The month of love is over!
February 25
My birthday fell on a Tuesday which meant no neighborhood kids were available to babysit because of young women's/young men's. Malia (our niece at BYU) stepped up to the plate and was able to watch the kids. I am so thankful. Andrew and I went to Texas Roadhouse which was superb. We even put our orders in with 4 minutes to spare before the early bird special ended, so we got a discount. We enjoyed doing sealings at the temple together. After, we picked up Nielsen's Custard. I'm never able to stray from my usual order-- PB cookie dough. Then we played the game "Dice Forge" with Malia. I love hanging out with her! We ended the night binging a show. Perfection. I have incredible people in my life who made it feel like birthday month with birthday lunches/dessert, thoughtful words and texts, and gifts. I've been spoiled. Andrew got me a bullet journal with great pens and laser hair removal.
February 20
Andrew's birthday was on a Thursday. His company gives employees their birthdays off. Andrew rarely takes work off unless we're traveling, so having him home made it an outstanding day. I let him sleep in, we went to the DMV to get new driver's licenses (adulting. I was weirdly excited to update my address on my license), and celebrated at brunch. Penny Ann's was tasty and Jill joined us. We had just enough time to get a nap in before the kids arrived home from school. (It was early day.) Then we went to parent teacher conferences. After that, Andrew snuck to the gym during quiet time. He stayed home with Penelope while I took the older kids to swimming lessons. Getting to sit poolside without a child actively trying to jump into the pool and yelling and pointing "bath" was ultra relaxing. Andrew invited some friends over for pizza and games. They were here from 6:30pm-12:15. They played 3 strategy heavy, time intensive games, which made all of Andrew's birthday wishes come true. (Apiary, Root, and Scythe.) I got Andrew adult Star Wars Legos which he finished rapidly and is eager to display.
Jill visited which was lovely. We went to Mi Ranchito with Grandma Langlois amongst other things (walks, DI shopping, games, etc.) She gifted me a popcorn maker for my birthday and got me the ingredients to make special movie theater popcorn (a recipe from TikTok) that is ultra buttery and mouth-watering. Popcorn is one of my favorites. Jill happened to be here the Sunday I spoke in church too and it meant the world to me to have both my sisters there supporting me. Jessica got me pearl earrings which I've worn nearly everyday since. She also was thoughtful and has noticed our kitchen potholders are well worn and make getting things out of the oven precarious at times. We now have yellow and safe oven mitts.
Jeff also was in town and it had been awhile since we've caught up. He treated us to pizza which was generous. Jeff was so cute and sweet with my kids. He was over the day they sold their house and it was thrilling to hear all the details about their upcoming move and new adventures ahead. Seeing both of my siblings that live out of town was remarkable and unexpected.
Swim Lessons
During February, the kids had swimming on Thursdays after school. One Thursday we had a terrible snow storm and it was cancelled which resulted in a screeching child that scared me and the rest of carpool. On the last day of swim, the kids get to swing on the rope! They were both able to touch it and James went swinging on it a couple of times. They're getting so big! The kids are signed up to continue swimming lessons over spring break and just picked out new swimsuits. They can't wait to show them off.
Dogman!
Andrew had 1 job. Take a picture of him and the kids at the theater. He forgot. In his defense, they drove to a far theater that accepted the giftcard we had. It was a process to get the card to work, so the photo was the last thing on his mind. Getting to the movie on time was the priority. Insert imaginary photo here. This was a good activity for President's Day and the kids were fans.
Alison's celebratory lunch!
2 of my friends in the ward are having babies and due the same week! I organized little celebrations. Alison is having her 4th and last baby. Funny story. When we were house hunting, we offered on Alison's house and didn't get it. She did though and then 9ish months later, we offered on our house. I am so thankful she got her house so we could meet. I love Alison! To help direct conversation at the lunch, I had jars with questions in them that we passed around the table. In the past I've noticed it's hard to talk to everyone when you're eating out. This helped so everyone could hear and that Alison didn't have to be asked 9+ times, "so what are you naming your baby?" "When is your due date again?" etc.
Kirsten's baby sprinkle!
Kirsten has been my ministering companion since I moved into the ward. Kirsten's 2nd daughter has cystic fibrosis and Kirsten found out during her pregnancy that her 3rd daughter also has CF. Kirsten is strong and knows how to handle this. It was also discovered that Kirsten's baby had a bowel obstruction. Kirsten's water broke at 32 weeks which was scary. She ended up having her baby January 30 which was much earlier than planned, so we had to reschedule her sprinkle. Baby Mabel had surgery and has been in primary children's hospital but will get to come up within a couple weeks.
After things calmed down, we rescheduled the sprinkle. I had help with the food and I was grateful! Valerie brought brownies and Meagan made sugar cookies and also got grapes. I made peanut butter fudge bars and had Trader Joe's lemonade. I created a game on Kahoot that we played. I was surprised several people hadn't heard of Kahoot before. It kept us laughing! You'd be surprised how much the biggest baby weighed and how many children one woman has birthed. People didn't seem to want to leave, so after presents and food, I had everyone share a peak and pit in their lives and something they love about Kirsten. Tears were shed. My kids should win an award for silently marching into their rooms after their movie ended and heading right to bed without disrupting the shower. Someone complimented Izzy's outfit and she hardly sad a word back. Maybe we threatened a bit too much. I made little party favors which I thought turned out cute.
.heic)
No comments:
Post a Comment