Upward Basketball

 Carmen's team - the Owls

 Cheering from the sidelines. They were very fair at making sure everyone got equal playing time.

 Her coach was pretty intense, that's him the in background.

 Carmen's confidence really grew throughout the season. She's #13.

 The cheerleaders!

Carmen was SO proud of the trophy she earned after the last game! You can tell from her bruises that she played hard! I felt like this whole experience was a learning experience. Carmen was really pushed to do something that she thought she would love, but didn't love so much after all. She learned teamwork and dedication pay off. The players were encouraged each week to memorize a scripture, for which they earned stars to put on their shirts. At each practice the scripture was discussed and applied to their lives. And during each game players could earn stars for not only good offense/defense but also for things like good sportsmanship or showing a Christlike attitude.

Snow Much Fun!

We finally got a snow day! Don't get me wrong, I could have gone all winter without a single snowflake and been a happy camper. But I did want to get my moneys worth out of the snow clothes I bought. This was the first time I ever bought my kids snow pants and boots, and it seemed as if they were not going to get any use out of them. But it did finally snow and it was perfect: only about 5 inches and was all melted by the afternoon! The girls played nonstop for hours outside and were exhausted that night for bedtime.

The girls were up at 7am putting on their snow clothes. David took them out before he had to be at work. Then all the neighbor kids came out and they did sledding for the rest of the day. 

This was the view from my back porch. I stayed inside and watched the kids from the window. I really hate the snow!

This was the following week. David and I both had some things on our "to do" list and the girls needed to be entertained. That morning I ran to Target to get a few things and found this Fairy Garden Shrinky Dink kit on clearance. I grabbed it up and knew it would keep them entertained for hours. And it did!

February Photo Picks

This month was uneventful to say the least - just taking one day at a time and waiting for Baby Boy Bean to make his appearance.

 This girl is so full of personality and says the funniest things! She loves to sit and read stories at bedtime. She'll pull ALL the books off her shelf and put them on her bed. I will only read one to her, but then she'll sit and looks through as many as she can before she gets too tired. One day she fell sleep while playing with her doll. She slept for 4 hours behind the chair in the family room! No matter how hard we tried to wake her, she wouldn't budge. 

 This is me at 36 weeks pregnant

 Silly Charlotte - she loves for me to take her picture, but it's rare to get one where she is actually looking at the camera. 

 Just a random picture before church one Sunday. They each had gotten flowers from David for Valentines day.

David committed to staying home for the entire month of February until the baby comes.  It has been so wonderful to have him home and not traveling for work!! When he came home from his last trip we met him at the airport with balloons and welcome home signs.