The end of February

February 20th

In Noah's preschool, they had some eggs in an incubator and patiently waited for like 2-3 weeks for the chicks to hatch. 

They were so excited about this and Noah would talk about it all the time at home.  

They finally came, but the teacher told me (and other parents) in secret, that the eggs never hatched--something must've been wrong with their incubator, so she had to go out and buy some little baby chicks to replace the lost ones.  Poor baby chicks, but the kids were so excited to see them!

Cute little fluffy things. 

February 21st

 On Feb. 19th, Garrett went and bought a 'new' used car for us.  He had been looking for something for awhile and came across this one and he thought it was a great deal.  We don't want Maggie (or any of the other kids) to learn to drive on the suburban or truck, so we needed a smaller car for them to practice on and run around in.  It was a little early to buy it, but when you find something you like that's a good bargain, I guess you go for it.  

 It's a cute little car and fun to drive.  (It's a Toyota RAV 4)I've been driving it quite a bit since it's just me or just me and Noah instead of driving our gas guzzler around town.  

Anyways, on Saturday, we decided to take Maggie to the movie theater parking lot that is near our house and let her practice--for the first time.  She was pretty nervous, but she did great.  

I can't believe I almost have a driver!!

When Maggie was done, we let Lydia try to drive for a few minutes.  Crazy!

When we got back, we got the rest of the kiddos and walked to our neighborhood park to play for a little bit.

Paige had gotten a styrofoam airplane for her birthday and so she brought it to try it out.  

Sunday, February 22nd

This was the puzzle that I had made for Valentines day that we took camping, but we never worked on it.  So, we did it today after church.  It's fairly small, but cute.  

Tuesday Feb. 24th

Noah and I playing Monster Trucks.  

trying to get the last monster truck to land on top of the pile!

I don't think it made it, but he had fun.

That night was Maggie's last basketball game.  One last pep talk.

Her team mates that were there that night. 

Wednesday Feb. 25th

Paige was selected for Student of the Month.  Here she is waiting to go up on stage with her teacher Mrs. Dow.

Mrs. Dow telling about Paige and why she earned Student of the Month

Paige, Max (the mascot) and Mrs. Dow

This is what they have hanging in the school.  It's what the teacher said about the student.  

Lydia and Bella taking selfies on the bus ride home

Friday February 27th

We had lots of friends over today--not the first time by any means; friends are usually over here a lot.  I love having all my kids' friends over at our house.  I love to watch them play and hear all the excitement of their playing.  I love having a safe place where kids can hang out and have fun.

These are some of Noah's friends--brothers Ethan and Trevor. They are playing Star Wars.

I love this one because they are using their hands and using the Force.  

Noah and Ethan playing with the tool bench and being construction guys.

Noah and Ethan again.

This is Bella's friend Brooklyn.  They were playing school and little Trevor wanted to join them.

And this is Paige and her friend Ella, playing Lego friends.  They've been friends since preschool.

And that was February...

The Rest of January

I just realized that I didn't blog about any of January.  There wasn't much happening this month, so this should be fairly short.  

 January 9th

 Bella and Noah had annual check-ups with their doctor this morning.  Turns out Bella got one shot and Noah had to get 5.  Yikes!  It's so hard to have to put your kids through this--esp. 5 at a time!!  At least we didn't have to go back and do it again though.  I think it's better to get it all done at once.  Now, he's ready for kindergarten.  Anyways, these are his band-aids.  

Poor little scrawny guy!

 These pictures are from some school project that they were doing.  They got with a partner and took pictures of each other and then had to write a paper or something about how they see themselves.  She got to work with her best friend, so they were being silly with their pictures.  

Lydia and Kali

She's so cute!

January 16th

 Another basketball game--Maggie's #30.

This was their final score of the night.  They were pretty excited!

January 21st

Bella reading her homework to me one day after school.

January 27th

Bella built a little fort? out of a new pack of toilet paper.  Fun!

January 29th

Movie night--watching A Dolphin's Tale 2.  They were having a movie night at school and watching this same movie, but we really don't like going to those because it's so uncomfortable and loud; so we just have a movie night at home with our own treats and pillows and blankets.  

January 30th

 Noah's preschool was having pajama day at school.  He was so excited to wear his Darth Vader pj's and his new Batman robe.

 One of the ladies in our ward that we do carpool with is a great storyteller and she volunteered to tell them stories.

 They got to eat pancakes...

and try out and vote on their favorite jams.

Later that afternoon, Jim and Georgia came over to watch our kids for the weekend while Garrett and I went to Washington and stayed at Skamania Lodge to celebrate our anniversary (a little early).  It is a beautiful place right along the Columbia river.

 It was really cold out there!

Us with the lodge behind us.

 Sitting in the main lobby by the fire.  We spent quite a bit of time reading in here.

They had 2 packages of these s'more boxes for us to use.  They have a big ol' fire pit outside where you can roast s'mores.  We never did though.  

January 31st

 In the morning, after getting room service, we went to some local museum, then walked around town for a bit, had lunch at Subway and then came back to read.

 We read a lot--it was so nice!!

 Taking selfies.

 This is the big fire pit outside.

Beautiful, but cold night!

 We didn't realize that they had a nice hot tub.  We didn't bring our suits and were kinda upset about that.  One thing that I didn't like about this place was that they didn't have any kind of movie channel or place to rent movies.  We like to watch movies, and had to watch them on our ipad, which kinda sucked.  But other than that, we had a really nice and relaxing time.  

February 1st

This is on our way home--crossing over the Bridge of the Gods.

This is how the Bridge of the Gods came to be:

"Scientists believe that about 1,000 years ago, a giant landslide from the north shore of the Columbia River blocked the Gorge and stopped the river’s flow. This natural dam created an inland sea in eastern Oregon, Washington, and into Idaho. Over time, water eroded the dam and created an awesome natural stone bridge. Eventually, this bridge fell, creating the Cascade rapids.

Native American legend also speaks of the creation and destruction of this natural bridge. The People of the Columbia River had great difficulty crossing the Columbia River. Manito, the Great Spirit, was sympathetic and build a stone bridge for them. This stone bridge, called the great crossover, was so important that Manito placed Loo-Wit, an old and wise woman, as its guardian.

Over time, the People began to fear that the bridge would wash away, and they appealed to the Great Spirit. Manito agreed to protect the bridge, and the grateful People gave it a new name, the Bridge of the Gods."

The Bridge of the Gods as it exists today was created in a much less dramatic fashion than the original bridge, but it sits in beautiful contrast to the powerful scenery of the Gorge. The cantilevered bridge is the third oldest bridge on the Columbia River."