February

Another special milestone, Claire turned 8 years old.


To celebrate, we treated ourselves to a mother-daughter trip
to a hair salon and then a little thrift store shopping.

Very much a party planner, Claire enjoyed decorating
her Shopkin - themed birthday party.

Yogurt Parfaits, Cinnamon Rolls and Fruit

Playing Shopkin Bingo with the grandparents

"Cookie Cookie" Birthday Dessert

For her birthday gift, we added a few finishing touches to her bedroom.  To make this happen, she spent the night in Henry's bedroom while Joe and I got everything in place.  Then in the morning, she opened her "present".  

Her gift included:

A new comforter, pillow and reading light.  

The supplies needed to make some art to hang above her bed.  She found something she liked on Pinterest, so I thought this would be fun to do together.  

The curtains are set to be hung, but we still need to paint the hardware.  A project for another day.

Also, we did move her desk in, but will wait till the weather warms to paint it.  

And last, but not least, Joe hung her marker/magnet board.  

Some details to finish yet, but overall, she seemed happy with how her room is coming along.

After "opening her gift" and going to church, we picked up her best friend, Alaina, and took a trip to the Children's Museum.

Fun with mirrors at the Museum:

Later that evening, a surprise birthday visit from four deer, a first for us here.

The following weekend, we continued the fun.

Joe and his buddies, Casey and John, participated in 

a Ping Pong  Table Tennis Tournament at a local elementary school.  

After the tournament, we headed to Grand Haven for 

a shared birthday party for Claire and Gracie.

Grandpa and Grandma's gift, an interesting game called "Water, Fire, Trees", 

kind of a mix between Checkers and Rock, Paper, Scissors.   

Grandpa teaches the girls some strategy.

Party Poopers

Moving on from Claire's birthday, another 

fun day in our house - Valentine's Day.

On the left, Henry's pencil arrow Valentines for his class.

On the bottom right, Claire's button Valentines for her class.                                          

On the top right, George's Cafe Vienna mix Valentines for his speech teachers

Treats for class parties - Cupid's Arrows Cheese Sticks and Popcorn Bags.

On a side note, when Henry asked about Cupid's Arrows, I explained that it is just a story about a small angel who shoots arrows at people to help them fall in love. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Well, that's dumb."  Yeah, I guess so.

And to wrap up our month, I just couldn't help myself with this gem of a picture. 

George has been basking in the freedom of taking his clothes off lately.  Time to get this kid potty trained.  Sigh.  

Well, that was our February!  Thanks for reading.