February was a busy month of sickness, visitors, adventures, and crazy weather.

We enjoyed a weekend visit with Nana and Papa. They came down to celebrate Joe’s birthday and see him play in a pool tournament. The kids were really happy to have them around—lots of spoiling going on!

Jonah got a light saber for successfully transitioning into his “big boy bed.” He had to stay in his bed and go to sleep at naps and at night and fill up his “Good Sleep” chart to get the light saber. We were having issues with him wandering and unplugging appliances, changing alarms on clock radios, unscrewing handles off of furniture, taking stuff out of our room and Ella’s room, sneaking up to the play room…. So, we resorted to bribery and it worked. He loves the light saber and has duels with Ella and Andrew in the yard. Andrew is also teaching him to say: “Yes, My Master.” ;)

Ella is having a great time in her Y Princess Tribe. The nine girls and the nine dads enjoy two meetings each month where they do crafts and games. Ella has earned lots of patches and has almost all her feathers for her first year!

Andrew took a helicopter lesson and had a blast. The kids did really well as we waited and waited for the weather to clear so that it was safe to fly (I am all for safety!!!). Andrew had a great time!

We enjoyed one more (and hopefully last for this winter) snow. It was great packing snow and the kids made their first snowman. They named him Snowy the Snowman (very original, I know!). Snowy stuck around for quite some time because he was in a shady spot on the north side of the house. However, Snowy was destroyed by Jonah and his friend, Chet. The two boys stomped him into the ground. Ella and Chet’s sister, Lauren, were vaguely horrified, but just rolled their eyes at their little brothers.

Andrew put up some bird feeders during the cold and snowy weather and we have had so much fun watching the birds and squirrels enjoy the free buffet. Ella can identify most of the birds now and likes to look up new ones that we see in the bird book. Jonah thinks everything is a cardinal—he is right sometimes!

Sarah, Andrew, Ella, and Jonah