February looked like this

Top to bottom, left to right:

- Todd's before and after pics.  Awesome.  I'm so proud of him.  He's lost 45 lbs since July of last year.  I need to find a good "before" of myself, and then have someone take an after.  I'm always the one behind the camera!

- Caleb had to dress up as Walt Disney for his wax museum at school.  He read a biography, wrote a summary, and memorized his part.  On the day of the presentation, the parents attended the "museum" and pressed a "button" on the floor to make the "figures" come to life. He did a great job!

-Todd helped my Webelos make pinewood derby car stands.  They loved working with him!  Perhaps it was no coincidence that a week later he was called to be the 11 yr. old scout leader.  When he stood in church as his name was read, one of the boys shouted, "yay" from the back of the overflow. Several of my boys will move into his group within the next two months.

-We went to "Hee-Haw" at the RV park where Grandma lives during the winter.  It is always fun, and the jokes they tell keep you in stitches.  Grandma sang tenor and looks like a rose among thorns in this picture!

-Valentines day was interesting.  Dillon is the only child who got to trade valentines at school.  Brayden and Caleb are too old, and Justin too young.  Luckily mom sent them all chocolate and bubble gum, and I made heart shaped pancakes for breakfast.  I think they felt loved :o). Todd still can't have a lot of foods, so I gave him some organic frozen fruit for his smoothie. We had planned to go to the temple for a date, but I wasn't feeling well so we stayed home.

-My college roommate, Melanie, stopped by with her family while they were on vacation.  It was so good to see them.  Friends are good for the soul.  I wish we lived closer, but I am thankful for internet that makes it so easy to keep in touch.  She's one of those people who I can go months without talking to, and then we pick up right where we left off.

-The following weekend, I got together with another good friend from college, Becca, and another roommate, Stephanie, who also lives here in town. It was so fun to catch up over dinner!  After we took a picture together, I went home and dug up a picture of us on our graduation day.  Can't believe it's been 15 years!  (Becca is single, beautiful, and has a master's degree.  If any of you know of any great single LDS men age 35-40 who are looking for an amazing girl, let me know and we can try to hook them up :o). She is on the bottom left).

- Most weekends, at least in the spring, we see hot air balloons in the air near our house.  I love it.  It always makes me smile.  A couple weeks ago I pulled into the gym and ended up late for my aqua zumba class because I had to watch this thing land.  Justin also loves the "bee-yoons".

-On Presidents Day, we went to Valley of Fire State Park. The boys were in heaven and loved climbing the rocks and playing in the sand. I'll be posting more pics from this little excursion.

-Justin became obsessed with Sharpies.  He's written all over his hands, and all over the computer screen...twice.  I try really hard to keep them out of his reach, but apparently I missed one...twice. For any of you who may not know the secret: Baby Wipes will take sharpie right off.  It makes me wonder what I've been wiping my kids' bums with all these years...

-We went to see the Lego Movie, and yes, I am still singing "Everything is Awesome".  The boys loved it.

-Our printer and Windows 8 decided they were no longer friends, and refused to speak to each other.  I had to hand trace a picture of a quilt on my computer screen in order to practice quilting designs on paper.  How did we ever get along without technology?  Thankfully, we got a new printer who is more tolerant of Windows 8.  Have I mentioned how much I hate Windows 8?  It's my new catch phrase. I hate windows 8.  It even rhymes.

-The boys discovered that the hose reaches the sandbox, and have had all kinds of fun with that.  I have to wipe the sand out of my washing machine after every load.

-For Christmas we got tickets for the older two boys, and Grandma, to join us at a Glenn Miller Orchestra performance last night.  We had a great time, and afterwards we ran into my Great Uncle Mark, and Aunt Joan.  They only live a few blocks away from us, but they are in a different ward and we rarely see them.