February Fun

Our new cat Lucy has adjusted to living with us quite well.  She likes us all but especially loves Sarah.

When we have fires in the stove she has been laying close by to soak up some of the warmth.

When any of us sat at our booth table to do schoolwork or other computer work, the cat thought she needed to be right there to "help", or take a nap...

During the cold snap, Jessee (our dog) came inside and she and Lucy sort of got to know each other.  Jessee displayed great patience and self-control as the cat would walk/run/slink past her, sometimes hissing at her and cat growling at her.  I do believe if Jessee could roll her eyes, and say "give me a break, cat", she would have.  After spending 4-5 days inside with us and the cat, Jesse was especially ready to get back to her normal self and outside dog life.

Our family watches the Super Bowl together every year.  I make some appetizers and desserts for us all to enjoy, and Eric draws up our "Squares Chart".  Then we each select 10 squares and hope we win a fun prize at the end of one of the 4 quarters.  This year's Super Bowl did not end up with a Chiefs win like we all wanted it to, but we had fun watching together.

First quarter winner, Phoebe, Second quarter winner, Eric.  Third and fourth quarter winner, Stacee.  Go me!

We had some freezing cold weather and snow in February.  It was cold enough that the kids had a few "remote snow days".  Our school was cancelled, but they had to log online for a class meeting and complete some home assignments and turn them in when they returned to school.

The super cold days kept us inside doing schoolwork, watching some movies, and playing some games.

We haven't ever done a big Valentines celebration, but each year we get our kids a little something.  This year it was a little candy.

Sarah practiced and played basketball with a few of her friends.

I ran into one of my lifelong best friends, Brian, while watching our kids play basketball.  He always makes me smile and it's wonderful to see him and his family, even if it's brief.

Things In January

A couple days after our trip to Springfield/Branson, Eric and I weren't feeling so good....muscle aches, chills, tired, and slight fevers.  We decided to get Covid tested.  Eric's was positive and mine came back negative.  So, our family had to begin our quarantine.  Thankfully the kids still had some days of Winter Break, and Eric could work from home. Sarah started to have symptoms similar to Eric and mine, and Phoebe complained of a sore throat and had a slightly elevated fever.  I took them both to be tested.  Sarah was negative.  Phoebe was positive.  A couple days later Silas told me he had a sore throat too.  So, Silas, ,Sarah, and I went to be tested once again.  This time Silas and I tested positive and Sarah was still negative.  Our pediatrician went ahead and presumed Sarah positive because the rest of us were positive and because she was showing all of the same symptoms as Eric and I.

During our quarantine we did homework, put some puzzles together, watched movies, didn't eat a whole lot (loss of appetite and taste), and took several naps.  Overall our experience with Covid was easy, but I know each case, from family to family - person to person can be and is different.

We got between 5- 6 inches of SNOW toward the beginning of January.  The kids had a lot of fun building a couple snowmen and trying to build a snow fort.

Phoebe got a few Hot Cocoa Bombs for Christmas and really likes them.  Below are the pictures of her "Grinch" Bomb.  This one was cool because when we added the warm milk and the Grinch Bomb started to melt, a pink heart marshmallow came out from the inside.

Sarah had to do three loads of laundry for her FACS class this month.  She did fine sorting washing and drying.

We adopted a cat from the Kansas Humane Society on Friday, January 29th, (Kansas Day).  Happy Kansas Day to us!  She is a gray and white cat, has medium length fur, is front de-clawed, and is 9 years old.  Her name is Lucy.  She is adjusting to all of us, our house, and the noises in our house.  She likes meowing and hiding underneath our couch in the basement.  Each day she seems to get more friendly and a bit less shy.

To celebrate the end of the basketball season for our kids we went out to lunch with friends.  Below, Haylee, Sarah, Shawna, Abigail, Silas, Gavin, Felicity, and Phoebe.