february 2016.

February can be such a dark and dismal month. I'm pretty sure that I am borderline SADD disorder, because I really don't like the darkness of winter. When I leave in the early mornings for Seminary, it's still dark, and even when dawn comes, it's often obscured by clouds on the eastern horizon. So when the sun peeks out, I am THRILLED.

Groundhog's Day was one of those days -- the official groundhog may not have seen his shadow, but our locals ones did:

This year, we signed Emma up for All-City Drill team. Alyssa and Darcie both participated in this when they were young. Want proof?

Ha! There's a throwback for you! That was 2005 -- 11 years ago!

It was also the year that Darcie got 2nd place in the Drilldown competition:

(Alyssa won a big ribbon another year -- finding that photo would take more digging.)

Can you believe that it's the same people teaching the classes still??

Emma really enjoyed Drill Team this year :

And she was pretty darn excited for her 3rd place ribbon in the drilldown, since it was all new to her, and her first time ever doing it.

I did end up taking more phone photos this month. Sometimes, it's just easier to grab the phone for spontaneous pictures:

For Valentine's Day, I made a batch of heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for the Seminary students. It's better to pawn sweets off on them, than to keep them around the house for us to eat!

Wow -- do they look grateful, or what?!

Actually, this is a rare photo, because my kids almost never sleep in class. And these two were faking it here. I have a standing challenge that if they fall asleep in class, we'll take their picture and it will go on Facebook. I've only had to post one of those so far.....

On the Friday before Valentine's Day, Emma wanted fancy Valentine's hair again:

And we spent a bit of time making her Valentines for her class. I do like this much better than store-bought ones, so I'm glad we set aside the time to do it.

Each one has a glow stick bracelet. (Thank you, Pinterest!!)

This is also a nice way to beat the candy rush from that day, too.

We did a different one for her teacher:

(Bagged and tagged and ready to take to school!)

Todd gets the Awesome Dad award -- for taking Emma out to the community Daddy-Daughter Dance again this year. (With dinner, before, too!!)

(We re-did Valentine's hair so it would be pretty for the dance. By the end of the school day, it didn't look QUITE the same!!)

And, as a family, we've sure taken advantage of SnapChat to keep in touch and send each other photos regularly. Here are a few keepers ......

And finally, .... Emma got a lesson in pizza-making, when I zapped up some homemade dough in the breadmaker. She thought that was pretty cool....

Bring on Spring!! I'm SO ready for it to be here already!!