February Round-Up!

It's hard to believe the first two months of 2020 have already passed! We had quite a bit going on in February (like we always do since it's BIRTHDAY month), so here is a recap of some of the fun we had!

The month began with a series of incredible sunrises. I'm so thankful we are typically awake early enough to enjoy God's beauty on display!

Brooke and Brecklyn turned five this month, and there were several times I just couldn't help but stare at them because they look so big. One Sunday before church, how grown up they're looking these days just really struck me. 

Brooke & Brecklyn

I mentioned a few posts ago that several of us had the flu early in the month. Before everyone was well enough to resume normal life, Chris had to go out of town on business. I sent him this photo on the first morning that everyone was well enough to go back to school. I'm always SO grateful when we're able to get back to our healthy life!

Later that same day, Chris sent me a text asking me how things were going. I replied to him with this photo:

The next day, the twins and I decided to go out for lunch after I picked them up from school (at 10:30am). We drove to a nearby town and went to one of our favorite places . . . Cane's! Bring us all the chicken and Cane's sauce 😋!

Valentine's Day always falls right in the middle of birthday celebrations, but we've never really done anything to celebrate it anyway. I'm definitely thankful for that now! The extent of our V-day celebration at home included dressing cute and taking a photo.

The twins, however, did have a Valentine's Day party at school. It's been so nice to be able to help out with their parties without other kids in tow. It was always hard to balance my kids in school and their younger siblings at parties, so being able to focus on just the girls has been great.

Brooke is always ready to party!

Brecklyn was excited about the party, too :-).

Cuties!

For their party, one of the moms decided we should have an ice cream sundae bar in addition to all the other treats. I understand that it's a special day, but I think allllllll the sugar is kind of over the top, for sure! However, since I was there to help with the party, I jumped in on serving the ice cream sundaes. 

Another mom brought a little craft for all the kids to do. Some of them could do it independently, but there were several kids that needed a lot of help. 

Brenson's class didn't have a party (his teacher doesn't like class parties, lol), but they were asked to decorate a box in order exchange Valentines with each other. I'm glad Bren likes to keep things simple!

All of our kids love going out to eat Hibachi, but we don't do it very often because of the cost. However, the last several years we have tried to go in February as part of birthday celebrations. As usual, it did not disappoint!

Chris, Brianna, and Brooke

Brecklyn, Chelle, Brenson

Last year, the big kids got to wear the dragon heads when the staff came to sing Happy Birthday to the kids. The twins couldn't wait for their turn to wear these silly heads!

Brooke

Brecklyn

Of course, they also love the sherbet dessert they get for their birthdays. I'll pass, haha!

Our friends, Ross and Tia, sold their house and moved this month. This has been a long time coming, but it makes me sad because now they are a little over 40 minutes away from us instead of 20 minutes away :-(. However, they plan to build a house on some land they own just outside of Tulsa, and we are excited for them to be pursuing that! During the moving process, Chris spent several evenings helping them while I watched the girls. Here I am on the way to ladies' bible study with SIX kids in tow!

I was happy to do my part to help with the move, but I think I definitely got the easy part!

Brianna reached a goal this month when she earned her bronze medal for running club. There have been some serious hiccups this year with a new system that was implemented to record laps for the students. Because of this, earning medals has been a challenge. I'm happy she persevered and was able to get that bronze (25 mile) medal, though!

Love my little runner girl!

Brecklyn and Brooke are going through a serious "horse" phase right now. They love these little horse figurines they have, and insist on taking them with us everywhere. Recently, they even took them to Pizza Hut when we were there for Brenson's basketball team lunch!

I dealt with a very sore throat and scratchy voice (it seems like it's always something!) for about a week, so Brianna took over the read aloud duties for me. It's amazing to be able to hand that job off when needed!

I can't believe these four are now 10, 8, and 5! The twins are now the age that Brianna was when they were born.

Brooke, Brenson, Brianna, and Brecklyn

Brenson has been doing guitar lessons for two years now, and I love watching his abilities continue to grow. His concentration face is also pretty cute :-).

One day the twins and I ran to Wal-mart as soon as I picked them up from school. Brecklyn was walking in front of me, and I noticed that her tights did not survive the two hour school day. HOW does this happen?!?

February is Jump Rope for Heart month at the kids' elementary school where they raise money for the American Heart Association. Brianna and Brenson both participated in the fund raising efforts and raised enough to participate in a slime contest between the principal and the PE teacher. These pics make me laugh because Bri is calmly pouring slime over her principal's head while Bren is in line just loving every minute!

When it was his turn, he also chose to slime the principal!

I was so glad that I stayed for Rise and Shine on the slime morning because the energy, noise level, and laughter in that gym were off the charts. The kids (and adults, haha) had the BEST time watching the principal and beloved PE teacher get slimed! 

Brianna and our soon-to-be neighbor, Parker enjoying the slime show!

The twins' pre-K teacher, Mrs. C, is really good about posting photos on the class FB page. I couldn't resist these photos of my cuties in their elephant hats :-).

Finally, this past February had an extra day as this is a leap year! Leap day fell on a Saturday, and all the kids got to do something special that day. The twins went and spent the morning with Grampy and G-Jo. Chris took Bren to a gun show and shooting contest. 

Bren during the shooting contest shooting a BB gun

He did pretty well for someone who has very little shooting experience!

While the others were enjoying their day, Brianna and I spent the day shopping together. We had a wonderful time, and decided to top it off with cheese, salad, and dessert at The Melting Pot. 

The Riverwalk was so pretty. Spring is coming!

Brianna was such a fun dinner date! Girl loves her food, and she just went on and on about the cheese fondue. 

Then, the chocolate came out, and she thought she was in heaven! Our waitress even brought out this plate celebrating our day together :-).

I am so grateful for this special time with my biggest girl. She really needed it, and it was wonderful that we were able to make it happen!

February is barely over, and our March calendar is already filling up fast! We are so blessed, and these are the little things I will always cherish.