Big accomplishments!

In the last month both of our girls have accomplished something noteworthy! Audrey received the award for Student of the Month in her class for the pillar of "caring". She also made the honor roll for the second quarter in a row! Way to go Audrey! We are so proud of you!

As for Violet...she is excelling in her physical abilities! She decided this month to ride a bike...just on two wheels. No help from Mom or Dad. Just did it on her own. Here's a little video. You are such a determined little girl, Violet! We are so proud of you!

Valentines from a 5-year-old's view

Valentine's Day is never really a big deal in our house. I do love the excuse for a date night, so Randy and I did enjoy a quiet meal just the two of us on Sunday! But other than that, we don't really do much. My Monday was spent tootling around the house, making lemon curd (with the abundance of Meyer lemons that I acquired off a friends' tree) in the morning, as well as fresh scones on which to plop the lemon curd, delivering the goodies to a few neighbors, then back home for lunch, some bike riding and chatting with neighbors in the front yard, then picking up the kiddos from school. Violet was interested in playing with my small camera, NOT helping me in the kitchen (like she usually does), so I let her snap photos all morning. These are her photos from the day (granted, not all of them). Scones, hot from the oven. Smile Mom! Jar lids, sitting in boiling hot water, ready to seal off my jars of lemon curd! Look at my pretty pink nails! My babysitter painted them for me last night! Not sure what I'm doing... Pretty nails, again! You think she's seen her mom and dad take pictures of themselves like this before? Lucy's waiting for crumbs to drop. How beautiful are the feet...of those that bring scones and lemon curd!

Beach weekend

We don't go to the beach enough...the waves are so calming, the kids can play for hours on end, and the sunsets are so amazing! We were so thankful to be able to get away for a weekend at the beach with some friends these past 3 days. We started the weekend with cloudy, windy cold weather, then it turned to heavy rain, but the last day was full of sunshine and 60 degrees! Just diggin'. Rock hunting! Headin' down for sunset the first night. Unfortunately, we didn't actually see the sun set. But we did see a bunch of pelicans diving in the water for their dinner! I love walking on the beach! After attempting to play on the beach between showers Sunday morning, but then getting drenched by a sudden downpour, we decided to go somewhere indoors. The Seymour Learning Center just north of Natural Bridges State Park proved a very fun outing! Lots of starfish, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, kelp and more! The Learning Center has the largest assembled and displayed whale skeleton in the world! Monday was a gorgeous day with abundant sunshine! We spent almost 5 hours on the beach before packing up to head home! The kids worked together to dig a huge pit, a sand castle/kingdom, and a fort of driftwood. And, even though the water was freezing, the kids went in! Violet and Jackson took a while to muster up enough courage to get in the waves. But once they did, they couldn't laugh harder or smile bigger! What a great weekend!