Toxic

"Mom, you know how we shouldn't stay in toxic relationships? Well, I think I'm in a toxic relationship. With math. It keeps trying to get me to solve its problems. " -Phoebe, after working on her math assignments yesterday.

The Perfect Disguise

"Mom! Can you see me?"

Different and the Same

This picture was taken sixteen years ago today. Hmm, I think one of them has changed a bit more than the other.

When I downloaded this picture I discovered that someone had titled it "Peter is Awesome! And Cute!" That's something that hasn't changed.

Jump and Dance

We all enjoyed the parade at Sesame Place, but Topher really loved the music.

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?

Some of our friends have season passes to Sesame Place, a small amusement park based on Sesame Street, and invited us to join them on Monday for an adventure. Bryan had to work and Peter and Cooper had plans with the other youth from church so I took Phoebe, Sophie, and Topher.

Can you spot Cookie Monster in his Mardi Gras finest?

The park was only open for a few hours, but we made the most of the time and enjoyed several rides.

We got a kick out of the Broadway show poster parodies we saw near the theater. Not pictured: Abby (instead of Annie), Scent (Rent, with a silhouette of Snuffy's trunk), Preschool of Rock (School of Rock), and Bearspray (Hairspray).

Can you see Les Monsterables in the edge of the picture?

Our whole group got to take a picture with Telly.

We found Big Bird's nest.

The whole park was celebrating Mardi Gras. That's why the kids were able to try beignets for the first time. They were big fans.

We went on one last ride while we waited for the parade at the end of our visit.

The weather was perfect and delightfully warm for President's Day. It was fun to hang out with friends in such a fun place.

Gingerbread Houses: Valentine's Day Edition

Originally the plan was to make gingerbread houses at Christmas time. December got so busy that we decided we would save them to make when Bryan's parents were visiting. And then we got COVID and the gingerbread house plan got shelved indefinitely. When we started to feel better the kids asked when those gingerbread houses would be built. It occurred to me that Christmas isn't the only time for such an activity. What if we did them for Valentine's Day?

That's why on Sunday afternoon we gathered at our table with graham crackers (a switch from our usual prepackaged kits), frosting, sprinkles, and candy.

The consensus between the kids is that they preferred the creative freedom of using graham crackers instead of precut gingerbread pieces. Topher and I both appreciated pulling out my collection of frosting tubes and using several of them up, though my reasons were decidedly different from his.

Here's Peter's house:

Phoebe's auto shop:

Topher's layered creation:

Cooper's Halloween inspired edifice:

And Sophie ski chalet:

It was a messy but fun activity.

Heather on the Door

I saw a YouTube tutorial for making a wreath using Dollar Store materials and decided to give it a try. I'm delighted with the result. Now that Valentine's Day is over, I guess I'm ready for spring.

Vitamin D

Wednesday got up to a balmy sixty-five degrees so I took the younger three to the park. They ran and played and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. The wind was pretty ferocious, so it felt colder than it was, but it was still lovely to be outside.

Sound It Out

On Saturday Topher wanted to play doctor. He got a piece of paper, used his safety scissors to trim it down so it would fit on his toy doctor's clipboard, and went to work sounding out words. I told him that the "f" sound in Sophie's name used the same letters that make that sound in his name. He did the rest on his own. He told me that this says, "Sophie the patient."

I think it's awesome.

Food Is the Food of Love

Like most holidays at our house, yesterday was all about the fancy food. The kids had bagels with Nutella and festive sprinkles for breakfast.

Then a few of them had heart shaped sandwiches for lunch.

We finished the day with chicken salad on croissants and small Valentine bags which are not pictured. Also not pictured: Peter. He was still at school when we had our fun dinner.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Curls

While the older kids in our ward were at the dance on Saturday, the younger youth were doing a service project and hanging out together. Phoebe asked if I could figure out how to curl her new haircut before she went. I tried once, many years ago, to learn how to curl hair with a straightener and had no success. I told her I'd try again. I bought the correct size straightener (that probably would have helped the first time), watched a YouTube video, and gave it the old college try. 

I think it worked out.

Sophie liked the result so much that she asked me to curl her hair on Sunday for church. Yay for finally learning that skill.

Happy Valentine's Day from these lovely ladies!

Everybody Dance Now

Cooper went to his first stake dance on Saturday night. Peter attended his second. Most of the church dances here are casual dress, but because this was for Valentine's Day everyone was encouraged to be fancy. Cooper used some of his own money to buy his pants and tie. They obliged when I asked for a picture as they waited for the their ride.

They both loved it. They danced the whole time and each asked several girls to dance. It was such a success that they both keep telling me details about the night and Cooper has asked when the dance will take place.

Quilting

Recently Sophie learned about print making in her school art class. She made several prints during her experimenting.

The next assignment was to take those prints, cut them up, and create paper quilts with the pieces. I think the result is really cool.

Long, Long Ago

I've been getting several "On this day 17 years ago" pictures from Google Photo. Since Peter predates the blog by about two and a half years, I figured I should add a baby picture of him. Here's Peter, on February 8, 2006. 

He's changed a bit.

Wheels

Topher and I were practicing writing his name for school yesterday. After he finished with letters, he moved on to drawing. He drew this trash truck, then showed it to me and said, "That's a lot of wheels." Bryan counted and discovered that Topher had created an 18-wheeler without even trying.

More Grown Up

After much deliberation, Phoebe had several inches cut off her hair and got layers for the first time. She asked me what I thought of her new hairstyle. I said it was cute and definitely not a little kid haircut. Then I asked for a picture. Topher heard that and jumped right in.

Frozen

Friday and Saturday were cold. SOOOOO cold. On Friday evening I dropped Phoebe at a friend's house a few minutes away, froze walking her up to the door, and informed them that Bryan would be picking her up because it was too cold for me to go outside again. Bryan was a good sport and agreed that I should stay home. On Saturday morning I looked out my kitchen window only to discover this ice that had formed on the outside. This was during the warmer part of the day, so that paints a picture of just how cold it was.

I made good use of my time on this frigid Saturday freeing up space in my spice cupboard by pouring from these

into these. It was a good use of a very cold day.