February 2023

February is generally a pretty chill month for our family compared to many other months of the year. I’ll recap Brooklyn’s birthday festivities in a separate post, and this post will cover everything else.

Ms. Kuenzli had her class starting typing their journals during the middle of the year to help them prepare for their upcoming standardized test. On February 1st, Savannah wrote this post about how hunting is bad. Don’t show Uncle Tyler! ;)

On February 2nd, she wrote about the process of making a confetti cake for Rae Rae’s birthday.

Savannah got a Dojo point for doing a practice page of cursive handwriting for homework and uploading it to Seesaw. Brooklyn hopped in her picture that night ;)

The girls enjoy playing soccer sometimes with this figurine set.

On February 3rd, we co-hosted a Valentine’s dinner/party with Douglas and Britni at our neighborhood clubhouse. This year, in addition to playing the newlywed game, we also had a baby picture matching game for people to play when they arrived…

We asked each couple to submit baby pictures of themselves ahead of the party, and then Britni mounted the baby pictures to numbered hearts that we hung around the room. The goal was to identify each couple by their baby pictures. It was a lot of fun!

It was pretty easy for people to pick out our pictures since so many knew Travis as a baby! Others were definitely a lot harder to match. The winning answer sheet got every single guess correct except two!

We asked everyone to bring finger foods, and we had plenty to eat…

This year, we did something different for dessert and had a trifle bar with 6 different types. It was a big hit!

Of course, the most anticipated (or dreaded) part of the evening is always playing the Newlywed Game and all the laughter that results. This year, Aaron and Emily won 1st place and the best prize of the night–a gift card to Grille on Main.

The next day, February 4th, Brooklyn went to Kate and Olive’s birthday party in the morning…

…and I took Savannah and Abigail to Sarah’s birthday party in the afternoon. It was Encanto themed and really cute!

The kids painted doors, made flowers out of pipe cleaners, and ate huge pieces of cake…haha

Encanto girls!

Caitlyn snapped this cute picture of Brooklyn and Nathan together after church on February 5th. They have been friends literally since birth!

Savannah made me this sweet card with reasons why she loves me :)

This month was the end of an era when I sold our double Bob jogging stroller. This thing was a lifesaver on the many walks to and from school when the girls were younger. We also took it on walks to the greenway more times than I can remember. We bought it used for $250 and sold it for $150, so I feel like we did really well! It sold within a few hours of me listing it on Facebook Marketplace.

Savannah has been learning gymnastics at recess this year from some of her friends, so she has been practicing a lot of handstands at home :)

Shorts weather in February! I’ll take it :)

I loved this journal that Savannah wrote on February 8th about whether it is better to be smart or kind…

Travis was in Texas on work travel from February 6th-10th, so the girls and I went out to eat on Wednesday night before Bible class with Phil, Gena, and Larry. I can’t remember us ever eating out on a Wednesday night before, but this was a good opportunity to do it. We enjoyed our time with them and the yummy chips and salsa.

It was nice enough weather on February 9th to eat lunch on the back patio. Special times with my Peapod :)

We went to Hobby Lobby with Danielle and her kids after lunch that day. Abigail loves spending time with Hannah. We ended up on the jewelry aisle, which was a dangerous place to be! :)

Danielle offered to let them pick out charms, and she would make them matching necklaces :)

This is what they chose. I didn’t know until later that Abigail thought they were purple banana charms instead of moons…haha!

On February 10th, Savannah wrote in her journal about our plans to go to Atlanta for spring break with Cici and the Loveless crew. She and Carter made a lot of plans for what they thought we would do while we were there! :)

That morning, I babysat the Broadwell girls for about an hour while Britni ran an errand. Abigail had fun playing with Ella and Adelyn, and I got to hold baby Nora for the first time :)

A few weeks earlier, Ms. Kuenzli let us know that she would be participating in a race at the Huntsville Havoc hockey game on February 10th if any of her students/families would like to come watch. She was going to dress up as Coke Zero (her fave!) and race against her brother and boyfriend dressed up as Coke and Diet Coke. The girls had never been to a hockey game before, and Travis and I hadn’t been in years, so we thought it would be a fun family activity. We waited to buy tickets until we got there since Travis had been out of town, and we wanted to make sure he got back in time. We got there a little early, and he went to buy tickets while I took the girls to the bathroom. They ended up giving him free tickets! They said a season ticket holder donated them back to the box office. It was our lucky day.

The tickets were pretty high up, but they were pretty close to the middle of the ice on one side, so we actually had a great view of the whole rink. It took us a few minutes to get used to how high up we were sitting. Brooklyn didn’t like how loud the music was at times, but other than that, the girls enjoyed the evening! Savannah was definitely the most into the game of the 3 girls, but all of them paid attention pretty well.

The coke race was mid-way through the first period, and it was so funny. Ms. Kuenzli didn’t win…in fact, she was pretty far behind the other two as they ran across the ice. I thought they might be on skates, but they were running!! She slipped and fell as she got almost to the finish line…a pretty dramatic ending! We were glad that she didn’t get hurt, and she was a great sport about it.

