February...and into March

During the month in February, we made the trek to Target and bought a couple of boxes of Valentines. I couldn't help but notice that Valentine cards have gotten pretty cheap over the years. We didn't see a single box that came with envelops (where does one put the conversation hearts we added to our Valentines when we were kids?) and they are about the size of a postage stamp. I was surprised to see the Valentines the girls' got from classmates--many were homemade. Note to self: Next year, we make our own!

We started out the month of February having all of the dry, warm weather much of the U.S. has been missing. We've started getting out to go on walks

 and hitting the playgrounds.

 Makayla finally lost that tooth (and you can see the other tooth is pretty loose)

and wanted me to see the EXACT spot the tooth fell out on the school's playground. She spent some time explaining the colorful details of her loss, concluding with a solemn deadpan, "It was gushing blood!".

Alas, neither Makayla, nor her friends, nor her teacher could find the tooth. Hailey, returning to the scene of the crime, couldn't find it either. Makayla: "It's really white with blood all over it."

Cute girls, dressed in Valentine's finery.

Billings school district treats Valentine's Day as a national holiday. Kids go to school on Thursday long enough to have a Valentine's Day party, then have Friday and Monday off. How convenient that President's Day was in there somewhere. Oddly, Stan also gets Monday off, but Amy doesn't. 

This day was February 12th, and the temperature reached a record 64 degrees, about 30 degrees above average.

I do love being able to enjoy the great outdoors again, however briefly.

Part of Hailey's Valentine's Party today involved being allowed to wear a hat for giving a quarter to the school. I'm guessing it's a PTA fund raiser, but maybe the teachers just want to have their own party.

To no one's surprise, we spent the second half of February back to the snow and miserable cold we expect in a Montana winter. 

What a relief! I was getting tired of all those visiting robins, tweeting birds, and sprouting tulips. NOT!

That was followed by even more snow, and much colder weather. I love winters in Montana. NOT!

We went back to being stuck inside doing inside stuff, like this picture Artist Makayla made for Hailey. She's really into writing lately.

And here is the disguise Creator Hailey made for herself. At least I THINK it's Hailey.

We spent a lot of time with our stuck-inside games and coloring equipment.

Amy went to a friend's wedding in February, so we had a sleepover, complete with Makayla's infected ear which was treated by Dr, Grandma with a drop of warm oil and a cotton ball. I was awakened at 2 am from the boring dream I was having with a request to put the fallen cotton ball back in. Now that all my own kids have grown up, I miss those early morning wake-up calls. NOT!

We spent a day baking rolls to restock the freezer. I like having bags of rolls to pull out when we feed company.  Here, Makayla, mid twirl, demonstrates our technique: you roll out a circle, cut it into wedges, hold the wedge by the wide side, and fling it forward and around, forming a crescent roll .

Don't forget the part where you remember not to eat all of the dough.

Hailey doing her make-a-dinner-roll-loop-de-loo.

We made six dozen rolls to freeze, about half  of them whole wheat and half white.
 It's nice to have help.

Makayla comes over to eat breakfast with us on Friday mornings and be taken to school while Hailey goes to her weekly occupational therapy appointment. This morning she's eating her favorite: bagels with Grandma's homemade strawberry jam.

On another morning, both girls stopped by for breakfast so that Amy can make an early appointment.

Wouldn't you like to start YOUR mornings with a exuberant burst of "Let it Go"?

Since Stan and I are about to leave this side of the world for most of March, Hailey, Makayla, and I pulled out a March craft. I found this shirt idea here.

We cut a shamrock out of freezer paper

and I ironed the freezer paper shamrock onto a white t-shirt.

which blends right in.

I provided fabric paint and pencils 

Immediately the girls asked, "Do we have to copy the picture?"

Heck no! I gave them free rein.
I don't think they understood the idea of using dots to create an effect.....

 Here's the finished product. After things dry, you peel off the freezer paper.

Ta-da!!

There was one more important thing to get done before we leave. Grandpa needs to look at Makayla's very very VERY loose tooth.

Which, as our kids know, is code for "That tooth is coming out!"

Well, I think our work is done. Vacation, here we come!

Wow Makayla, that's one big gap! I expect you to grow some teeth while we are gone.

Anatomy of a Remodel: Weeks 29 and 30

Here's the latest remodel updates:

The painting is done

aside from the cut-in around the ceiling line in the living room. The ceilings are all painted, too.

The flooring was ordered and picked up and is now sitting in the house, ready to be installed.

The toilet has been removed. Hmmm. Not liking the new spot Stan chose.

Stan has finished putting linoleum down in the bathroom. I think I should to talk Stan into moving the toilet back, don't you think?

The vent has been moved from the pony wall to the dining room wall (that hole cut into the wall, top right), and the floor repaired in preparation for flooring.

All of the closets have been painted.

That's all, folks!! We should see some real (and beautiful) changes this week!