We had a great mid-winter break. I kid-swapped with another mom and I took the older four to the skating rink. The boys love to skate!
There was a wrestling competition or two...
We visited Seahurst park...Evelyn wanted to go as a bumblebee.
There is always time to love on our kitty.
And we wrapped the week up with a trip to the Pacific Science Center!
Jase was missing at one point. It freaked me out but I tried to stay calm. He was back at his favorite area throwing balls down into the hole (to learn about the sun's gravitational pull). Luckily it was maybe 3 minutes that he was missing, but it felt like a really long time.
Ryan and I now have our gold belts. We had to do our sir form, Hap Ki Dos, kicks on demand and break a board. Then we got called up and presented our gold belts and certificates. It was a great night!
First step of Valentine's Day--copy your niece's cute valentine's idea that she copied from pinterest. :) "You make my heart go beep bop", "I like you a "bot"! Jase took these to preschool. The older boys have a lot more kids in their classes so we did store bought valentines. They also sent Val-o-grams to their teachers and friends for a PTA fundraiser.
Second Step of Valentine's Day is have a great date with you favorite! Tony and I spent Friday night together eating yummy sushi and then going to the temple. It was a wonderful Valentine's date.
The night before Valentine's Day, I set out valentines for Tony and the kids. Tony had to work so I wanted him to see his valentine as soon as he woke up. Then when we woke up, the kids saw their valentines and I saw mine!
I love that Tony picks Valentine's Day as a time to give me flowers. I love flowers and February is the perfect time to get them. It's just about time for spring and these beautiful flowers will brighten our house until we can pick flowers in the yard to bring inside!
We wish we could have spent the morning with Tony but he was working hard. We went to a stake conference broadcast and then got to spend the rest of the day with him. He is simply the best!
For my last unit on imagination, stories and puppet shows (joy school), I wanted to take the kids to the library story time when Mr. Drew was presenting. He always does a puppet show at the end. Since I didn't have my van on the scheduled morning, my friend Cachet was kind enough to come along and help.
Mr. Drew reads, sings, plays guitar, does flannel board stories and puppet shows. We love him!
This was a quick library run, only coming home with 5 books. We love to read.
This was a special week because we actually went to the story time on Friday too. The kids have fun
I had plans to take the family to Uwajimaya to try a new-to-them Chinese treat for Chinese New Year. Then we were going to make a craft for the year of the monkey. What a fun FHE, right? Well, after our towing, waiting for the loaner car adventure, and no longer having a car that could seat the whole family at once, we talked about Chinese New Year, pulled out the old school Nintendo and played. Haha, Totally not ideal but sometimes plans just change to suit the energy of the parents. :)
Max needs new glasses and a patch to help strengthen his left eye. So we went to the optometrist, had his exam and left to get Max back to the school. Because his eye was dilated, we were running a few errands before returning him to school. I realized after stopping by the library and running to the pharmacy that my wallet was back at the optometrist. I returned to the optometrist and as I was leaving the car wouldn't start. We had an appointment to take it to the dealer two days later for a recall on the shifter. So when Tony wasn't able to get it started (only time I've had that problem and it wasn't the battery), we had it towed to the dealer. We assumed it had to do with the shifter and the signal not being directed that the car was in park. Unfortunately, it was just the starter which Tony could have easily done, but you live, you learn. We got our shifter taken care of and now we have a new starter. I drove a loaner car overnight. While dad was trying to start the car...
Then daddy saved the day and got Max to his afterschool robotics class while I rode with the tow truck to the dealer. It took him awhile to get our all-wheel drive up on the dollies.
Now we have new glasses on order, a new eye patch and a car that starts. Win, win, win!
The first few weeks of February have had the Eppersons with some sickness. Fortunately, unfortunately all 4 kids got it separately. Thank goodness it didn't last forever. :) Here are some of the fun moments that we had interspersed with the sick kid moments.
We have a new friend! I watched this sweet little guy a few times for a friend who baby-sits him full-time. He signs a bit and is very affectionate.
Who couldn't take a picture of the cute kids in bed, especially when one of them wants to wear her sunglasses. Jase wanted to sleep in the pack and play this night. Silly guy.
Jase has the best sunbeam teacher! She has taught over 100 kids in sunbeams. We adore her! She always has these fun little lesson packs to take home. Some of the little kits are helpful for keeping little kids busy during Sacrament meeting.
This is Jase playing while Max is at scouts.
The kids are excited for Jase to go to joy school. He was getting picked up by a friend and the little sister was coming over to play with Evelyn. They wanted to jump up and down the steps. Love these little guys.
Yesterday was a rainy day Saturday. We went to a cute friend's baptism. Daddy was helping the youth serve at the bishop's storehouse. We decided to just play at home and mom got a few things done. The kids were cute though with their fort and they were playing "Nephi and his brothers" They made swords out of construx.
Tony spent a little time out in the garage to move the process along while he waits for one more part.
This matching game is a new favorite for these little smarties.
Tony and I have been married 15 years and have 3 sweet boys and one darling girl. We love family time, traveling, exploring, flying and laughing. Tony is an amazing pilot and airplane mechanic and I'm a social worker turned work-from-home mom.
