Hello...It's February

How can I tell it is February? Well...people are sick. That is what we do in February. In fact, Pearl has been sick for a week. She missed school last Friday (which I know was still in January) and she is still sick this Friday. Looking back, she wasn't THAT sick last Friday. I probably could have sent her to school. But she is definitely sick THIS Friday. Poor thing.

I can also tell it is February because it keeps snowing. Nothing major, but many mornings I look outside and realize I should probably shovel the driveway before I leave. Then I pray that Tyler will get there first. He wasn't here this morning, so I did it myself. This morning it was light, fluffy snow, so it was really easy. Score. Plus, I made June get out of the car and help me. (She needs to work on straight lines, but she has the speed down.)

Last Sunday (the last day of January) I sat in front of my computer thinking that there were really 3 things I needed to blog about before February. I wanted to get my photo of the week on there. I thought maybe 2016 intentions would be more appropriate in January than February, and I wanted to get all the extra pictures off my phone. Ironically, I sat there stewing until I ran out of time and I didn't blog about anything that night.

Fail.

But you see that in the meantime, I got my photo on there, and my intentions (or lack thereof) intact. Now, I just need to clean out the pictures on my phone. So here is a bit of randomness from last month.

I think Robyn can do hats. For some reason, I just don't look that great in them. There are a few that I can pull off, but in general, I think my head is too small.  But this cutie is destined for some good hat days. (Yes, that is Hobby Lobby, my other home.)

Oh wait....maybe my other home is the library. It is probably one of my most favorite places on earth. It is like being at the top of a roller coaster. There is so much potential ahead. I love to see my kids looking for books. I love to sit down and read. In fact, this summer, I am going to make the kids spend some quality time at the library. We usually have a day to pick out books, but I think we will go for at least an hour a week and sit down and read. It is therapeutic.

Speaking of the library, they have this cool display up right now.

Blind Date with a Book. Such a fun, fantastic idea. I had to get one of course. I picked the one that said: "Say goodbye to your life for a while if you pick me." That is exactly what I wanted.

When you check out the book, the title shows up on the screen. I had chosen The Night Circus, which is a wonderful book, but I had already read it. So I went back for another date. This time I chose: "One of the best melodramas you'll ever read."

Sounds good. Turned out to be Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens. Eh...I'm trying to read it. (And by trying, I have read two chapters.) But sadly for Nicholas, Tricia and I just went to a library presentation of the BEST BOOKS of 2015 and now I have a whole list of things I want to read. Sorry Nicholas...I may not be the one for you. But don't lose heart. There are other fish in the sea.

I love when the girls play with my hair. It is nice and long right now, so it feels great when they brush it. They do some very interesting styles now and then. June did a fun thing with braids the other day, but my hair is so thin, that sometimes it looks like I have bald spots. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't  be able to see that much scalp.

It means that I am limited in some of the styles I can do. I hope the girls get Tyler's thick locks and not my thinning ones. (Although I'm pretty sure pregnancy has something to do with the state of my hair, so maybe it isn't all genetics.)

Look at these two lovebirds? Guess where we are.

Did you guess we were giving blood? Probably not. I told Tyler we should take a picture. (We were at his work giving blood.) After we took the picture, he said there was nothing about that picture that said, "We just gave blood." Sadly, I didn't have Ivory with me. She would have taken a picture of the blood bag. I am happy to say that the workouts seem to be doing their job. I got in there after Tyler, but caught up to him by the end. I donate quickly. I'm not sure if that is a good thing actually. Doesn't that mean if I have a severe injury that I will just bleed to death faster than the next guy?

Grandma came down to go to the City Center Temple Open House. I have pictures of that to put on there later. I guess Ivory said something about her eyebrows, so Grandma fixed them and told me to take a picture for Ivory (who was at a long test the next morning). I didn't notice anything wrong with her eyebrows before. And they look just fine here.

Unfortunately, shortly after her return to Idaho, she fell shoveling snow and broke her wrist. Boo. I have pictures of her cast to put on here later as well. Grandma can't seem to catch a break.

A good friend of mine, McKenzie, did my nails for my birthday. She has the gel nail stuff. It is amazing. Put your nails under the lights for a minute and then you are good to go. No waiting for hours to make sure they are set. I could get behind this type of nail. Although I hear they don't come off very well and you almost have to chip them off. Or soak your fingers in acetone. (Both sound cheery.) But I haven't even been tempted to bite them or pull them off. That is good for me.

June took this picture one night when the moon was looking so cool. She said it didn't even capture the real effect, but I think it looks so Halloweeny. One of my favorite pictures of the year so far.

Here is the family getting ready to do family pictures. They were watching Mutton Bustin' on Tyler's phone and they looked so cute huddled around together. I'm not sure I approve of Mutton Busting, but I do approve of family time.

Speaking of family time, I got to take the older three out for ice cream. We had such a good time. I sure love these girls. Despite the occasional mood swing and complaining (we have girls...you know it happens) these kids are a delight to hang out with. While eating we played a game where we picked two guys and you had to decide who you would rather marry. One funny one was Albert Einstein or Obama. (Sorry Obama...no votes for you.) The best one was Robyn who asked if we could do more generic things, like job titles instead of actual names. When I said yes, she said, "Okay, would you rather marry a doctor...or a poltergeist?" (Hahahaha. I think she thought a poltergeist was some kind of scientist.)

 Lastly, I walked by the front door the other day and thought someone had stacked up some snowballs. Upon closer inspection, I saw they were three little snowman buddies. Ivory made them. I almost want to get mini chocolate chips to decorate them, but I think they are frozen solid by now. Still adorable.

And that is January in a nutshell. It sure went quickly. 1/12th of the year is already behind us.