FEBRUARY

I actually do this 3 or 4 times a year but never have pictures of it. These are of one of my scrapbooking weekends. The baby is Reagan (Kelsey and Nick's baby).  So my mom, me, Kelsey, Beth (not pictured, but Nick's best friend, Kale's mom), Devin (Kale's sister), and Jen (Kale's wife) all scrapbook together for an entire weekend a few times each year.  It is always some of the best times.  I'm grateful Jimmy, without complaint, lets me have this much needed time away from the children. Plus, I get the time to beautifully document our family in scrapbook albums. I think I have about 12 complete albums done now and am currently working on 2014. I really feel like those documented memories help the children build their identities and remember all the effort we have put into making their lives full of fun and experiences.

Going on a hike in OUR woods.  This is so normal, I forget to take pictures. This is in a bit of a clearing by a huge, huge tree that must be at least 200 years old.

Miss Sheriff Callie ;). Parker bought this whole get-up for $9 on clearance with her Valentine's Day money.  She has the attitude to pull it off too, ha.

Here are some things the twins keep busy with while I'm doing lessons with the big girls. I'm not going to lie, it is really hard some days to keep them entertained so I can properly teach the other children.  I have to get pretty creative.  These glowsticks in a fort were a hit one day.  They also have a small swimming pool I fill with dried corn or ballpit balls.  They have a new love for puzzles (send some really fun, sturdy ones our way!). They also will spend a lot of time with playdoh, foam, kinetic sand, paint, etc.  You know, things that take Mommy about 30 minutes to clean up properly for the 30 minutes they played with it!  They've "turned such a corner" developmentally though.  I feel like I can finally talk about it because I don't hyperventilate just thinking about what some days with them and school have been like. They will sit and spend time on things now and even watch TV for more than 15 minutes.  Finally! I really question having them start kindergarten in 18 months just a few days after they turn 5, but we'll see, if they keep moving on the track they have been lately, I still might. They would have been born in September and be starting school a year later if they hadn't been twins, so we might go with that way too.