February ended up be a tougher month than we expected and pretty eventful for us. We had some valentines’ celebrations for the kids. Then the kids had a week off for President’s day. Anthony and Lydia went together for five days to Mimi and Papa’s house. Then we did a swap and Cordelia spent three days with Mimi and Papa. We’re continuing to try and stay connected with our life group bible study. We’ve been blessed with babysitting support from Aunt Kelly and Uncle James during the month so we can go to our life group more regularly. We’ve also been praying and working through instilling loving and respectful behavior in the kids, both inside and outside of the house.
Cordelia had a fun February. She got a mommy-daughter brunch at our church for an early Valentines celebration. She also went with Tim to a volunteer brunch with our church, since she has been helping in the toddler class for Sunday school. Cordelia started Basic 6 in Ice skating which is the level before Pre-Academy. She continues to enjoy the friends she’s making there. We are so thankful that there are so many Christian families at the ice rink and lots of opportunities for positive relationships. Cordelia is having some dissatisfaction with school. While she loves learning, her new teacher this year seems to be making the classroom environment a bit challenging. She’s still working hard and is a top student in the class. With Mimi and Papa, she had a fun time horse riding, going to the feeding zoo, and playing at parks.
Anthony has had a rough month. We’re still trying to figure out the hows and whats for working through his current challenges. Academically he’s doing well in school but some of the social dynamics are causing him challenges, especially with so many girl friends. He continues having a good time in soccer and is a hard worker there. In March he’ll be doing a soccer league with his favorite coach. We’ve been working with him on respect in group situations this month. He had a fun time bike riding to in-n-out with Papa and going to the feeding zoo.
Lydia continues to enjoy school. She finished her phonics book 3 before the break week. She also is enjoying piano and is getting close to finishing her second book. In ice skating Lydia is continuing in Basic 2. In swim class she’s starting to get the understanding of breaststroke. Her teacher assignment got messed up for swim class, and we’re trying to get her back into a regular schedule. Lydia did a great job at Mimi and Papa’s house. She rode 4 miles to in-n-out and back with Papa and Anthony. She seemed to enjoy all of the daily activities they did.
Natalie is still on the fence about potty training. Some days she gets motivated and other days she seems to not want to do it at all. Natalie has a fun time at school and enjoys “sharing day” each Friday. She has her moments of disagreeableness. She’s starting to fight back about things and get mad at her siblings when they are doing things she doesn’t like. While not unexpected, we’re having to start working on correcting her behaviors.
Alicia continues to be very busy at home and work. With the kids’ break week her schedule got a bit jumbled up and fragmented. She’s trying to get everything sorted back out and organized going into March. Projects at work are progressing and she’s starting to feel the pressure to get things wrapped up. Alicia is still picking up the kids after school and making sure they get to their after school activities. Alicia’s dad has been coming over once a week to help out, which has been nice and appreciated. Alicia was able to spend a weekend with her parents while Tim was driving Anthony and Lydia out to Tucson.
Tim’s work has had some speed bumps this month. One his projects is running into some larger difficulties that he’s trying to resolve. He’s still making progress but there have been set backs. At home Tim is starting to think about revamping the side raised beds and turning that area into a grape vines and smaller vegetable beds. We also have some ideas to redo the laundry room and pantry area to make it more usable. He’s getting back into his working out routine after the Christmas break and injuring his tail bone. He’s still enjoying watching Anthony play. He’s making the most of the times spent with family and wishes there was more time in the days to spend together.
March is already filling up with activities on almost every Saturday. We also are going to need to make our decisions for where the kids will go to school in the fall. We applied to a larger Christian school in our area. However, they have a 2% admittance rate for new students, so we’re not very confident that our kids will get in. We’re praying that we have clear direction on what we should do for their schooling next year. We’ll be celebrating Cordelia’s 10th birthday at the end of March!
One response to “February 2024”
Everyone is getting so big. Cordelia looks so grown-up! It sounds like a lively, busy family life!