It was cold. (We don't like that!) We did get some nice snow. We had lots of fun, family play time. The boys had celebrations at school. Michael and I had a lovely Valentine's dinner during which we both celebrated lovey-ness and paying off our student loans (yay!!!). The boys and I made Valentine's Day houses and enjoyed more than our fair share of treats. We celebrated Brie's sweet 16. We had a day out in the city including a visit to the temple, lunch at the Shake Shack, and an afternoon at the Natural History Museum. And, I went to London, which will be another post.
Beau is cute and sweet and precious in every way! He has a great sense of humor and loves telling jokes. He has a great way of doing something funny or cute or daring, and then giving everyone this big twinkly grin because he knows what he just did was so fabulous! He loves hats and sunglasses. He loves snuggling, especially with his Daddy. He still mostly calls Lewis "brother". He doesn't like being cold and isn't too sure about snow still. He loves playing with friends. He loves "bup bup" (up, up) with Mommy.
Lewis is just a sweetheart! He is very imaginative and creative. He keeps himself entertained for a good couple hours by himself every day for quiet time. During that time, he builds lego castles to look like the scenes from some of his favorite books, he "reads" books to himself, he plays trains (still a favorite), he makes up stories with his stuffed animals, etc. Lest everyone think I just got a wonder kid (which may also be true!), it's taken quite a TON of consistency and reminders and some rewards programs (i.e. the lollipops below) to get him in this groove.
One of Lewis' favorite new hobbies is letters and reading. He loves coloring his "letter of the day" and practicing in his writing books. He loves borrowing the ipad and trying to copy words from his books into the notepad. He loves reading with his Mommy. His best friend is Caroline. He is a very good helper. He loves doing everything first and winning. And, he loves doing "new things he's never done before".
One of Lewis' presents from his birthday party was a science experiment kit from his friend Jasper. We've take a few afternoons to do some science experiments together, and Lewis has absolutely loved it!
Beau had a "Bear Day" at school to which he brought Paddington, his favorite bear. I volunteered to bring a bear treat for the class, and here's what I came up with (courtesy of Pinterest, of course).
This just says Beau...all ready for the snow with his birthday hat and tap shoes on! :-)
We still love walks into town...especially if it involves going over the bridge and seeing a train, which we caught this day!
The boys gave very cute, very healthy Valentines at school this year and got a heart-shaped sandwich from Mom.
Here is Beau, caught red-handed...and red-faced. He found the strawberries in the fridge and was so happy to be able to help himself.
Here are some shots from some of our favorite activities...jumping on the bed in Beau's room like a trampoline while we play songs on the keyboard, and then reading together. Nowadays, Lewis loves to read stories that he knows to Beau!
Lewis wanted to make gingerbread houses, so I thought we'd combine that with the Valentine's celebrations. Beau didn't get too far before he discovered that all the decorations were edible!
Beau got a second round of house decorating with our friend Edmund (or Teddy, as Beau calls him, because that was a nickname when Teddy was a baby).
At some point, you have to just get outside, even if it's freezing! We had a great morning at the playground doing swings and playing Red Light, Green Light. We even brought a picnic...an Ellis family tradition to picnic when there's snow on the ground!
We celebrated Brie's sweet 16 with the family and her best friend, Brittany. It's been such a treat to have holiday and birthday celebrations together with the other Wasdens...we'll miss that tons!
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| I love Rachel's face here...not at all expressive! ;-) |
Mike had President's Day off, so we headed into the city. Mike and I each had a lovely time in the temple with the other played with the boys in the church gym. After that, we headed to the Shake Shack for burgers, hot dogs, and a yummable shake. Then we took the boys to the Natural History Museum, which was a hit.
We've had quite a few fires this winter, and the boys have come to LOVE hot chocolate and snacks in front of the fire!
This was Lewis' "Family Banner" that he did for school. We had to put each of our hand prints on the banner and then whatever else we wanted. He was very proud of it!
Beau LOVES these sunglasses (which are now lost, unfortunately). It's a toss up if they go on upside down or right side up!
Lastly, here are the boys playing at our neighbor's house. We have wonderful neighbors with a boy, Will, who is the same age as Lewis, and a girl, Ada, who is Beau's age. They played over there one morning when Mommy was in London.
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