Eventful February

Apparently, my Grandpa didn't have a lot of love for the month of February.  Perhaps, if it wasn't the magical month that held my birthday, I could have understood this sentiment.  But, it has always held a special place in my heart.  So, yeah, it is a big winner.  And this year was no different!

We did visit Disney World (old news), but even without that major event, there were a lot of other events that made it a lot of fun.  One such event: wrestling in the living room! (No TVs were actually damaged during wrestling)

We also hosted a Super Bowl Party.  In basically the perfect way.  Two separate friends (both without cable/DISH) invited their families over.  Which meant expectations on us as hosts were non-existent and they provided the food (and left a lot of leftovers).  Kind of a win/win.  We did tidy a bit and move couches out of the way, though the majority of kids ended up in our bedroom playing the Wii.  As an added bonus, I had extra help to fold some new cardboard building blocks.  Granted, Will ended up really enjoying this task, so I already had help, but it went even faster with another adult.  Win/Win/Win

We also learned that week due to a lot of chicken strips in the fridge that our children LOVE salad bar night.  Looks like we have a new weekly rotation meal!  Boom!

Dom finished out his basketball season (I have no pictures of him in action).  He did really well despite missing a couple of weeks due to a badly sprained wrist.  All of that Jayhawk Basketball watching really paid off.  Granted, he got the most practice just in a driveway with the neighbors.  On any given day there is a pretty solid 3 on 3 game going.  I only jump in to keep everyone's ego in check during a game of Knock-Out.  The above picture was taken during one of Dom's game.  Oddly, a couple of our children preferred the park to sitting in a crowded gym.  Though, Will has since expressed interest in playing next year.  We may move him from statistician to player after all. 

Eric and I got in loads of cribbage games.  I'm not sure what this photo is suppose to be of.  But, there were several games that came down to the wire (not unlike Kansas Basketball games this season).  Though, he did beat me last night.  It could have been a skunk...but, wasn't.  #thanksMuggins

Easily the most life changing event is that Molly is now a very confident bicyclist.  She had not touched her bike since last July when she had a pretty unsuccessful tour with training wheels.  Our 3-year-old neighbor started riding his tiny bike without training wheels one day.  I was out watching him run around with John when Molly strolled over and sat on his bike.  In not one off my prouder 'Mom Moments', I told my neighbor there was no way she would be able to ride it as she had not shown any interest in a bicycle in months and had been very timid even when she had.  But, low and behold, in typical Molly fashion, she proved me wrong.  My neighbor gave her a push and she was off.  By the next day, she could start on her own.  And Yesterday, she and Eric were zooming down hills in our neighborhood.  She and another neighbor girl ride their bikes together every day.  Or she is begging me to come out, too.  I may need to get a child seat soon so that I can go with her even when John is awake...

Also big, Dom is frying up eggs like a champ.  I really need to remember this more on weekdays...

Will continues to make me smile with he journal entries.   And his quick wit in general.  I do give him a pass frequently on his work due to the fact he generally is reading or learning about other things when he is "wasting time".  His imagination continues to be impressive.  That all said, he seldom tries to really get out of work.  He will finish all of his tasks or will complete them first thing the next day.  Just like Dom, he continues to be first in his class.

John and Brayden attempting to get into the crawl space.  We congratulated ourselves on thwarting their efforts...until we discovered the lock undone.  Those kids are persistent!

For Valentine's Day, the kids got some more Mario Stuffies.  That evening the performed for us.  A good time was had by all.

We also got new wall stickers.  We have moved them to the laundry room.  A more fitting place.  Plus, John isn't as tempted to take them down and leave them all over the house.  #Winning

Molly discovered a new series of books at the library: Pinkalicious.  One morning she elected to dress as Pinkalicious.  She has dreams of decorating a future bedroom just like Pinkalicious.  It is good to have dreams.

Along with Pinkalicious, Molly is reading more and more every day.  I will often find her in her room or on the couch reading book after book.  Now I need to teach her to not give away the plot twist in the picture books we check out from the library.  She has ruined two for me.  I mean, it wasn't like she had to wait that long for the secret to be discovered...but, she just says it right at the start.  At least her reading comprehension is high...#smallconsolation

Perhaps the biggest event was Will discovering fries dipped in Wendy's Chocolate Frosties.  I loved watching his tentative first dip turn into a flurry of activity.  Normally, (in a weird un-American situation) we throw out a lot of uneaten fries.  Not this day: they were all consumed. #ThanksWendys

 The winter is a good time for naps.  And John has re-discovered them more regularly.  Which is a nice change of pace.  Most of the time, they creep up on him while we are reading.  I love feeling his body become more and more still as he snuggles into me.  Or watching his eye lids grow heavier and heavier as his blinks get longer and longer.  And I stand by the old adage: You sleep when your baby sleeps.  And I defy anyone to not close their eyes for a little while as your little one slumbers on you. 

The weather never got particularly cold.  I guess we had one weekend in January that the low was in the 20s, but overall it has been very pleasant.  So the only snowman we made was this graphic art.  I think Mitzi had a good laugh.  I know I did!

Oh, one last thing, though this is technically a story from March.  For Lent, we make it a goal to pray as a family in the evening.  We like to say The Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  This year I was very happy that Molly was more interested in leading and responding.  What I didn't expect was that John would also start to pick up small parts of the response.  For now, he will say "Passion" (For the sake of His sorrowful Passion) and "World" (Have mercy on us and on the whole World).  He also will say: Jinx! as we all say the response together.  So our Mercy Chaplet isn't particularly solemn, but the children are learning to give a part of their day in prayer.  And laughter and joy are gifts from God, so it is still a worthy endeavor.

Speaking of raising our children in the faith, I re-read this blog post the other day, I thought I would link it here.  From back when we only took three kids to Mass.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.