Lessons learned in January and February...

I've tried to think of some clever or witty way to relay to everyone what the last several weeks have been like in our house, but as it has been a month since my last post I've obviously failed to come up with something creative. Bullet points and a few photos will just have to give a recap....

* Lesson #1 - never pay for an activity during cold/flu season. Brody threw up at class #1, and Ella threw up on the way to class #2, the ice and snow cancelled class #3, we DID make it to class #4 (the last one)...class #3 was made up and Ella threw up in the car on the way to that one too. So she got 50% of the classes. For what it is worth, she LOVED it and still practices her ballet.

The three girlies...Taelee, Isabella and Ella

* Lesson #2 - some crayons and paper and a sucker make Valentines Day the best for little kids. Ella was invited to a Valentines party for her little friends and the highlight was of course the exchanging of Valentines. During the process I discovered Ella figured out how to write her name (one less thing I have to teach her, right?) * Lesson #3 - Enjoy the sun, you never know how long it will last. After a full week inside, followed by two mild days only to be hit with more snow, we were ready to be outside! On the first sunny day we went over to the lake to have a picnic and play on our bikes. Aside from the terrible allergies - I am so looking forward to SPRING weather. I just hope it stays "springy" for a long time - I am not ready for the heat yet.
* Lesson #4 - Our dad is the greatest. Brandon spoiled the kids with Valentines Day treats and surprised me with some tulips. We all loved our surprise.

* Lesson #5 - Birthdays can be celebrated year round. Sort of....with my Dad's unexpected surgery in January we hadn't had a chance to get together to celebrate the kids' birthdays with them until February 19th. We got frozen yogurt and opened presents...

Ella loves her new princess blanket! It gets dragged around the whole house!

And, Brody has slept in his new sleeping bag every night since he opened it.

* Lesson #6 - (Perhaps the most importatnt)...always keep a bag in the car, because after almost every one of these fun activities mentioned above, Ella threw up in the car. 4 Saturdays in a row, without fail. We started to think she was allergic to church because she wasn't able to go for so long. We also learned that one tums is equal to two children's pepto bismo tablets. Now we keep some in the car, just in case. And, just for good measure, we've decided to stop going out on Saturdays.