Farewell to February

I'm documenting February. Starting with our quick trip to Austin.

Austin is a great city.  I have cousins there.  The state capitol is there.  Austin is full of Texas pride.  We visited the Texas History Museum and IMAX. (we saw Flight of the Butterflies - I really can't stand 3D but this film was amazing.) I hardly took any pictures, but we had a blast.  And the good news is, Nate found the desk of his dreams - which is the whole reason we went to Austin in the first place.  Call us crazy.

The evening sky was spectacular on our drive home.

Isaac discovered on Sunday that if he buttons up his suit coat, he looks like a secret agent. You would be surprised how much "spy gear" those pockets can hold.  Despite the general assumption that children grow out of it, the world can rest assured that Isaac's imagination and flair for theatrics continues to live on.

Valentine's Day came and went. Jess invited us over for their traditional Red and White dinner - which she cooked and decorated for while also babysitting my kids.  I felt like a queen arriving just in time for the grand feast.   Nate was in D.C. so we celebrated our love via. . . nothing.  Just kidding.  We devoured two cookie-sheets full of chocolate covered strawberries on the Sunday after he returned.  And the kids discovered the magic of chocolate-dipped heaven.

The boys also painted some Valentine's posters in art class.  Which, in their attempt to avoid girly/Valentiny colors, they inadvertently produced some very fine St. Patrick's Day decorations.  Woohoo.  Two birds with one stone.

We attended a lot of scout activities.  A lot.  Which meant a lot of fun.  A lot of rough housing to referee.  And a lot of new beads, belt-buckles, and patches that still need sewing.

Barbara Bush came (with her dog) to visit her namesake school.  Parents weren't allowed for security reasons but I heard all about it from the kids.  I also just happen to have a picture of her with my parents.  She spoke at one of my dad's humanitarian events back in the day (when my dad still had hair).  Anyway, it turns out Clayton got a chance to ask Mrs. Bush a question.  He asked her what her main responsibilities were as a first lady.  (good question, right?) Her answer was surprising and perfect and it made me love her all the more.  She said, "The most important responsibility of a first lady is to be a good wife to the president.  To support him, encourage him, and love him.  And also to be a good mother to her children and to the country.  After that it's just dinner parties."

Speaking of my parents, they made it back alive from the Amazon jungle with plenty of stories to tell.  I love this picture taken in the central plaza of Piura in Peru.

 This is definitely my dad's dream pet.

 And this cute baby monkey is definitely my mom's.  We had so much fun reading their emails from the Amazon (whenever they were close enough to civilization to find an internet connection, that is.)

 Clayton finished another composition.  He entered this one in a contest and had to follow specific writing requirements.  When he played it for his piano teacher she said, "Um, it's okay.  But you better not submit this one."  Too bad.  The deadline for the competition was the following week so in it went.  I love it regardless.

Brigham managed to pull off perfect behavior marks for an entire week.  For the first time this year.  We celebrated BIG TIME!!! 

Go Brig!

The kids have been really into Black History Month for some reason this year.  It totally takes me back to my teaching days in Chicago.  February was by far the most celebrated month of the year with assembly after assembly, speaker after speaker, and party after party.  I'm glad to see my own kids getting excited about all the people who have made a difference in our country.

Clayton had some time to kill while waiting for the other kids to finish the Math benchmark exam.  So he cut up his scratch paper.  Without using any tape or glue, these paper pieces fit together precisely and securely to create either a. . .

crab. . .

or a rocket ship.

The way his brain works amazes me.  I definitely wouldn't have thought to do this in my spare time after a test. . . which was never.

Nate was chopping tree roots with a hatchet and accidentally broke a main sprinkler pipe.  The water shot 20 feet into the air, flooded our whole driveway, and we had to shut down the water to whole house to get it to stop.  The kids all went nuts with umbrellas and had themselves quite a water party.

Lydia's developments for the month include arguing (she's a Smith, what can we say?) in unintelligible baby-language about everything.  If you ask her a simple question like, "Are you ready for lunch?"  She'll answer quite forcibly, "No! Ay ah ah uh bye ay ahah uh bay dowee."  Which translated means, "No!  I want to play with my baby doll so stop telling me what to do."

She also gets pretty competitive with the stroller races and demolition stroller derbies around the house.  These girls have way too much fun together!  But Lydia's favorite pastime is pulling (and eating) gross things out of the garbage that belong in the garbage. And throwing things in the garbage that don't belong there (like my keys, my phone, Clayton's homework, an unopened box of cereal, you name it).  It's all we can do to keep up with her these days.

The Primary president asked Eliza what she wanted to be when she grows up.  She said, "A pink princess and I'm already growd up."  She's living the dream as I speak.  Eliza spends her days dressed up and ordering her dolls (and her little sister, and brothers. . . and mother, for that matter) around.  But she's not always bossy.  She can also be very sweet and mothering.  She'll spend hours reading to her baby dolls and carefully tucking them in.  And if ever anyone gets hurt, she insists that she be the one to hug them, put a blanket or a band-aid on them, and "feel them better".

Her favorite pastime is dancing (twirling herself dizzy) with her dolls while the boys do their piano practicing.

See? Even when I think nothing happened this month, it turns out everything did.  Life is full. . . and wonderful.  I have so much to be thankful for in February.