February- Week Two

More of Marty in his "human" positions.

(insert eye roll emoji here) Tyler loves wearing his mask at home. Well, he wears this gaiter one at home, but his other one at school. He thinks he looks like a ninja.

You can't leave anything that is soft on the floor. Marty will chew it up in a heartbeart. This time was a soft football thing.

I got this oven for the propane grill. I bought it a few months ago and decided to try it out. I made muffins (forgot to take a picture) and it worked pretty well. It took awhile to heat up, but it WAS below freezing that day so I'm sure that had a little to do with it. It does use up your propane, but it is a nice option if the power goes out.

I was working in the boys room and of course Marty had to join me. He's so cute. 

He's cute until he digs holes.... then I'm a little irritated. He digs really quickly and oh the mud and grass that was stuck in his feet and all the mud on his nose! What a mess!

 
Lee and I went on a fancy date to the grocery store (we went on a nicer date the weekend before. ) We stopped by what used to be one of our favorite fast food places (Bojangles) but they've completely changed the menu! We will not be eating there anymore. Such a shame. 

My Annual Hot Chocolate Run was virtual this year. My usual group couldn't get together, so I was grateful that Lee was willing to do it with me. We just walked because it was really cold, but we did it.

Will created a birthday party for a pet monkey. I have no idea why he wanted to do it, but he did. He had treats and everything. It was fun.

 This week also included Valentines Day. It was a low-key say as it was the start of an ice storm. So church was canceled and we spent the day eating candy and watching movies. Lee and I had gone out to a nicer dinner the week before. I got a good nap. It was a nice, relaxing day! 

It's February! Week One

The start of February greeted us with more SNOW. It was just a dusting and didn't shut anything down. But it was like the 5th snow this season, which is rare for us.

 

Tyler has these pair of pants, with hole in them, that he kept wearing, despite being told to throw away. So one night I just ripped them to make the holes so big he wouldn't be able to anymore. Well, Amy and even Marty joined in the fun and needless to say, the pants are in garbage now.

Uncle Bobby and Cici sent me a late birthday card. I laughed when it was the same one Lee got me. Apparently I have a bit of an ego!

Due to Covid, there haven't been any archery tournaments this year. But they finally had one and Amy came in 4th place from all the middle school girls in the county. She was really excited. I was at that tournament and there was a coach from the other team who (jokingly) kept trying to get her to transfer to his school because he was so impressed with her shooting. She's so funny because she does not fit the "typical" archer (country, likes shooting animals, etc) but she loves it. She would rather die than shoot an animal! She's breaking the mold a little and I love that. And she's worked hard to improve and it's paying off.

We subscribe to Drawn In with David Bowman and love it. He draws the scripture stories as he talks and it captivates all of us. That talent!

Tyler had an option to submit a family tree for one of his assignments. So I just printed one off Family Search. I thought it was neat that his teacher wrote "Very Cool!" on it.

We had a bonfire for a youth night. Yes, it was cold, nearly freezing out. But it was so fun. Bishop Barry gave a great spiritual thought about the bonfire and how to have to be pretty close to it to feel it's heat. In fact, most of us that were turned towards it, our backsides were cold because they were turned away. He likened that to the Spirit and how we need to stay really close to it at all times. It was a neat night.

I've been substitute teaching a lot lately. One of the kids drew this of me. I was both flattered and saddened. Sad because of the mask thing. No one knows what anyone looks like!

Our cuddle dog.

Who has been digging holes all over the backyard. It's driving me crazy. I think he's after the moles that are digging tunnels everywhere. But all that dirt makes such a mess, not to mention the holes everywhere.

Tyler was at the kitchen table when Lee mopped it one day. Lee gave him strict orders not to get down until it was dry. But Lee got the floor really wet so Tyler got tired of staying there. So he developed this schooch system to get the living room. It was funny to watch.

The end of the week brought a visit from Meme and Papa! They were on their way back up to Anna's ans stopped for 2 nights to hang out with us. Marty always curls right up to Dad. We had MORE snow (I tried to convince them they were "snowed in," it didn't work) and we watched the Super Bowl together. We used our annual guessing sheets- Will won this year. He was also the only one rooting for the Buccaneers, so he was a double winner.

 

This was just something funny I saw online. I have no idea what a Long Range Mormon is, but it sounds good??

Ending January

Amy made these for an assignment for school. But I couldn't help but be in awe of her artwork. The artists in the family seem to be in this next generation. I know Amy, Will and Tyler have been growing into their skills and so are Anna's kids.

Marty always sits by Lee when he's eating. Guess who the pushover is?? :)

My birthday came and went. We had a plan for the day and then it got waylaid. Since Will and Tyler were already home (school being shut down) I asked Amy if she wanted to stay as well. Of course she jumped at that. Later on we took Tyler to a doctor appointment because he's been complaining a lot about his heart hurting. (Two weeks later he saw a cardiologist who said everything was normal.) We ended up getting take out from a local restaurant and I bought a cake from a local bakery. Both were great and low-key. My goal each year is to do some kind of gardening and I was able to do a little which made me happy. Lee's mom got me the shovel I've been wanting so I was excited about that as well. Anything that says "root-slayer" just has to be awesome, right??

Lately Marty has been cuddling up to the boys more and they just love it. Sometimes they are just "too in his face" and he doesn't like that.

We did a fun object lesson one Sunday with our friends. The kids each had a piece of string where one end was tied to the same rubberband. Using teamwork they had to created a tower with cups. It took them awhile to get the hang of it, but they did it.

We've been playing the game "Among Us" as a family at night. It's actually pretty fun (as far as video games go- I'm not a huge gamer.) What I like best is we are all doing it together. Laughing, arguing about who is the imposter, etc.

Some of my broccoli sprouted. That was fun!

 

And Marty likes to pretend he's a human. He curls right into you and dreams away.

 And that wraps up January!