February 2012

The last day in February it hit 90 degrees! In February! Most of the month the temperatures were 60's and 70's with a lot of rain (thus the very green grass :)

A morning run in the rain.

I got the following idea from the parenting book that I am still reading :s It was such a cute idea and I knew the minute I read it that Pearl would love it. She has this folder hanging in her bedroom. It has 6 cards, with a picture of a different task to do on each card. As she does each task, she puts that card on the opposite side, until all the cards are on one side. Then she comes and "surprises" me and I check to make sure they are all done and praise her for her great work.
I had her help me choose what tasks should be in her chart. Then we found pictures of them and she cut them out and glued them on the cards. (say her prayer, brush teeth, make bed, pick up toys, get dressed, brush hair)
I'm sure her enthusiasm will die out at some point but it has been awesome so far. Instead of asking her 15 times to get dressed, another 15 times to make her bed, etc, etc, I just ask her to go take care of all of her tasks and tell me when she is done. She is pretty eager most days to shut her door and get to work. Of course some days she comes out with her hair not only brushed, but styled as well. She wore her headband like this all day :s
My sister Mindy and her daughters Laura (3 yrs) and Lydia (7 mos) flew out to visit us for a week! We had so much fun!! I'm so glad they came. Several times while they were here Pearl said, "This is the best day ever!"
Below is us at the Hermanos Vasquez Circo. A Mexican Circus that was in town. (KC was inside holding Lydia when this picture was taken.) The entire circus was in Spanish, so we didn't understand a lot of the comedy. We did see tigers jump through rings of fire (Coby's favorite part), and some pretty amazing acrobats. The tickets were quite expensive and the women in the acts were a little scantily clothed for a circus, in my opinion, but all in all, we had a good time.
Happy Valentine's Day! We sent the kids on a Valentine treasure hunt. They found these stuffed animals, goodies, and pirate eye patches at the end.
We took a trip to the mall and let the cousins bungee jump. Pearl had done this a few times before. It was the first time for Laura...
And the first time for Coby. He was peer pressured into it after Pearl and Laura jumped. ;) He was SO proud of himself afterwards.
We went to a great Mexican restaurant where the kids enjoyed dancing to Mariachi music.
Unfortunately, most of the days Mindy and the girls were here were quite rainy. The day before they had to fly home, the sun finally came out so we decided to brave a day trip to the beach. It was a week day so KC was at work. The day went surprisingly smooth...

Pearl, Laura, and Coby had a blast of course. The water was chilly but they splashed in it some and enjoyed making sand castles and hiking around the sand hills.

Lydia was a little trouper and even took a good nap in the beach tent.

KC bought a book called "100 Best Health Foods." The book describes what is healthy about these foods and then gives a little recipe to try. I had never before bought a papaya and was so excited to show KC that I was using the book he bought. He was not impressed. He remembered the smell of papaya from his mission in Mexico. He said there were always smashed papayas on the streets and they stunk horribly. Well, he was right! What an awful smell! The taste wasn't too bad, but it was really hard to get beyond the smell. Pearl was the only one of us who enjoyed the fresh chunks of papaya. (She eats anything these days and is ALWAYS hungry :)
We blended the papaya with orange juice, ginger and banana, which made it much better but not great. Probably will not buy papaya again.

Pearl and Coby also tasted artichokes for the first time. Coby didn't like them but Pearly LOVED them...dipped in lemon butter of course :)

Our used dryer of many years finally bit the dust this month so we got a new washer/dryer set. I love them! When a load is finished drying, instead of the annoying beeping sound, it plays a happy little tune. Love it! Coby loves to watch the washing machine spin and rinse.

Pearl started a little 5-week ballet class called Twinkle Toes at the community center. She was so excited and she really loves it. I peek through the window during her class and she is always trying so hard.
Can you spot the only blond girl??
There was a little 2 mile fun run that we took the kids to with a group of friends. The plan was for me to push the stroller while KC ran with Pearl and Coby until they got tired. The picture below was before the race. Coby was in the WORST mood. He was grumpy the entire race and never got out of the stroller to run.
KC and Pearl took off through the crowd holding hands.

Pearl ended up running the entire two miles! I had no idea she could run that far! Look at her cute red cheeks :)
The end of the race and Coby is still frowning. :( He was pretty grumpy that whole week. I finally felt in his mouth and found 3 back molars poking through...so I attribute the poor baby's grumpiness to teething.