In like a lion. . .

Our school had its annual Fun Fair. Curtis used all of the tickets he won to get these antlers. More dress up!


A huge storm blew through, knocking power out across town. School ended up getting canceled. We had our fire to keep us warm.


Mabel's in heaven - she loves getting her belly rubbed.






We celebrated Read Across America Week and read a lot of Dr. Seuss.




The school had a banquet honoring all of the 5th and 6th grade students who were on a basketball or cheerleading team. Each coach had two awards to give out. Our coach chose "MVP" and "Mental Attitude". Bella won the "Mental Attitude" award!


All of the award winners from the various teams.




Bella and I shared socks for Wacky Sock day. I'm glad she still wants to do things like this with me!


We also had a lot of fun with Crazy Hat day!


Andy bought a new car! If you will recall, he actually bought a Ford Focus back in December. After our close friend's fatal car accident, we decided that he should be driving something bigger. And this works much better for our family. We are loving our new Black Beauty a.k.a. Kia Kilps!


Graydon's teeny snowman that he made with the teeny snow that we got.


Sweet Mabel loves her bed.

Father Daughter Dance

All dressed up and ready for their date night.








While Andy and Bella went to their dance, the boys and I had our own night out. Earlier in the day, I googled ideas of fun things to do with the boys. One of the things that came up was taking an "architectural tour" of Columbus. I laughed to myself as I pictured the boys' boredom over looking at buildings. But, later when Graydon asked what we'd be doing that evening, I blurted out, "an architectural tour of Columbus!" He was not happy. I kept up this charade as we headed out for the night. The first stop on our "architectural tour" was McDonald's so the boys could look at the golden arches. . . and get Happy Meals.


The toy inside was decks of cards, so we played a game of War after finishing up our meals.

The next stop on our "architectural tour" was Chuck E. Cheese. I don't like their pizza, which is why we ate somewhere else. I just bought them a ton of coins to play games.


We ended our evening and "architectural tour" by getting some ice cream from Dairy Queen.

Andy and Bella ended their night similarly at Culver's.


I love date nights.

Finishing up February

This little guy just loves to dress up!


Bible-reading in bed. He knows where his true super powers come from.


Curtis earned his Bobcat award at Cub Scouts.




He's at it again!


A Mabel photo bomb! I like to take pictures of school work - stuff I want to remember but don't necessarily want to hold on to. Looks like Mabel wanted to be sure I would remember her too.


Bella participated on our school's Math Bowl team this year.


Teams of students from each school answered math problems.


Hope Elementary came in first place!!


Graydon got his yellow belt!




More dressing up: Cowboy Curtis this time.


Mabel supervising Graydon's bath time.


The boys have graduated to a new chore: sock and underwear sorting. I love not doing this one anymore.

Pinewood Derby

The boys worked hard on their cars and race day finally arrived!


Gentlemen, start your engines!




Curtis's car consistently came in second place. Not too bad!

Graydon's den was up next.


He had a really fast car last year. We wondered how it would go this year.


Well. . .  not too great, at first.


He came in 3rd and 4th in the first couple of heats. And then someone had the brilliant idea for him to turn his car around. When he did that, he started winning!


He ended up coming in THIRD place for the whole pack!






Curtis was a little disappointed because he was really hoping for a big trophy this year. But they all had fun racing their cars, so that's a win. :)