February 2012 Update

This month we finally saved up enough to buy ourselves a real piano. We decided to celebrate with a pajama piano party.

Here is Maddy trying out the new piano. She really wants me to teach her to play her favorite song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Nathan likes to do "birdies" (the high notes) and "monsters" (the low notes). He also sits at the piano and sings and tries to play "Hush Little Baby" and "Big Dog Boogie" (two songs Abby has just learned from her lesson book).

Abby assures us that she will practice EVERYDAY from now on. We'll see how long that lasts.

After the kids all tried the piano out I played songs and the kids had to guess what I was playing. Then Jared honored us with "Blow the Man Down" while the kids danced their hearts out.

Whatever our kids lack, it's not enthusiasm.

Nathan put this red bucket on his head then he took part of the barrel from his Barrel of Monkey's game and put it on his baby doll. He then started walking around the house saying, "Ho, Ho, Ho."

We have been displaying the kids' drawings and coloring pages on our walls in the bonus room. The girls decided to make a sign for the door letting everyone know they are now entering "The Museum of Art."

Jared kept busy this month making some more beautiful spoons. These are from a cherry tree he took out of his brother's yard last summer.

After spending so much money on the piano, Jared and I had a hard time spending money on a date for Valentines so we had a nice dinner at home with the kids. We are trying to stay away from sugar so instead of candy the girls got heart lockets and Nathan got Lightning McQueen.

JARED

Now that we have a piano Jared has been teaching himself to play and he has been doing really well. I often have to force him to get off so he will help me with the kids. Also, after not running for years, Jared has taken up running again. He is training to run a half-marathon as part of a relay race with his brother and a doctor from Kadlec in Boise on June 9th. The kids love going for rides in the stroller while Jared pushes them and I enjoy the nice quiet break.

MARY

I've been working hard this month meal planning and trying new recipes to aid on our quest to eat more healthy. It is a lot of trial and error, but I am slowly building up a repertoire of meals that we enjoy. I will say that despite it being more work we have been feeling a lot healthier, with much more energy throughout the day. Other than cooking and meal planning, I'm busy homeschooling the kids and trying desperately to stay on top of laundry and messes around the house.

MADDY

Maddy just finished the book, Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons and we are really proud of the progress she is making in her reading. She loves dress up, imaginative play, and anything girly. She misses Abby when she goes to school, but she likes having my undivided attention in the mornings. She still loves being our sweet snuggle bear and we love her.

ABBY

Abby is progressing quickly with homeschooling. She just finished up her first grade Spelling book and the first Singapore Math book. She is doing well in Kindergarten as well. She was voted "Dependable" by her teacher and received a prize and had name published in the school newsletter. She loves reading, playing with her siblings, doing craft projects and any sort of party or holiday. I think in just the first half of February she made about 50 Valentines! We love our sweet little red-headed girl.

NATHAN

We just started to do formal pre-school with Nathan. He already knows all his capital letters and most of his sounds (thanks to Letter Factory). Nathan is excited to have his own school. When I'm working with Abby or Maddy, Nathan likes to come to me with a coloring book and a pencil or with his Baby Einstein flashcards and says, "Do homeschool." Nathan remains happy and busy. He still loves being daddy's helper and was very excited when Jared let him come in the garage with him to help sand the spoons he was making. He still loves his baby doll and takes good care of him. He kisses him good-bye when we leave and yells, "bye baby" on his way out the door. Now that he is talking more he has become my sweet little cheerleader. When I bring in the groceries he says, "Mommy strong! Mommy did it!" When I get ready in the morning he says, "Mommy pretty." Nathan has started praying and is super proud of himself. He gets very upset if he isn't called on every time. He loves our weekly playgroup which consists of lots of little boys his age. The pack of boys runs around the gym playing with cars and balls. We love our sweet little man-cub.