It’s hard to believe that another month has passed! February is my least favorite month of the year, and for good reason. The amount of weather related blah I experience each February was confirmed once again this year. To be honest, I have done fairly well this winter mentally. That is not usually the case for me! So I was feeling pleasantly proud going into February.
Well, February knocked it out of me! We had two full weeks off school for snow days. And I know that sounds wonderful to some, but it was extremely stressful trying to navigate whether or not I should try to teach remotely. When I did try to teach remotely, it was very challenging. And of course, even with two weeks off school, I am still a 100% full time Mom…with three kids who haven’t left the house in weeks. Yeah. Not my favorite.
But! We did still mange to have some fun and we tried to make the best of the month.
We started out the month with a little snow storm! Theo had to work and I wanted to be the fun Mom by taking the kids sledding. Guys, it was SO COLD. The misery was immediate. We lasted about 3 minutes, 3 runs down the hill. Ha!
I couldn’t find Ezra anywhere in the house. I kept looking and looking and finally I found him in a basket in a closet with the cat. I’m not sure why, but this cat does not mind Ezra at all (even though her face looks really annoyed in this picture). We named her Patience and she has lived up to that name almost every moment!
I always like to wake up early to do some work. Kiah also likes to wake up early. He likes to do his “work”, too- play. I took this picture at 6:30 am. Oh, to have the boundless energy of this child!
I’m pretty proud of my fiddle leaf fig and how we’ve gotten through the winter together! It has recently sprouted several new leaves and loves the giant front windows that I have in my house (I love them, too!)
Sometimes even snowy days allow for walks! The sky was SO blue this day that I just couldn’t stop marveling at how beautiful it was. It was my very first reminder that SPRING is coming.
Ezra is the type of kids that I judged parents before when I didn’t have my own kids. He’s so…..untamed. And honestly? We kinda like him like that. But sometimes he does things that just aren’t ok. As you can see in these photos below, this is the same day. Taken about 30 mins apart. Sweet and cuddly. And then pure trouble.
February also brought our FIRST EVER lost tooth!!! She is six years old and this was a BIG deal!
We have spent a lot of time at home in the past year (LOL- understatement of the century!), and this winter quarantine being stuck at home has at times felt unbearable. So one day Theo surprised me by rearranging our bedroom! Sometimes it just takes a little switcheroo to make a big refresh and bring some excitement!
My February TBR list. I did manage to get through all of these books, but two of them were not for me and I didn’t even read 100 pages. I recently started to write my book reviews on my IG account @nomundanebook
Snowstorm #2 moved in the 2nd week of February! At this point I was still making effort to be the cool Mom and get outside and play. You will see that this did not last through snowstorm #3 haha!
Since I was stuck at home with all the snow, I decided to pull out this summer puzzle and work on it!
We woke up on the day of our Valentines party to another snow day. Since we were already all dressed in our reds and pinks, we decided to have a mini photo shoot. At this point in February, we had had a two hour delay and two snow days. Little did we know we had two more snow days to come!
Kiah LOVES the outdoors but he still doesn’t understand that not all weather is fun to be outside in. One day he asked me if we could have a bonfire. It was about 19 and snowy, but when Theo got home he took them outside and built them a bonfire!
Theo and I got to go on a snow tubing date to Perfect North slopes. It was SO MUCH FUN.
Meanwhile, the kids also had a blast running around Cedarville’s campus with Corinne.
One of our church members faced a difficult week medically. They needed to quarantine before the medical procedures and weren’t able to attend church, so we brought “church” to their driveway. We drove to their house after church and prayed and sang hymns over them. It was beautiful. The body of Christ doesn’t always get it right. But I LOVE having a front row seat when they do! P.S. It was also cold.
February continued to drag on with four full snow days (two full weeks of school at our hybrid school!). I had a little bit of PTSD with having to stay home and suddenly switch to some type of remote schooling again. It felt like last March all over again.
But as it always does, the sun came out and the snow began to melt! We were able to go for walks again and there was even one day this week that I cracked the windows open and let the fresh air sweep through our house!
February is also the Hines winter retreat, which we were able to go to this year! It’s always a fun and wild time (separate blog post coming soon).
Even though we only had three full days of school in February, we have been having a LOT of fun in 1st grade!!
Spring is creeping back into Ohio and that means that HIKE SEASON is upon us!!! I am so excited to get out there and hike and explore with my kiddos. I am planning to do our hike-a-day April challenge again!
And that is a wrap on February!
February Stats
Top Blog Post: Let’s Chat
Top IG Post: My Polar Bear Plunge
Miles Ran: 15
Books Read: 6
Love this! I have had an amazingly good mental health winter as well, I was just thinking about that yesterday as I looked out and saw some new greenery outside. Its a nice change.