February

I had to take Kiki to the vet for her yearly shots at the beginning of February. It has gotten more difficult to get her into her carrier every year and this year I couldn't do it. She is big and feisty and strong and I'm a little scarred of her. Haha! So I wound up taking her to the vet in this box with the lid taped shut. Kind of trashy, but it worked. 

Kiki has a heart murmur that has worsened in the past year and she's overweight. Paying for an animal cardiologist is definitely not in our budget and she gets SUPER annoying and naughty if we try to cut back on her food. So, she'll just stay the way she is for now. Spencer loves Kiki, Mason likes her most of the time, Alan can't stand her and regrets agreeing to a cat every day, and I am mostly annoyed with the incessant meowing 1-2 hours before meals and cat hair and litter on my kitchen table. Ugh!

Kiki often hangs out around Mason's chair at meal times. She knows who drops the most crumbs!

Mason's school put on a Neon Dance Party one Friday night. He loved buying pizza and a treat, but had zero interest in dancing. It was really loud and crowded so I wasn't sad that he didn't want to stay long.

I had a second iron infusion to try to boost my chronically low iron. The first infusion in October helped a little, but not enough. This time was a little faster (under 3 hours I think), but the IV was pretty uncomfortable the whole time. I had my iron levels tested again in mid March. They are still a little low but close enough to the normal range that I won't need another infusion. Increased iron levels are supposed to help with my migraines, but I haven't seen any improvement yet.

Mason rediscovered a love of Spencer's Dash robot and had a lot of fun programming and playing with it on cold, wet days.

More swim lessons! Mason started another 5-week round of swim lessons in February. This is what we do every Friday evening. He is making good progress on level 3.

Thank heavens Spencer was here to tie Mason's tie when he randomly decided he wanted to wear one just before church one Sunday when Alan was out of town! I have no idea how to do it.

Valentine's Day sugar cookies: I only make these once a year but they are yummy! We delivered a few plates to friends, donated a bunch to Spencer's youth activity, and ate plenty ourselves.

Alan and I went on a lunch date to Olive Garden to celebrate Valentine's Day on the 13th since it was my day off. Love this guy!

Mason helped (sort of) make Lego shaped crayons for his class and heart shaped ones for all of my preschool kiddos. He was happy with how they turned out and came home with quite a haul from his class party. 

We had our traditional Valentine's fondue and bbq chicken dinner that night. Maybe someday I'll buy a fondue pot so the sauce won't immediately cool and harden when we dish our plates. Still yummy though.

President's Day: Orthodontist appointment for Mason and his stuffed elephant and Alan moved my hydrangea plant from it's too sunny corner in the front yard to a shadier spot in the back. Then he planted the rhododendron plant he got me last Mother's Day in the hydrangea's old spot. Hopefully both plants will survive and do well this spring/summer!

 

We woke up to 6 inches of snow on February 23rd! Snow is a rare occurrence for us and it had been years since we had that much. School wound up getting cancelled that day (Thursday) and Friday. The entire metro area shuts down when this happens. I heard they only have 3 plows and those are just not enough when we get this much snow. 

Mason was over the moon excited and couldn't wait to get out it in! The snow was very powdery and dry so it was hard to build with, but he still loved every second of it. Too bad we somehow lost his snow gloves on our Christmas trip to AZ. At least he fit into some of Spencer's old snow boots. Spencer was a good brother and took Mason to the park to explore and play for awhile after our yard got boring. 

Of course they got hot chocolate when they came in and then Spencer did some homework online and Mason did an Art Hub for Kids tutorial. 

We all walked over to Safeway for a few groceries after lunch and then Alan and Mason headed back out to try to build a snowman. I hate the cold and don't care much for snow, but it is pretty for pictures. :)

A rare sighting of Spencer wearing his glasses when he decided to stay up to watch a BYU basketball game after he had already taken his contacts out. He hates glasses and has only worn them a handful of times since first getting them in 3rd grade. Haha!

We wound up getting a little more snow the following week and had one late-start day. That meant a day off work for me - hooray!