Iphone Update (Take two) and Valentines Day highlights

I know, I know.   Again with the iphone photos.   

Man, I wish I'd take the time to write a real journal entry and document all the good things happening in our family life - but 7 pictures from my phone are all I have to show for the past few weeks.   Perhaps, instead of always feeling guilty about not writing, I should take this as a sign that I am off living a great life and am much too busy to blog?    (Or maybe it's just that my priorities are all outta whack.  If I spent the time blogging that I do watching Netflix....)

Anyhoo...  Another iphone update, coming right up:

1.  February began with a birthday party in memory of Grandma Hardy.   Grandpa joined us for dinner, as always, but he surprised us by bringing KFC from Lethbridge.   This made me smile, because nothing says party to some of my kids like KFC does.  haha.   Rachel, Maddax and Savanna joined us for dinner as well - which made it feel extra special!   I'd gone down earlier in the day and purchased a few pink balloons with helium and we gave the kids a few minutes to write a quick memory/loving thought about Grandma.   We tied those notes to the balloons and then sent them up to Heaven.   Well, of course not really up to heaven.   They probably ended up in a tree somewhere along Lee Creek - but still.   It was meant to metaphorically turn the kids thoughts to Grandma, and for a few short minutes, I think it did.   Besides, who doesn't love letting go of a helium balloon and watching it disappear into the pitch black winter sky?    

2.  The second picture was taken one evening as I was cuddling with the girls.   Of course no one in the photo was actually asleep, we were all faking it.   We took about 100 shots of us pretending to sleep.  Then Jessica stood up and performed her "footloose" routine that she's been learning.  Then Abby tried to weasel a few more minutes worth of studio C on her ipod.... but eventually they did fall asleep.   Sigh...our bedtime routine could use some fine tuning;)

3.  Abby is going to Ottawa this spring with the Girls choir that she is a part of.  It's kinda a big deal.   For starters,  Abby has never really travelled away from home before without us, which has got me nervous.   In addition to that, she is about to travel further east then John or I ever have, which has got me kinda jealous;)     Early in February she (along with her choir mates) prepared almost 400 pizzas as a fundraiser.   I'm telling ya, that was a LOT of pizza!

4.  For about a week, Sam was obsessed with a science experiment he was doing at school.   John and I were largely in the dark about it, which was frustrating, especially because he kept adding to the list of items we needed to procure for him.     A bike pump, rubber stopper, hose, , matches, water jug...

Sam kept insisting that he was supposed to bring all of those items to school, and I insisted that if he was supposed to - then surely I'd have heard about it.  Turns out, his teacher had given them a chance to do any experiment they want to and had left it entirely in their hands.   I was actually impressed at how excitedly Sam took that and went with it.  The result - he was able to make fog. Cool beans!   

5.  Nate is a genuine Picasso in the making.   I adore his sly little smile.  That's all there is to say about that.

6.  John and the kids LOVE perusing the YouTube channel "King of Random."   They've made all sorts of things (inspired by him) from homemade stress balls to apple swans.   Recently John and the boys whipped up these darling little "Bitty-Qs" for future hot dog roasts.  They are each made out of an emptied pop can.  (The hardest part of this project was waiting long enough for John to find some discarded energy drink cans at school.  They're the perfect little size)   Once made, you just place hot coals in the bottom, lay a wiener on the grill, and BBQ until your hearts content!   

Yup folks - this is what happens when John gets his craft on!

7.  The last picture to share in this post is of a beautifully sunny February day in which John, the kids and friends enjoyed an impromptu game of Jackpot.   

It's been an unusually warm February, one in which tossing around the ol' football and making tiny BBQs makes perfect sense!

And what would a February post be without mention of Valentines Day!
I truly love watching my kids prep their classmates valentines each year.   Nate and Sam cared little about it, I admit.   Abby took a bag of heart shaped chocolates to pass around.   And Jess - well, she worked her darling little fingers off making homemade Valentines for everyone remotely dear to her.  Her teachers, siblings, favorite elderly couple, Grandpa ... they all got hand made Valentines.  This one that she made for Abby was particularly delightful:

"Dear Abby.  ...You are my only sister and my favorite.  Even though we are having a big fight, you are still fairly nice and fun to be around.   I am sorry that I have been doing and saying things that I shouldn't have. ...Love, your sorry sister Jessica "

Um...could she be any sweeter?!

"I must have flowers, always and always!" - Monet