February Fun

I can always tell when the after the holidays lull kicks in because my pictures in iphoto go from a folder a month to the famous January-March folder.  I personally think january and February should just be deleted from the year, but that's just me.  So here are some things we do during the blah months to keep us sane and warm....

Lots of crafts and art projects, that is when Beckett is asleep so that the house doesn't get completely destroyed.

Lots of lego creating.  Carter's always seem to be the best.

Quite a bit of house, baby, make believe, dress-ups, cross dressing, whatever you want to call it.  Rylynn seem to usually take the lead on this one and is the master creator of the story line.  Carter is such a good sport and goes along with most things she comes up with because he just loves playing with his big sissy.

We had another crazy hair day and this is the extent to which Rylynn was comfortable going for "crazy hair". She always gets so worried that she will be the weirdest one and then we show up to school and hers is barely even unusual looking.  I try to tell her every year that she can really do something crazy but she doesn't believe me.  Oh well.

Beckett started going potty in the toliet at least a couple times a day.  We still haven't actually tried the real potty training since I have been pregnant and lazy, but this was the day I let him wear underwear for a little while.  He really was excited eventhough he looks totally depressed in this picture:)

Beckett and I went on a little date to the new cupcake shop in town.  It is amazing!  He is eating the strawberry cheesecake cupcake which I very kindly helped him finish off while he was running around the store.

This is what I found one morning when I got out of the shower.  Apparently Beckett felt like he needed to wear a bra?

Rylynn drew an elaborate portrayal of the Bubble Guppies episode the kids were watching one night before bed.  She kind of got obsessed with drawing on the wipe board for a while there.  Like I said, we all go a little crazy during the blah winter months!

Then came Valentine's Day and the sugar high breathed some life into our daily activities.

We of course had our FHE cookie decorating night with our lesson on Loving one another.

Somehow the kids are really quiet and attentive to the lesson when they get to stuff sugar cookies in their mouths while we talk:)

This is to document that even when it is 30 degrees outside, my children refuse to wear winter clothes inside.  Beckett pretty much goes clotheless in his diaper all day so it is kind of a miracle that he is wearing shorts in this picture and the other two always have shorts and tee shirts on.  I swear these kids were meant to grow up in Florida or something.

Getting Valentines cards from Mom and Dad was exciting!

They also got very cute cards from Nana and Papa with some strange poems written by a sleep-deprived Nana:) and a huge package of goodies and cards from Granny and Grandpa.

The goodie package came with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory candy apples for everyone along with lots of other yummy treats!  And this was all before the candy onslaught from the school parties.  

Oh and the biggest event on Valentine's Day this year was that my little sister got ENGAGED!!  We are so excited for her and we love her fiance Matt.  He is a big fan of good food so we think he'll fit in with the Monson clan very well:)

So with a little help from lots of sugar and fun family times we made it through the blah months!  

baa finky, nangamie, and baynkee

The children in this family love their blankets so I thought it was high time to do a post dedicated to those wonderful little comforters!

First came Nangamie.  We don't really know why Rylynn called her blanky nangamie but that was the name she came up with when she was 1.  She got this pretty pink blankey from my voice teacher and mentor growing up, Melanie Jensen.  I loved her so much and her daughter was my flower girl at our wedding.  So when she threw me a baby shower she gave me this blanket and told me that she had one for each of her kids and they couldn't live without them.  Well that proved to be true for Rylynn too so we ended up buying her an alternate so we could wash it and never be without it.  When Rylynn got older she discovered the awesome reality that she actually had two and she sleeps with both every night.  These blankets have held up really well too so I guess they are worth the 18 bucks that they sell them for.

Next came Baa finky.  Carter actually had some other little blankets before Baa finky, but none of them stuck like baa finky.  He loved the really thin, soft blankets from Target but we kept loosing them and then one day my friend Ali Day in Ohio stopped by with some things she was getting rid of and as I was looking through her trunk, Carter spotted Baa finky and fell in love instantly!  So from that moment on, he couldn't live without it.  Unfortunately, it was really thin (one piece of flannel) and has had rip after rip until finally I realized we needed to take drastic measures or baa finky would be no more.  

So I first sewed some white flannel backing on so I could repair all the terrible rips and shreds.  Then I covered the back with the really soft, minky fabric that is on the back of Rylynn's blankey and which is very durable! Also very expensive as it turns out:) Yay for 50% off coupons at Jo-Anns!

Carter is thrillled!!  And now there is hope that baa finky will last through many more years of loving and cuddling.

I have a feeling baynkee isn't going to be as lucky.  I can't figure out a way to save this thing because it is woven and it's ripped in two.  That is because Beckett used to bite this blankey until it got an enormous whole in the middle and finally just ripped in two.  This became his blankey after he lost his original blankey which was actually my blankey as a child.  It was white with red and blue little berries on it and we lost it at our last house.  He loved this one though because he could get wrapped up in it even in the summer and not be too hot since there are tiny holes in it.  

I'm not really that worried though since Beckett actually has 4 blankets.  Can you tell he is the spoiled youngest child?  He has haiplane (airplane) blankey, quack quack blankie (which I made for Rylynn before she was born and has been passed from child to child), Nana blankey, and other one baynkee(the one that is ripped in two).  He often carries all four, well five if you count both halves of baynkee, around with him.  I think maybe Beckett has four because he never took a binkie like Rylynn and Carter did.  Since he had bad acid reflux he would just gag on them so his blankets were his only comfort object.

Well I have to admit I never thought I would have blankie babies since no one in my family really cared about their blankies that much but I am happy they are!  It is so cute to me that they have these little blankies to comfort them and know that everything is okay in their little world.  So now I have the blankies documented for posterity.  Now I just have to find the perfect blanket for baby number 4!  Oh and that baby will be arriving September 5th so I better get a move on:)  See I have had a good excuse for being such a blog slacker the last month!