•  Today we made maple candy as part of school. We have been learning about the early American settlers, and we talked about their everyday lives today. We heated up maple syrup on the stove to a high temperature and then poured it over crushed ice to make the candy. It hardened and became sticky. It was a fun and tasty activity. 
• Camille is sitting on the couch with us all, joke book in hand, giving us tongue twisters and telling us jokes. And giggling all the while. Cute thing. 
• Dad Holbrook found a crochet book that they had intended to give to Brooke for Christmas. He brought it over about a week ago, and Brooke's been busy with it ever since. It's a book full of patterns for crocheted animals, and she started a project almost right away, making a dog for herself. She finished it on Saturday, after getting some supplies from Walmart (that she paid for with her own money). It's so cute! And I'm constantly amazed by her cleverness. She started and finished quickly a rabbit directly after. And now the 3 of them are inseparable. 
• As I was praying this morning, I felt like I should call Julie. But then the day got busy, and I didn't do it. Tonight, she texted with some hard news, she'd had to speak against Mark in a membership counsel, and it was so hard for her. I wished that I'd called her earlier. Always follow the Spirit!
• I sent all the Valentine's day packages yesterday, including the one to Mary. I still was feeling that close connection to God yesterday and today. I'm still nervous about it, but I feel pretty confident that this is what I was supposed to do. And I'm hoping and praying. 

Rice pudding for dinner! Plus, I just told them we could watch a dog movie for movie night this week.