In like a lion

March is finally here. I have mixed feelings about March. On one hand it is the month that begins spring but on the other hand you have to wade through a lot of mud and slush to get there.

This is Henry killing time before heading out the door to do fast offerings. We got slammed with snow again so I managed to talk him into wearing his snow boots with his church clothes. I had to show him the group text with the other deacon parents to prove that other boys were bunding up too.

Our neighbor two houses down has been making good use of the snow by making huge snow sculptures. Last week it was a bison, this week an elephant. Since my kids are the only kids on the street, I'd like to think he makes them just for them.

At least it's pretty once in awhile.

And then came the rain. Rain on top of snow means lots of water in the gutters and street. Erica's friend gave her some rainboots and this was the perfect day to try them out. James is wearing snowboots and they both came in with sopping wet pants.

On Friday for some reason I'm still not sure of my kids had a day off of school. Justin also stayed home from work so we did pretty much the only thing you can do on a cold and wet day, go to a museum! Henry was not excited. "This is not what I want to do on my day off." Since what he wanted to do on his day off was watch TV I made him come. I wanted to see an exhibit at the BYU art museum.

The littles peering down into the portion of the library that extends underground.

So I like old things and I like art so I was kind of geeking out at this Souls and Sacraments exhibit. Most of the art was from Europe. Old+art+Europe=Awesome. I was unprepared for the level of fine art I was about to see. I've never been to a big fancy art museum anywhere so this was the coolest exhibit I've ever seen. I took a lot of photos of paintings but I'll just make a note of a few here. 

Dutch golden age painting is my most favoritest era everrrrr. I don't know this artist but I like seeing a real painting from the era. 

My heart about stopped with Justin pointed out this painting. We saw a Tanner painting  on Antiques Roadshow and really liked it and looked up more of his work and I really like his style. Plus he's famous so I was not expecting to see one of his paintings in li'l ol' Provo.

My kids were a little thrown off by religious art done by people not of our religion. Halos, angels with wings, baby Jesus with adult proportions and face. It made for some interesting discussion about what we can learn about other religions through their art and also how art technique has evolved. I was busting out words I hadn't used since college. It was great. They even kind of listened.

"Kiddos, this is so old. And it's from Europe. It hung in a church forever ago." They got kind of tired of me saying things like that. But I didn't get tired of saying it. The painting below is the oldest one we found. Seven hundred years old! 

After all the old fine art we wandered to another part of the museum where Justin found a little gem.

Looks just like Ichabod!

Speaking of old pictures, later that day my mom showed me this photograph of my dad and his brother and sister. He's the littlest one. Aren't they so cute? 

I put away all the snow clothes today. Sure it will snow again and the forecast doesn't even have us out of the 40s yet but I by golly I am going to will us to spring! 40s actually feel nice. Will March stay true to form and go out like a lamb? 

Februweary

You know the month is going a little slow when new carts at Costco seem so interesting. I wish Walmart would replace their carts. It takes 5 tries to find one worth pushing around.

James made a tricorn hat in honor of George Washington. He couldn't remember Washington's name but he remembered tricorn hat. On Monday we went out for tacos because nothing says President's Day like Mexican food.

Erica chose chocolate fondu for her treat night. I'd never made it before but it was simple and it was a hit. Our favorite things to dip were marshmallows and strawberries. Doritos got a thumbs down.

Henry's basketball season ended. We had some crazy Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and he missed more YM than I would have liked so I'm glad it's over. I think he enjoyed himself since his team always won if Bennett was playing. Plus he got a doughnut on the last day so all in all it was a good season.

Last week we got dumped on so there was a 2-hour delay for school. 

8.5 inches but some parts of the valley got way more. And I want to mention that Henry owns pants, coat, and gloves but I can't get him to wear them.

I asked the kids if the day felt short since it was 2 hours late and they all said no, it actually felt longer. Go figure. Kindergarten was cancelled so James hung out with Justin and I all day. We went to the grocery store and then James and I watched Sword in the Stone since he'd never seen it.

Never a bad day when I find 20 of these on my photo reel.

Our stake did a Book of Mormon experience. They handed out pages from the Book of Mormon for everyone to highlight names and references to Christ then we got to go see the display one night.

It was cool to see all the pages and how much they are highlighted. The kids tried to find people they knew

We even found our own!

And there were cookies at the end. Lots of cookies. Sarah didn't make it because she was at a school dance.

We (mostly Justin) put up curtains in the living room. I had always felt the room was a little unfinished. I bought the only 11-foot curtains on Amazon. I think they complete the room quite nicely. In case you're wondering how we did the rods on these tricky bay windows: I bought 2 rods and we split and trimmed one rod (you know how they come apart) and overlapped the brackets where they met the whole center rod. So there's a raw, cut edge against the window wall and the finial out towards the room.

They stay closed most of the time which I don't like the look of as much but we need the insulation. Our bedroom gets even colder at night so they must be keeping the living room warmer.

As much as I love shopping my local grocery store (25 cent half and half, 99 cent per pound ham), I have to question the marketing on this.

I don't know what it is but it is soft and squishy. No sign, no weight on the package. What is it? Is it a good deal? We'll never know because I didn't buy one.

I've said it before: kindergartners are the best. Helping in James's class is a highlight of my week.

"My mom is in bed. The doctor said she couldn't drive but she did anyways."

And that's February. I know the weather doesn't magically change once we hit March but I still look forward to knowing that the end of winter is in sight. There has to be some good weather days soon. Just has to.

Valentimes

 I was sitting in the front room the other afternoon and heard loud whispering and rustling at the front door. So I checked the doorbell camera and watched without laughing too loudly some girls from primary at our door. Then they rang the doorbell and ran.

But they didn't run for too long. After they crossed the street they slowed to a saunter.

They heart attacked our door and left a treat for Justin. It was so sweet of them and my kids loved seeing the hearts too. I still laugh remembering how not quiet they were.

Not sure if James meant for this selfie he left on my phone to be a Valentine but I'd like to think so.

James was home sick with pinkeye for a couple of days and he was so bored. He watched boat racing for a good while. 

Henry had an orchestra concert. He also had basketball game and a YM activity all the same night. He did great at his concert and had a lot of fun. We rushed from the concert to get him to his basketball game but he had to miss sledding with the deacons.

Last weekend Justin and I spent a night in Salt Lake just for fun and to get away from things for 24 hours. This is the view out the window in our room. 

James didn't have to make a Valentine box but by-golly he was going to! He's been watching his sibling for years make and take boxes to school.

He wanted to build a skyscraper but he got a little carried away with the hearts and so it's just a tall box with hearts.

He did all the decorating himself and was so proud of it.

Erica was throwing up the day before and didn't feel like making a box. She still had the refrigerator from last year.

She made some repairs and a few changes and she was good to go. I think she was glad to get more use out of something she worked so hard on.

I helped at her class party that afternoon. We ate cookies and played Bold at my rotation.

They were getting ready to pass out Valentines just as I was leaving. I loved Valentine's day in elementary school.

Later the kids opened their Valentine package from auntie Lisa. They get so excited about this every year.

Then before our taco dinner they opened up their little tin mailbox Valentines stuffed with candy and a book from me.

Last year I totally spaced getting them books until this very moment. This year I had them all ordered in January.

And then Henry, Sarah, and Justin left for the church for their activities. We were supposed to have the priests quorum at our house but they were all no shows (Justin said if they had a date they were excused but I doubt that's what happened) so Justin and I played Bang with the littles instead. And now I've got a bunch of sugar cookie dough and frosting in my freezer for myself so I can't be too sad.