Feb with Deb

. . . Debbie Downer, that is.  Okay, so technically I'm blogging about January, but Jan isn't a downer, only Deb(bie) is, so . . . ANYWAY, lately I have just been feeling a little off.  Like there's something I should be doing that I'm not but I don't know what it is, and at the same time I don't feel like doing anything, but then I feel like a slug and I just want to do SOMETHING, and around and around it goes.  Is it that after Christmas let down after all the holiday craziness and festivities?  Am I lonely now that Chris and the girls have gone back to work and school?  Is it because I'm realizing that Kylie is going to Kindergarten next year and now I have to figure out my nitch again now that I am no longer a mother of preschoolers?  Is it the cruddy weather outside - a wintry mix is what they call it - not exactly snow, but not really raining either - a kind of  sleety, windy, nasty mess and lack of sunshine -  that's making me blue?  Or is it that Heavenly Father is just letting my Spirit hunger a little more, so that I will stretch myself to know of His will and grow?  I'm feeling the desire to do something with meaning, with purpose, but what?  Obviously I still need to take care of my family and that's extremely purposeful.  But it's during the day, when the kids are at school and I'm no longer going to be going to story times and play groups, what then?  Anyhoo, enough rambling about Deb.  Let's talk about Jan . . .

First of all, we had an awesome freak snowstorm!  It was predicted to be a "dusting", but we got like 5 inches of snow.  And it was the beautiful, huge flakes coming down that you can catch on your tongue kind of snow.  Perfect for building a snowman or having a snowball fight.

And look at how beautiful it was!  I love snow on the trees.  I would have loved for this snow to stay around for us to enjoy for a few days, but alas, it was not meant to be.  The snow hit on a Friday night.  Saturday morning we had to clean the church.  By the time we were done it was already melting outside (high in the upper 40's that day).  We didn't even get a chance to go sledding (*sigh*). . . next time.

The January theme for music makers was fairy tales.  Look at all those chivalrous knights and beautiful princesses!  Kylie continues to be her bubbly, bouncy self by skipping everywhere she goes.  She is incapable of walking - it must be skipping!  (It reminds me of when I was little and my best friend and I practiced "synchronized skipping".  My 1st grade teacher told my mom that's all I did!)  Kylie is also getting excited about being a big girl and not a baby any more.  She likes learning her letters and practicing her name, which is awesome.

Kate continues to be our "make the most of every holiday" girl.   Her teacher said she could "make a shirt or hat for the 100th day of school."  I think she meant paint one, but as my crafty skills are way below par I let that slide.  Never fear!  Kate made herself a sign out of her glitter glue and had me pin it to her shirt for the day.  One day, while I thought Kate was picking out her clothes for the next day, she was actually making a solar system in her room out of our bouncy balls.  She even placed a headband around Saturn.  Love it!  Unfortunately she cleaned it up before I could get a picture.

And what's up with Kate's teachers being the most creative ever with their art projects?  We already had a picture of Kate on a reindeer and now we've got her in a snow globe having a snowball fight.  Love it!

Below is a picture from Kate trying to write her name with the marker in her mouth.  This came about after Kate watched a My Little Pony movie where a pony was turned into a human and was trying to write with a pen in her mouth instead of her hand because she didn't know how to use her hands - she was used to hooves - duh!  So anyway, leave it to Kate to experiment with that in the real world.   

And finally, another lovely quote from Kate.  We were driving to the store and the following conversation occcurred:

Me - Guys, I need you to show me you know how to act in the store.

(silence)

Me - Guys, what did I just say?

Lise - Show you we know how to act in the store

Me - Kate, what did I just say?

Kate - I don't know! Lise was talking.

Lise has had a  great time jumping into dance, she joined the Beta Club at school, and works hard on all her homework, as she has the most of anybody.  In her free time, however, she likes doing crazy stuff with friends . . . like taking a selfie as a boy.  Um, yeah, we'll just leave it at that.

Lise's other funnyism is that lately she's been misreading labels because she's not paying attention.  So we'll have conversations like this:
Lise - Mom, what does "chilled hamburger ends here" mean?
Me - What?!?
Lise - right here on the whip cream bottle, it says "chilled hamburger ends here".
Me - It says "child hunger ends here."
Lise - OH! yeah.
(I guess if there's ever a strike against refrigerated meat, we'll be the first on board.)

Aly has kept busy doing service hours for Beta Club, going on a youth temple trip, and going rock climbing with Chris on a Daddy Daughter date (sorry no pictures).  She and Chris are also training for a 10k in March to get her ready for Spring soccer season.  On top of all this, Aly has discovered the mall.  Scary.  So far all she does is buy candy and apparently a bunch of other weird stuff.

You know, I thought that as my girls got older that they wouldn't say as many cute things or do as many silly things and so my blog would get a lot more boring.  But, oh no! - they continue to give me plenty of great material to work with.  (I guess now the difference is that they're doing it on purpose.)

Oh, and here's Aly at her Young Women's book Club with a friend she invited from school.  Way to be a missionary Aly!

And while we're giving shout outs, I'd like to send out a huge "CONGRATULATIONS!" to my hubby for making the Battalion Commander's List.  You totally deserve it and I'm grateful to be supporting you in all these grand adventures.  You're just awesome!! :)