Introducing Harry S. Truman...

Here's Rachel with her Harry S. Truman bust:

This is the first time we've had a school project that has required quite a bit of parent help. Although, to give Rachel credit, she did a lot on her own. She drew the eyes and lips and cut them out. She LOVED doing the paper mache and painting his face. She drew and cut the tie out all one her own. I was very impressed with her involvement. She also has to do an oral report on Harry S. Truman. She has a little note card she's prepared and I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job!

Sweet Note

Sweet note written by Audrey during Sacrament today:

Shoulder Rides

When Daddy is home it's tradition to get a shoulder ride from him on the way to bed. Imagine how proud Rachel was when she realized she was strong enough to give Audrey a shoulder ride:

Valentine's Day

I got to help out with the Valentine parties for both of the girls. Audrey's was on Thursday, since she doesn't go to school on Fridays. She was so excited to have me come help. We fed the kids some yummy snacks and played a few games.

 

Audrey was so excited to come home and go through her bag of valentines: 

She got a package of skittles and knows how much her daddy likes them, so she wrapped them up for him:

On Valentine's Day the kids woke up to a small box of chocolates and a little trinket or two, at their place setting for breakfast. While I was busy getting Rachel out the door for school, Ian helped himself to his chocolates:

That afternoon I got to go to Rachel's class to help with her party. I love that my girls love when I help in their classrooms. The kids decorated cookies and we played a few games. 

 

Natalie had come over to watch Audrey and Ian while I went to Rachel's party. When I came home these cute kiddos were playing outside:

We had a fun afternoon playing with the Mackays. For dinner I made pink heart-shaped pancakes. They were a hit! Andy and I don't go out until the 15th, because February 15th was actually when we went on out first date back in 2000.  The next night we got a babysitter and enjoyed a night out. We did something a bit different and went to watch some horse races. It was a lot of fun!

Playing Dress Up

Ian had us all giggling tonight as he proudly danced around as a dragon fairy?!?!? It's moments like this that I wish Andy was home at a more decent hour every night. He missed it... I sent him a picture, but it's definitely not the same.

Computer Time

This boy may only be 2 years old, but he loves some computer time. Today he was playing an animal sound game on the Fisher Price website. It's a good thing both sisters were at school today so he didn't have to fight for the computer...

The Hoglunds Visit Texas

In January we got a special treat when the Hoglund Family made a trip to Texas. We had so much fun while Ken, Amy, Liam, and Elsa were here. The weather was perfect while they were here and we spent a lot of time just playing, playing, and playing. For many of us, this was the first time meeting Elsa. She's such a sweet, happy baby. We had so much fun snuggling her and getting to know her. And it's always fun to get these 3 cousins who were all born within 7 months of each other, together:

My girls fell in love with Elsa. They both absolutely adored her... I think Elsa was Rachel's favorite lunch visitor this year!!!

One night I was barbecuing and these cute boys were supervising:

One day while they were here we went to Froberg Farms to pick strawberries. I didn't know you could do such a thing in January. But I guess on holiday weekends, they open up. And there were plenty of strawberries to pick and they were oh so delicious!!! We had fun with the Mackays and Hoglunds picking strawberries:

There were lots of strawberries picked between the 3 families!!!

Ian really likes Uncle Ken:

On Martin Luther King Day, we braved the crowds and went to the Children's Museum. It really wasn't too bad and the kids had a blast. We wowed the Utah folks, they thought Houston does a great job with their children's museum. The kids enjoyed themselves:

 

On the Hoglunds last night here we got Audrey and Elsa coordinated with their Christmas outfits. During December, I noticed several pictures of Elsa in a cute Christmas outfit very similar to Audrey's. So, I told Amy to bring it down and we took some pictures of these cuties together:

Hanging with Uncle Ken:

Amy was there too!!! I guess she and I were always the ones behind the camera. :) It was so much fun to have all these cousins together to play and enjoy one another. Family time is so precious and we're grateful when we get to spend time with any of them... And sometimes we even have some very memorable good-byes. Ian's not much of a kisser (I usually get about 1 kiss a month), so he surprised us all when he was willing to kiss Liam good-bye!

Thank you Hoglund Family, for coming down to visit!!!

Home Depot Fun

Home Depot has free kids workshops every first Saturday of the month. Andy has taken the girls in the past. He actually took them in January when they made a wooden calendar. This month they were making a race car and we decided Ian needed to experience his first workshop so that he'd get a race car as well. Ian was more than ready to put the tools and paint brushes to work. The Mackays met us there as well. It was a fun little morning activity. This time of year we don't see much of Andy, so it was fun to do something as a family.