Fun Things the Past 2 Months

 It's a constant goal of mine to write more regularly. I was in a good groove the beginning of last year, but it didn't last super long. I don't know. Time always seems to be in short supply, and it's a constant struggle to figure out how to use that limited supply. Ah well. I would like to just highlight some fun things we've done the past months, not including our California trip. 

• The kids had their piano recital at the end of January. They all did very well! Brooke and Claire Frei had a duet together and it was so fun.

• Camille had a late night birthday party beginning of February. She invited a handful of friends for yummy snacks and minute to win it games and hanging out together. I think she had a great time. We missed doing a traditional birthday party close to her birthday because it was a busy time of year, and also she didn't seem to know exactly what she wanted to do and didn't seem particularly anxious to have a birthday party. But I think this was still good. She insisted that it wasn't a "birthday party," though. I'm not really sure why.

• Jack took a snapology class at the Legacy Center, and loved it! He was always so excited to go. 
• Camille and Jack took an art class at the Legacy Center with some of our neighbor friends, and they really enjoyed that. They came home with little painted bird house and dolls, clay creations, drawings and paintings. 
• We went to IHOP for a school field trip for National Pancake day and had free pancakes. It was fun. We went with homeschool friends. And Sarah came too. 

• Camille and Brooke have been making many little crochet creations, which are adorable. Brooke did the cutest Winnie the Pooh and Rapunzel, and Camille made a little Snow White doll. 

• For Valentine's Day family dinner, we did fondue for dinner and dessert and watched "Flipped", which was so fun! The kids loved the whole evening. Also, Daniel arranged for the kids to do a dinner for us at home. So they pretended that they had a fancy restaurant, and they served us food and drink and dessert. It was very cute. They dressed up in nice clothes, Jack with a towel over his arm, as the server. And Sawyer was very anxious to help too. They were the cutest. 

• Jack and Sawyer made the cutest leprechaun traps last weekend, but were very disappointed when they didn't catch a leprechaun. Our St Patty's Days are always a little lower key: Irish dinner for food, and listening to the High Kings. Sometimes we watch an Irish style movie, but not always. Depends on what else is going on that day.

• We got new carpet in the basement, and I think it looks way better.
• Daniel took me and the girls to a Jazz game. It was so fun. We loved it. Camille didn't understand anything that was going on, though, so I think she was less thrilled. We got food there and ate dinner and watched the game. Jazz lost, but it was still fun. The girls even made it into the Jumbotron

• I helped with the Battle of the Books judging at Belmont. Camille competed on a team at Belmont, and I think she had fun. The judging was fun, too; a nice way to volunteer and help at the school. I also helped with the Kindergarten Valentine's Day party in Sawyer class and had a great time with those tiny kids. Brooke had school that day, and when she was done, she walked up to Belmont and helped me in Sawyer's class party until we were done.
• Brooke played volleyball on a rec team during January and February. She learned a lot, improved her skills and had some fun. Her teammates were very kind to her and helped her a lot.
• I took the kids to the Utah Natural History Museum one Friday for our field trip. They enjoyed it, I think. Except Camille didn't like the bug exhibit. 😆 And we kept finding these tiny toy mammoths all over the Dino exhibit. It was funny. 

• I hosted bunco this month. I did Hawaiian haystacks (and didn't cook enough rice ... eyeroll) and did manicure themed gifts, which were a bigger hit than I thought they would be. I enjoyed the night, though, overall. People stayed until after 11, and then I cleaned up a bit. I went to bed too late that night. 
• Daniel and I have been working on planning our summer trip to Europe. Daniel especially has spent a lot of hours researching and deciding what we should do. We finally just recently decided our route and which countries we are visiting, and now it's time to plan the activities and make reservations. More details forthcoming.

Now that I'm caught up, we'll cross our fingers that I'll write more consistently. My kids do adorable things all the time that I would love to record. I'm sad about all the cute things I've forgotten that my kids have done.