After the first period ended, we got a picture of Ms. Kuenzli and the kids who came out to watch. Savannah was excited to see some of her classmates outside of school. We stayed through the end of the second period and then got a funnel cake before heading out. It was already after 9 pm at that point, so it would have been really late to stay until the end of the game. We heard that the Havoc ended up losing 3-1. We were glad we got to go…it was a fun evening!

The last few years, Cici has helped the girls make homemade valentines for family and friends. Such a sweet tradition! Abigail wanted to make a few more at home, including one for Cici!

On February 11th, Travis took Brooklyn on a daddy-daughter date for lunch. Brooklyn chose Sunny Street Café and ordered off the regular menu. (Last time we ate there, she ate her entire kids meal and was still hungry. She’s growing up!). She chose the wildberry pancakes and said they were really good. Savannah and Abigail are looking forward to their dates, but they have to wait until March!

After the Polar Express party at Lori’s house back in December, Abigail decided that her son, Daniel, was her new best friend ;) He’s a senior in high school…haha. She even drew this sweet picture for him this month!

All dressed up for church on February 12th!

Savannah wrote about her dream home in her journal on February 13th. It would have a pool, a big backyard, an elevator, a big bedroom with a TV, and pets everywhere :)

Abigail and I enjoyed playing “bakery” together upstairs in the playroom…

Savannah’s class on Valentine’s Day :)

The girls always enjoy looking at their candy and cards after their Valentine exchanges at school!

Savannah pushed Abigail to school in the stroller on February 15th…

I liked Savannah’s drawing in her journal on February 15th. The topic was: Should athletes or scientists get paid more money?

Brooklyn and Savannah had an e-learning day at home on February 16th due to the threat of tornadoes and bad weather. While they were working on their schoolwork, Abigail practiced tracing letters in a workbook at the table.

We had invited Daniel Holder over for supper that night, and thankfully there didn’t end up being any bad weather. (He has been house sitting for the Gougars, who live just a few minutes down the road from us). Before he came, the girls were talking about how they’d like to have a light saber battle with him after supper. I told them, “Just make sure you’re being nice and you don’t hurt him.” Abigail replied, “I’m always nice to my best friend!” :)

“Take a picture of my green tongue!”

I don’t know if this is the case for anyone else, but board games at our house frequently end in tears. We have very competitive children ;)

February 20th was President’s Day, which meant no school! The girls delivered the newest edition of the Millstone News with Elaina, Bristol, and Addie that morning.

Abigail and I played lots of bakery this month. She and I took turns being the customer and the baker.

Savannah’s journal on February 22nd was about whether one recess per day at school was enough…haha. I’m sure every kid answered no to that question!

February 22nd was also the last Music Together class for Abigail and me. I wish she had enjoyed the classes more this session, but that’s okay. We still made some memories, and she enjoyed listening to the songs in the car even if she didn’t always love the classes ;)

Abigail and I built a big house with as many Magna Tiles as we could on February 23rd :)

On February 23rd, I joined a big group of moms to celebrate Alison’s 40th birthday at a new tea room in town called the Lanier House. It was a mix of moms that Alison knew from our neighborhood/school and other friends from her church. We had a fun time sampling the different teas and foods that went with them.

It was a really nice day, so Gabriella and Mia came over to play with the girls in the backyard that evening after school.

On February 24th, Abigail fell asleep on my shoulder while I was reading right before it was time to pick up Brooklyn and Savannah from school :)

Guess Who is a family favorite at our house! I remember enjoying it as a kid too :)

On February 25th, we did our annual baking morning at Cici’s house. The girls helped spoon the pumpkin muffin mixture into the baking tins.

After doing this for several years, Cici definitely has it down to a science. The kids enjoyed passing out the treat boxes at church the next day.

That afternoon, we went to see Audrey McKee perform in the Frozen Jr. play at Hartselle High School…

It was a great show, and we all really enjoyed it. Abigail especially was chattering throughout the entire show, asking questions and commenting on what was going on. She couldn’t wait to meet Anna and Elsa afterward, and Audrey took her to see them. Audrey was a townsperson and a member of Oaken’s family, and she did a really great job. It was her first play ever, and she didn’t even look nervous. We were glad to be able to attend!

I taught the preschool bible class at church during most of January and February, and we made a “tent” out of leaves when we learned about Ezra on February 26th.

Lori sent these pictures from Brooklyn’s bible class. Brooklyn and Natalie are outnumbered by the boys!

I thought this was a sweet picture!

Savannah and Abigail spent some time doing hopscotch in the driveway after school on February 27th :)

It’s hard to get a close-up picture of Waffles and Syrup (Brooklyn’s crabs) unless we take them out of the tank when it’s time to clean it. By the end of February, they had been living with us for over 2 months and doing well!

Notes and Quotes from February 2023:

• 2/7/23 – Abigail and I were playing outside in the backyard after lunch. Her puppy dog toy was on one of the swings, and it fell off. She pretended to rush it to the hospital, and then she came back. “The doggie lost a bone!” “Which bone?” I asked. “His elbow! He’s going to have surgery for 20 years! But I think he’s going to be okay.” :)
• 2/27/23 – Travis walked by the living room while Abigail was watching a TV show. “I thought you just told me yesterday that you didn’t watch Lion Guard anymore.” he said. Abigail replied, “Well, I’m complicated!” Haha!

Thanks for reading!