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| Everydaybefore school, we shovel, bundle up with boots, hats, etc. It's never ending! |
Anwyay, here's a quick rundown of how we survived February:
1-Ashley auditioned and was cast in the school musical. They are doing Oliver! She was uncertain if she could try out because it's during the same time as soccer season and would have rehearsals and soccer practice at the same time. The director told her to tryout anyway and just note on her audition sheet she would have a conflict with soccer. He said, this would mean she might just be in the ensemble, but she still wanted to go for it.
This was her first audition for a high school production and she probably didn't prepare enough as she came home and said it was pretty bad. Apparently, it wasn't too bad because she was cast as an orphan - a better part than she expected. She has pretty much had rehearsals every day after school, but is really enjoying it. So far it has been manageable for her schedule because bowling is over and soccer doesn't start until March, but once soccer starts who knows how she is going to make this all work?
2- The Superbowl. We watched at home in our awesome basement and ordered food from Portillos. We picked it up the day before and just heated it up on Sunday. We had Italian Beef Sandwiches and Chopped Salad. Yummy.
3- The Olympics! Thank goodness we had the Olympics to enjoy while we were cooped up inside.
We even had our own Olympics with the Young Women at church. Here is our version of the "two-man luge" We also did curling and ice dancing. Ashley is in the background with the striped shirt and red belt. She was representing the country Italy and dressed up like a Gondola guide.
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| This is the Olympic cake we had to celebrate during the opening ceremonies |
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4- Girl Scout Cookies. I'm pretty sure this is the last year Paige is doing Girl Scouts. She has fun doing it, but it really is becoming burdensome to our schedule. This also means the last time we have to sell Girl Scout Cookies. I'm not a salesman and hence don't make an all out effort to sell cookies, but thanks to some kind friends she sold a decent amount.
5- Valentine's Day. Nothing special this year. In fact, I don't feel like I'm on the top of my game right now. We didn't even do our traditional love notes to each other. Honestly, I just forgot. We didn't exchange any gifts or have a special dinner and really no one seemed to care. I did get up at 5 am and go to Dunkin Donuts to get everyone a heart shaped donut and then packed lunches of all red and pink foods. We did get one surprise, a gift card from Grandma and Grandpa Smith for Oberweis Dairy. How fun! We loved that!
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| Valentine's Day breakfast |
The day before Valentine's Day, Ashley and I went on temple trip with the youth at church. It was a great trip, but does pretty much take up the whole afternoon and evening. As a result, I knew that I had to have Paige's school valentine's ready in advance. So earlier in the week we got her valentine's candy ready and made her box. Her box had to be based on an invention that she had written a report about. Her report was on the Xbox360. That was easy to make with a cereal box and some black wrapping paper. In fact it was a little too simple so we made a grass block from the game Minecraft to go on it.
6- Church service. Ashley tied and donated this fleece blanket for a Personal Progress experience. She made this blanket to help another boy at our church complete his Eagle Scout Project. The blanket is going to South Africa to be given as part of a care package to young man from South Africa who wants to service a mission. The package contains clothing and supplies that he can use while he is on a mission.
I'm sure I'll be blogging about this some more, but I have also been super busy getting ready for the Girl's Camp Fundraiser for the Young Women at church. Instead of a spaghetti dinner, we are doing Chinese Food! This may sound ambitious and it probably is, but I've got a secret weapon---MY DAD! yep, he is flying in to help and do the cooking. So grateful to have his help and so excited to have him come visit. The dinner is towards the end of March, but there is always so much background work….
And just to make sure that there is never a dull moment around here. We also had New Beginnings at the end of the month. It's a special program we do every year in Young Women's. This year the theme was Come Unto Christ and based around the theme of diamonds.
7- School spirit and dress up days. This is always and will always be a mom project and lucky me, both Ashley and Paige had them on the same days. Of course, they had different themes and of course, they often forget to mention it until late at night right before bedtime. I actually, had to send Paige to bed and tell her I needed time to think about it and hopefully I would have something ready for her in the morning.
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| Ashley - 80s day She has shredded leather pants on. I bought those two years ago. I knew that one day Kim Kardashian faux leather pants would come in handy! |
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| Paige - Dress like your favorite book character Seriously, this is a hard one, especially when you have to pull it together last minute. Paige is Pinkalicious |
8- Best for last, we have a new member of the family, born to Dave's sister Kelley and her husband David. Quinton David Gee was born on February 24th and not a moment too soon. This guy weighed in at 10 lbs. 3 oz.! (Originally, I listed 9 lbs, but it was actually more!) Since I didn't have to deliver him, I think it's great that he comes with such chubby cheeks! I'm a sucker for chubby cheeks and fat thighs!
