My Funny Valentines

We've had lots of fun in February. The boys are all at ages of hilarity and they've been cracking me up all month. We'll start with parent teacher conferences. 

Both boys are doing an A+ job! Eli has doubled his reading speed in the last two months and Carson is still soaring above his reading grade level. We somehow ended up with some clever little boys!

I've been loving the warm winter we have had. All through January and February we were found walking to school, often times unapologetically dressed as various Nintendo characters. 

Every time we walk to school, Carson finds one rock to pick up for his "rock collection." His "rock collection" is currently entirely stored in his coat pocket. I love Carson's interest in starting a collection, as that's something I frequently did as a kid, and I'm anxious to see if he ever realizes he can transfer his collection to a more convenient location. I'll keep you posted.

Jonah's getting some enviable locks. We've had some fun styling his hair this month, even busting out the blow dryer to get every strand of hair perfectly so. 

Eli's friend Hinckley got baptized, which brought to our attention that it's almost time for Eli to take the plunge. 

Jonah has long been saying "Dada!" I don't know how Jeff always manage to win the kids over but without fail he's the favorite 4 for 4. 

Lincoln needed some new winter clothes, so I bought him a few new outfits he's been wearing since November. I had forgotten I bought Carson one of the same shirts I bought Lincoln and I was going to give it to him for Christmas. Well, I forgot about it and then found it later as I was cleaning out a closet. Carson loves new clothes, but I was nervous he might not be excited about a new shirt identical to one he's seen Lincoln wearing for the past two months.

With new shirt in hand, I approached Carson, "Hey! I found a new shirt I forgot to give you."
Carson eagerly questioned, "Where is it?!?"
I cautiously unfolded it and cringed a little bit as I anticipated a scream of, "THAT'S A BABY SHIRT!!"
Carson eyed the shirt, "Is that the same one Lincoln has?"
"Yes." I held my breath.
"Is he wearing his today?"
"No. His is in the wash today." I reassured.
"Awww! I wanted to be twinners!" He complained.
Not at all the complaint I was prepared for. "Oh! Well! I think it's actually in the dryer. I'll go get it!"

Lincoln and Carson scurried around the house to find matching jeans for their twinner shirts, made sure they had twin hair, and demanded a twin picture. These boys are often at each other's throats, so this was a cherished moment of brotherly bonding.

Everything Lincoln says these days is hilarious. Sassy. But also hilarious. As we pulled up to the bank one morning, Lincoln said, "Yay! The sucker station!"

He also refers to Jonah as "The Train Robber" whenver Lincoln is playing trains. 

He also referred to a pink princess castle at a friends house as "Bowser's Castle."

One of his funnier moments of the month was when we had Stake Conference. We were trudging through the final half hour of the meeting when the Stake President got up for his remarks. Within two minutes of his talk, Lincoln expressed his wishes for the meeting's quick close with an abrupt shout of, "IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AMEN!"

People turned and laughed, which Lincoln took note of and then realized he did something funny. Which resulted in him shouting the phrase 2-3 more times before we were able to usher him out.

As Carson saw the humor in the situation, he began recounting the whole ordeal with Eli so now Eli and Carson were both screaming the same thing over and over again. Let's just say we left early and the boys got a strongly worded lecture the whole way home.

The boys caught the spirit of the Olympics any time we had it on TV. Whenever it was on they could be caught dropping to the floor for sets of push-ups, racing around the house, or practicing their high jump.

Carson was trying to swaddle Jonah one morning, but he kept getting away, so Carson settled for the next best baby, who was happy to oblige. 

Lincoln was sick for a few days before Jonah caught the same thing. Upon discovering Jonah was sick too, Lincoln insisted Jonah join him cuddled up in the blanket and chair that Lincoln had reserved as his sickness recovery station. 

I got put in charge of decorating cookies for Carson's class party so I had a little fun perfecting my skills by making some sugar cookies for the young women.

I love to see my kids in class and put faces to all the names I've heard him talk about all year. 

Since Lincoln loved our Valentine's Day candlelit spaghetti dinner so much last year, we've decided to make it a tradition. We had spaghetti with heart-shaped zucchini and a heart-shaped breadstick, eaten to the flickering of candles, all enjoyed between frustrated moments of me and Jeff repeatedly exclaiming, "HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO BLOW OUT THE CANDLES?!?!" And then I remembered why we don't do fun things. :)

Carson and Lincoln were so excited to find snow one morning. Not to play in it, but because it meant they could finally get that summer treat they've been dying to have -- snow cones. They found our popsicle holders and spent the morning proudly filling them with snow. 

These two are always up to something!

Jeff's birthday was on President's Day this year which was super exciting until he realized there were some last minute things at work he'd need to finish up, so he would have to work on the holiday. Since the kids had school off, we planned to go to his office in the morning to bring in donuts, but then there ended up being a massive snowstorm which prevented us from leaving the house.

Well, we know Carson is our foodie and once he heard the word donuts, there was no undoing that craving. All day I heard about how he wanted donuts, and when would we get the donuts, and can he get a donut with chocolate on the top? Well, I broke down and decided to just make some! So Jeff had a gourmet dessert platter of donuts, and angel food cake for his evening celebrations. 

Carson had a tooth that was dangling out of his mouth for nearly a week. One morning he noticed his tooth was gone, but he didn't know when he actually lost it or where the tooth was. We spent the whole morning on our hands and knees searching for his abandoned chomper. We kept laughing that he "lost" his lost tooth as we never did find it!

After dealing with Carson's double lost tooth all morning, I went to pick Eli up from school and he came over shouting about a lost tooth. I thought he was talking about Carson's tooth but he further explained he had lost his tooth too! So Carson and Eli both lost their tooth on the same day. And the best part is it was both of their second lost tooth! Eli has always been way behind in the dental department and Carson is way ahead, so they're on the same tooth losing schedule. 

We've been working with Jonah on how to go down stairs and he's finally getting the hang of it. I went to get him from his nap one morning and he seemed to think his new stair climbing skill would work for helping him escape his crib.

Carson finally figured out what the toy kitchen we got for Christmas is actually used for. He made a little Nutella graham cracker shop for Lincoln one morning that was as messy as it sounds. 

Carson and Lincoln set up a little play dinner that adorably kept them busy for two straight days. 

We're always up for an adventure when Madison comes to play. Not sure what adventure, but they look prepared for whatever adventure might come their way!

Jeff and I were able to escape to Italy for an evening. 

The young men and young women put on a fundraiser for the ward, so I recruited Jeff to help us in our efforts to throw the event together. It was really fun!