Feb 24

Andrew was out of town this week, so I tried to keep us busy in the evenings.

Tonight, we stopped at Krispy Kreme to use some Valentine's coupons

the kids had for free donuts.  Yummy.

Feb 23

Wednesday is library day.

We turn in our books,

pick out new ones,

Pam meets us there to take Brandon to scouts,

and then the girls spend some time in the art studio.

Tonight the activity was kapla blocks.

We made some pretty cool structures.

Feb 22

Caroline and I have free days on Tuesdays this semester.

Most weeks she asks to go to the science center.

That's exactly what we did today.

Got this cool shot of the lemurs.

Feb 20

It was a perfect play-in-the-backyard afternoon.

After we took our quiet time, we rode scooters

and bikes, roller skated, drew with sidewalk chalk.

The boys played basketball.

Andrew threw down some mean dunks.

Feb 19

Look at those curls bounce!

Love that cute, crazy hair.

Feb 18

Ugly Sweater Party!

A bunch of the ladies from the Greensboro Stake have

been getting together for GNO's every couple of months.

Loved the theme this time.

Shelley and I thought we had some ugly sweaters,

until we saw what the rest of the ladies had found.

Feb 17

My turn to teach joy school.

We went outside to blow bubbles afterward.

I LOVE that the weather is warming up enough to do this.

Feb 16

I took the kids down to Bicentennial Gardens to practice using my camera.

They were good little models for me.

This is one of my favorite shots.

Love the depth of field you can get with SLR's.

Feb 15

Our tax refund arrived.  Sweet!

Andrew let me splurge and get a dSLR.

Yippee!

I decided on the Nikon D3100

and I LOVE it.

Feb 14

Lamest Valentine's Day Ever.

Poor Andrew is still sick.

So I took the kids out to Wendy's and Chuck E Cheese's.

I felt like a loser.

But the kids had fun!

Feb 13

Andrew is sick.

He had to miss church today.

With the flu.  Yuck.

The kids collected every blanket in the house

and piled them on him to help with the chills.

So sweet.

Feb 12

Every year, the kids' school has a Valentine's Dance.

It's a parent-child date.

Fun!

This year, Whitney and Andrew got all dressed up.

They looked great!

And they tore up the dance floor together.

Brandon and I went with a casual look.

He ran around with Cole most of the time.

Except for the two line danced they danced with me.  :)

Feb 11

A brisk afternoon at the park.

Brandon is such a great big brother to Care Bear.

She LOVED having him push her on the swing.

Weeeee!

Feb 10

Tonight at dinner, Caroline found a double carrot that looked like a pair of pants.  

We thought it was hilarious.

Feb 9

Caroline's first real haircut!

She has been fighting me in the mornings because

she hates having her hair combed.

So I told her it was time for a cut.

I didn't realize she would want me to do it.

We chopped about two inches off.

Feb 8

B had his 2nd quarter awards ceremony today.

He made A honor roll, read the most minutes,

and even had perfect attendance.

You are awesome, B-train!

Feb 7

Care Bear is in a puzzle phase right now.

All day.  Every day.  Puzzles galore.

And she's good at them.

Feb 6

I serve in the nursery at church right now.

This week we were excited to welcome SJ.

Such a cutie.  And also a climber.

Feb 5

Family dinner at Poblano's.  Yum.

Caroline wanted to sit in the queen chair.

"Because I'm a queen."

Feb 4

Brandon practicing his free throws.

I think the Tar Heels 3-2 this season, plus one tie game.

Feb 3

Go Dolphins!

Feb 2

Brandon's self-portrait.  I love it when he spikes his hair up just a bit in the front.

Feb 1

Caroline's favorite pastime:  puzzles!  We spend time almost every day putting them together and she is good.

Jan 31

Whit's turn for the FHE lesson tonight.  She's scouring The Friend magazine for a good story to share.

Jan 30

Got yogurt?  Caroline is getting pretty good at keeping herself clean while she eats.  Yogurt is an exception.  She is always supper messy at the end.  But it's cute.

Jan 29

Jayne gave me two tickets to the US Figure Skating Championships.  Yippee!  I invited April to come with me.  We loved it.  Watched pairs free skate and pairs ice dancing.

Jan 28

Date night at the batting cages.  Love it!

Jan 27

Thursday nights is cheer practice for Whit.  Go Dolphins!

Jan 26

It cracks me up to see the crazy things Caroline does with her body.  She loves to hang from Whit's bunk bed, hang from the handles in the van, and today she was making a bridge across this chair.

Jan 24

Brandon's piano lessons are going so well!  He started last summer and is improving every month.  We love listening to him play.

Jan 22

Whit's first day as a cheerleader!  Go Dolphins!  Miss S. is her wonderful coach.  Whit loves it.

Jan 21

Look, Ma!  We're holding the Capitol Building!

Teacher Workday!  We took advantage of a free day by driving up to Raleigh.  We had a blast.  We toured the NC State Capitol Building.  I told the kids we were going to get to see where our state lawmakers work.  I even thought maybe we could view a session or something.  Wrong.  I didn't realize that our lawmakers no longer meet in this building.  Oops.  That will have to be a visit for another day. 

After our tour, we ate a yummy Asian lunch at Spize cafe.

Then we walked back to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.  We LOVE that place!

Jan 19

The weather was decent today.  Finally!

So we took a quick trip to the park.

Played hide-and-go-seek.

Jan 16

Brandon and Cole are in the same class again this year.

They love hanging out.

Jan 15

More time at the mall!

This time we brought the whole family and played

with this CUTE little greyhound at the pet store.

Jan 14

Caroline and I went to the mall today and

discovered that they have a new play place!

She was in little girl heaven.

Jan 13

Andrew and I have started play the wii a couple of nights a week.

Tonight I went pro on bowling for the first time.

Woo hoo!

Jan 12

This is how I would look if the kids did my hair and chose my eyewear.

Jan 10

Another Christmas present--Whit's Easy Bake Oven.

She makes a mean brownie.

Jan 8

Mmmmm....Saturday morning french toast.

Not a tradition around here, 

but appreciated by all when we take the time to make it.

Jan 7

Storytime at the library.

LOVE  it!

One of Caroline's favorite part is the parade.

Looks like she picked up two triangles,

but no sticks to hit them.

Jan 6

Check out that swollen face!

Andrew's bout with parotitis.

Jan 5

Time to put away the Christmas decor.  Insert sad face here.

Jan 4

A rare breathtaking sunset as seen looking up our street.

Jan 2

Whitney got Bendaroos for Christmas.

She built a huge long string of them that 

stretched all the way around the house.

Jan 1

Happy New Year!

We celebrated playing Settler's with Ryan and Destinee and Asheville.