February

Should I mention New Year's resolutions? Usually by February I'm ready to forget that they even existed and hope no one brings them up. Dessert on Sundays and Wednesday only? Um, sometimes. Reading the Bible every day on track to complete it in a year? Hmm, well, at least I'm caught up, right? Running a half marathon? Not yet, but I'm actually training!

My good friend Sam Klasing is the perfect running buddy. We get out there a few times a week for a good long chat while we put a few, pressure-free miles under our belts. Then on Wednesdays, the incredible (and did I mention pregnant?) Kelly Ludwick leads a few of us mamas in a CrossFit-esque workout in her garage, driveway, or a nearby park too keep us from wasting away to nothing (haha) and build up some muscle. It feels good to set goals and actually keep them...sometimes!

 Here are a few moms outside of Kelly's house after a good workout. Now we're treating ourselves to Starbucks. After we walk there, of course.

 This month I also tried to do more "home cooking" because I'm creating my own cookbook/binder of all the recipes I've actually tried (and liked) and adding pictures of the cooking experience. Siena is a great little helper, but she usually wants to do things like lick the spatula or eat the dough a little prematurely. Still, I like that she enjoys cooking!

Side story about Siena's perception of stay-at-home moms: We were on our way home from somewhere when we told Siena that Shiloh was going to cut Justin's hair that night. She said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a man and get a haircut!" We corrected her that, no, she would never grow up to be a man. She would be a woman. "Oh," she said, "I will grow up to be a woman... and wash dishes!" Well, at least she sounded excited about it!

Here's the little Ms. Childs helping me make potato rolls (a FANTASTIC recipe handed down by Bethany). I'll email it to you if you're interested!

For the pumpkin muffins picture (using someone's attempt to replicate the Starbucks pumpkin bread), Siena insisted on Sofia being in the picture too, so she climbed into my bed with Sofia and her muffin before she'd give me a smile.

French bread wasn't too hard to make, but definitely harder than buying Safeway's $2-made-that-day one. :)

 One nice thing about having TWO kids (and so on) is that people are less expecting of us to travel to see them, so they come to see us.

When Jeremy came to town we BBQed at the Smith's house. I'm pretty sure it was a Saturday and I'm pretty sure we ate dessert...Don't judge. :)

There was also a lot of LOVE in the air this month (particularly around the 14th) so Siena busted out her paints and made a few valentines. If you didn't get one, don't be sad. They weren't mass produced - only a few grandparents and aunts/uncles got them! Grammy's house also hosted the annual "Dateless, Desperate and Decked Out" event that Athletes in Action does to celebrate Valentines Day - and make people who are categorized by the aforementioned title feel less awkward.

Artista.

Sarah wasted no time in joining the DDD party when she saw Apples-to-Apples was being played!

Sofia's first Valentine. ;)

You might not believe this, but Siena used to not like Sam. Really. Nice, gentle, pretty Sam. We couldn't figure it out. Not even bribes of chap stick and candy could buy her affections. Then, after Sofia was born (or somewhere around there) a shift occurred. Siena now LOVES Sam K. And we are all VERY happy about it!

Simultaneous Angry Birds. Embarassing.

February was also replete with sunny days that lent nicely to playing in the park - which we did a lot - until about 4:00 when the mosquitoes would come out in droves and scare us inside. We have a lot of nice parks within walking distance from our house. Ah, Davis.

Bethany, Colson, Anne and Sofia opted to rest on a bench in the Village Homes park while Luke and Zeke tried to put Siena in jail.

 

Perpetrating sheriff and his deputy.

Siena does not like being put in jail.

Romping.

A lot of the time you see Zeke and Siena together they are yelling "No!" or "Mine!" at each others. Still, when you least expect it you might come upon a moment like this where they are holding hands and smiling at each other without having to be told. We think they'll turn out to be good friends someday.

What was the highlight of the month, you might ask? SNOW. Richie called on a Sunday night and asked if Shiloh wanted to go with him in the morning (at 6am!) to collect snow from Tahoe. Shiloh declined in favor of more sleep (surprise, surprise) but Richie, Jack, Jack's brother Ryan, Jeremy Lea and Sean Holleman drove two huge trucks a bit north and returned by 10:30 with SNOW! We didn't get up early but we did contribute three dozen donuts from Fluffy's.

 

 Yard full of snow.

 

 Donuts.

 The snow retrievers

 The support staff who waited patiently for snow to arrive

 Who is ready to play in the snow? (And eat chocolate old fashioned donuts?) Siena!

 Shiloh's other snow bunny.

 Even long after the snow play had ended, Zeke remained, zooming his Lightening McQueen car through the slush.

 Sofia and I stepped inside for a few minutes because she had a big surprise for me. Zoom in on lower back.

 While Shiloh was chatting peacefully and innocently with another dad, Luke was tying him to a tree. (Jail.)

 Luke got a small taste of his own medicine. He didn't like when Jack roped him.

 Payback from the Armstrong duo.

 And he's down for the count!

 Shiloh getting some QT with Coco.

 This month especially, Siena has been "in" to tea parties. All day. Every day. Here we're having tea and scones.

 Here Sam joins us for tea after a run. My favorite part is when Siena asks  you if you like cream in your tea... then pours you some no matter how you've responded. Then she politely asks if you like sugar in your tea. Even if you say no, even if your tea is running over the brim into your saucer, still you will get sugar. Lots of sugar.

 Sofia at 3 months. Squishy nugget! 

 Siena at 3 months. Also squishy!

 

 Sisters in jammy rabbits

 We've been doing some "art" with letters. This day we worked on K. Siena kept wanting to pull the paper kazoo off the paper and play it. Our best made plans...

 A few sunny days led us outside to check out what winter had left.

 Spring is coming to the nectarine!

 February has trouble making up its mind. The very next day was pouring. Stay inside? No way!

 Joy.

 Shiloh's hair-cutting business continues. He's servicing a lot of toddlers these days - and they don't like it!

Now to end, a few randoms of my girls:

 Siena (dressed in her "Cinderella" dress) is relaxing on the tile floor (?) watching videos of herself on the Flip video camera.

 Sofia is starting to grab things!

 And Siena is experimenting with choosing her own clothes!

Happy February, everyone. March is underway...