We Heart February

 

After my Language history classes, I crack up every time I hear "I heart anything."  At first, I thought I was just misunderstanding, or then, that other people were confused, because drawing a heart is OLD code for the word "love," and when (I'm guessing in part, due to not being able to put symbols in web addresses) people started spelling out "h-e-a-r-t" to replace the symbol--skipping the whole "love" thing altogether, and then reading it as such, there was history unfolding!!--weird history, but an observable change, nonetheless!

I should've probably said, "We are trying to heart February," --but I'm still a little funny using a symbol as a verb.  This winter has given us every reason to find things to celebrate--so we tried to deck the house out w/ happy, bright Valentine's decorations (probably fortunately, by the time I got the craft store for said intent, they were already on to Easter, so it still ended up keeping fairly simple), and going all out for Valentine's Day.

We had heart pancakes, w/ ringpops at every plate setting, hung out at school parties, then topped it of w/ Spaghetti Pie, heartshaped breadsticks, salad, and heart cake for dessert--AND by candlelight!

 We also had fun with Lucy's Birthday (see prev. post), enjoyed "Crazy Hair Day" at the school,

made a cool "Plan of Salvation" chart for FHE--never knew Kleenex could be so versatile!

 

 and honored Spencer getting his wolf @ our cool Angry Birds Blue and Gold Banquet!! (they built 4 ft tall sling shots to shoot soft balls and stuffed angry birds across the gym at stacked empty boxes--genius!)

and have made the most in EVERY DEGREE of TEMPERATURE RISING that we see!  I think our high's have been barely to 40, but when the sun is out, and our snow starts to melt a bit, we get excited about the prospects.  We had sun the day after we built our snowman, and look at how facing the sun just forced him into a melting backbend (this was just before he lost his head)!!

 One of the first days we got close to 40, the kids wanted to eat dinner outside, so they poured warm water all over a path and patch in the snow, so we could all go out in the "REALLY WARM" weather together.  Once they stopped moving, they came inside to eat :).  I even had a dream that people were taking chairs over to the church parking lot to just sit in the sunshine for a date idea. :).  It's at least "warm" enough for bow and arrow wars--in just jackets!

When it gets back to cold(er), we just snack on icicles.  They are free, plentiful, and grow back over night (read: please watch your step on our front porch!!)

I've also found some time to arrange a little Primary # for Sacrament Mtg, and (thanks to Dad's specific direction), FINALLY have some success in Family History! After re-reading the promises Elder Bednar makes for us taking family names to the temple, and hearing that 1st presidency letter, I was motivated to try again, and w/ a few trips to the FHLibraries, and amazing Ancestry.com, Brian was able to baptize Brent and Maddie this past weekend for 12 cousins.  It is awesome, and with the 2 funerals we attended in our ward this last week--one including a visit from Elder Hales, it really shrinks all of the generation gaps between us, and REALLY aids in my very nearsighted day-to-day vision of all we're doing and here for!

LUCY TURNS FRTHREEEEE!!!

 Before February 13, a certain 2-year old could be heard at least hourly, saying, either, "MY BIRTHDAY CEREAL!!! WE GOING EAT MY BIRTHDAY CEREAL:  FRUITYCOCOA--HOORAY!!!"(while guiding any audience to the pantry for proof); OR, "MY BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP BY VALENTINE'S!! I BE FREE!!"(or 5, depending on the day :) )

Thankfully, she did survive until her birthday and that morning of cold cereal and presents:  Tangled Barbie (dubbed "Ballet Doll"), a doll playpen (which she, as "Pink Baby"--her new favorite nickname--usually cuddles up in more than the dolls), a polly pocket, Dora figurine, dora socks, and 12 Dancing Princesses(Barbie movie).  Despite her outfit, she really didn't need clothes! Lucy just likes the power of being able to dress herself--a LOT!! Remember the clothes she got for her birthday last year? She was just learning then, but managed to put all of them on at once!  She regularly empties her drawers (and Anne's) finding just the right shirt or skirt or pair of pajamas for that hour, and even after we tuck her in, she still changes pajamas (or into her swimming suit) on her own.  It's just such FREEDOM, I guess!

After Breakfast and presents, I took the girls to a funeral for a dear sister in our ward, and we had hot dogs and sweet potato fries for dinner, w/ an ice cream cake for dessert--quickly since it was scouts/ YW, and Brian was stuck in Provo until late.  Lucy is quite hilarious--she is passionate about whatever she's doing, singing, dancing, or screaming refusals.  She LOVES pretending--especially that she's a baby, or a dog or cat. If we call her cute, she retorts, "NO--I RUCY!!" (unless she's "Pink Baby"). She loves her "Dee-Dee" blanket, loves her brothers and sisters, and LOVES doing things by herself--she always insists on pouring every drink, dressing, or gravy on her own, and can already make her own peanut butterjam sandwiches, scale the pantry shelves for a snack of chips or nuts, and check her "toemails" on the computer (childhood emails?).  Her little gap-toothed smile brings us all a lot of joy! It's hard to believe how she's grown!