Love ya

February was a super busy month so far. We had 100 day of school and Courtney didn't want to completely look like a 100 year old woman. Just kinda. I kept saying grandmas have grey hair and wear cardigans and have wrinkles and she would reply that is wrong because her nana doesn't have that stuff! Haha boots wore a shirt that took me a surprising amount of time. 100 safety pins attached: and Natalie was 100 balloons on her shirt. Thanks school for another day I have to work really hard for a picture! Haha  

Brian's cousin Brandon got his mission call. This has been much anticipated and we were so excited for him to finally open it! He got called to India English-speaking. We were also shocked his dad asked him to make sure it didn't say Indiana! Sure enough it is India and he reports next month. He is going to have such a excellent mission.

We have had lots of fun with friends after school, lots of time with cousins, Nana came to visit for a while and even aunt Robin and uncle Brian came for a visit. February has felt like it has flown by as we also started soccer and baseball season for Natalie and (boots).

Snow!

Stephen had a doctors appointment yesterday in the morning and begged and bagged that I would let him stay home as there was a small small chance that it may snow. I thought it until he convinced me with his sweet little smile so I allowed him to stay home and have a mental health day. Early in the afternoon we started to see some very small snowflakes out on the trampoline, slowly it's not a little bit more in a little bit more. He had so much fun playing in the backyard and jumping on the trampoline. He brought two bowls out and put them on the table to collect snow for his sisters when they got home from school. He is such a sweet boy. He ended up filling two bowls with snow for them. Texas snow is very silly when you compare it to Canada but for my kids this was so much fun! And for me this is so cold! In boots his defense, he did have a really bad ear infection.

Ouch

I am an idiot. Some friends of ours got a hover board for Christmas and I have always wanted to try it out even though I know it is dangerous and I am clumsy. I tried it out tonight's ago and did fine until it was time to get off, as I took 1 foot off I did not calculate that the other end would fly around and out from under me. I try to grasp onto the couch and ended up falling to the ground.

I bruised my bicep, my buttocks, and really hurt my finger. I went into go see Sean today because I was convinced I had broken my finger. It hurt to bend. After an x-ray and an examination he let me know that I only sprained my finger. I feel so foolish, especially because Brian warned me so many times not to do it. I guess I should feel lucky I didn't break anything! I will never buy one of those for my own home!

Tough cookie

Natalie is one of the hardest girls to read and to get along with. She is constantly challenging me and we butt heads quite a bit. I try so hard to make her kind and to help her see that that is the right way to be. We try to teach our children to be more like Jesus and for some reason it takes a lot to help it set in with her. She really struggles with this.

Today she walked in from school obviously upset about something that happened on their way home. Courtney and her paw come with another pair sisters, mercy and Lynne. They had gotten into an argument on the way home about something Silly and everybody had said somethings that they didn't mean and that wasn't very nice. When Natalie came home she explained her side of the story and she said she felt really bad and didn't know if they were going to be friends again. Mercy is her favorite friend at school so this really upset her. Natalie decided that the right thing to do would be to ride her bike back over to her friends house and her and Courtney apologize for whatever they did and let them know that they still wanted to be friends. This may not seem like a big deal to most children but Natalie this is huge. I am extremely proud of her for understanding the feelings she had and for taking the time to go and apologize. I know she was nervous because of her friends parents and she felt embarrassed but I know she feels good about doing the right thing.

Thanks

Over Thanksgiving break again we tried to shadow whatever we could into the week! He started out going to Six Flags with Allie and Riley and staying all night long! I'm always so shocked at how brave my kids are for the rides they want to go on!

We had a big Thanksgiving day at the Rawlins and later that week family pictures. We also had a Gilmore girls marathon with all of the Rawlins girls. I tried so hard to get into it but I just couldn't. I don't understand all the hype.

A little black Friday shopping and then we headed down to Houston for Mary's baptism. A quick trip to Houston wouldn't be complete without couples pictures. I'm sure our kids are going to kill us one day but with the chance that some may get married, we take every chance we get to get photos of those cute kiddos!

Rawl

As horrible as it is preparing for family pictures and then not being the weight and size you want to be yourself always sucks, however it's always good to have a new family picture! We haven't had them taken since Courtney was one so five years later I am happy we walked away with something! Also back in October my sweet photographer friend Whitni took some head shots of us with these beautiful black-and-white photos to put above our bed. I treasure these photos and this week family of mine so much!

Dec

December was a fun filled month with lots of fun holiday things and way too much food. I probably put on about 15 pounds. Can't wait to start the new year with some New Year's resolutions and having a healthier lifestyle and getting back in my best shape. That goes physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Courtney had her kindergarten school gingerbread man program where she had a part. She also had a little pre-dance program to put on for everybody. She is really picking up and dance very well.

One of the best concerts I have ever been to was the OneRepublic concert we went to with Libby and Sean. Such a blast! Also we had a ugly Christmas sweater party that was so much fun to get ready for, John and Emma even came up for it!

Christmas Lights, Christmas nativity's, dinners with friends, and just an overall wonderful month! So grateful to celebrate the birth of our Savior with friends and family and those I love.