julia's hair it usually consists of one episode of her choice of cartoon and my working as fast as I can to get all the tangles and snarls! She's getting better about sitting still but we can't go without our Dora the Explorer! (Thankfully she has moved on to old Disney cartoons with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck! My sanity was saved!)

All my family came over to celebrate Peter's 8th birthday and my brother, James, 27th! Naomi had started to crawl around by this time and was keeping us all entertained! 

Grandpa and Jacob are quite the buds! 

Great Grandma Monson brought cupcakes for everyone! This is Peter blowing out his candles! 

James got numbered ones! There's no way that we could fit that many candles on two cupcakes!

Jacob sneaking into daddy's candy!

Peter got the game of Twister for his birthday! It was a hit till we lost the spinner! 

This was the highlight! The game of Battleship!

Too bad the pieces only last a few days!

The big one! 

The first remote control car to enter our home!

Doesn't he look so excited?

Peter was so excited to start scouts! This was his first day! 

One day after the boys had earned up enough money they each bought yo yos from Amazon and they got to paint them and decorate them! 

Matthew and Julia got to do water colors!

Such concentration!

Forgot to rotate this one! Opps!

They tore up our road for almost four months while they replaced pipes and the road top! It was crazy!

The rest are from Peter's friend birthday party! We did a pizza theme!

They did a chef relay where they had to put stuff on and then run to the other end of the room!

We did a balance a ping pong ball on a spoon as well!

Then we broke out the Kinect!

February

February always brings more snow but a little warm temps that turn into low temps later at night. I was so proud of all my boys when they saw a neighbor chipping away at the ice and rushed out to help her! What a great way to show love during the month of LOVE!

My girl! She makes my heart happy with her ability to find the happy in almost anything!

Valentines Day was filled with parties, candy, and sweet cards! Anthony and I gave each of the kids a cup with hearts on it along with these heart shaped bubble wands and balloons with hearts all over them! I think I even threw in a box of conversation hearts! 

This was the Peter and Andrew's gift to their teachers!

And this is what they gave to all their classmates!

I miss the days that you could just send a card with a few conversation hearts in the envelope! Now it seems like it has to be bigger and better! My kids came home from school with treat bags filled with candy from their classmates! CRAZY!

President's Day was spent playing with hot wheels and waiting for Daddy to come home so that we could go sledding. An old tradition! One that might have to change to the Saturday before! 

Daddy finally made it home and we headed for the snow hill! Julia loved sledding...this being the first year that she could really enjoy it!

Matthew wasn't brave enough to go alone but thankfully he has a brave daddy!

Andrew loving the speed!

Climbing up the hill was a feat in of itself! Matthew did pretty well but would get frustrated because it was so slippery that he would slide two steps for every one he took!

Julia took the easy way out and never got out of her sled. She would slide down and then wait for someone to pull her back up! 

The hot cocoa is the best part of any sledding trip!

On the last ride down the hill, Peter and Andrew slide into Matthew who was struggling up the hill and he biffed it hard on the ice! Poor kid! A family movie night filled with air popped popcorn made it feel so much better!

My birthday was the beginning of the February and I was in a foul mood because Anthony and two of my kids got sick canceling all celebrations. My sweet visiting teachers and friends brought me a bouquet of my favorite flowers, which totally made me feel better! 

Family Bowling Day was a hit one lazy February Saturday!

Anthony has headband that goes over his ears that he uses when he snow blows. He usually has another hat on but this time he didn't! He ended up with this!

The boys enjoying days snow piling from the snow blower!

Peter had to write a report in school on his hero and he picked...

his DAD! I thought it pretty awesome and made Anthony feel special!