February!!!

February Fun Times!  Hard to believe this month is just about over- feels like I was just preparing valentines!  Anyway, it was a good month... full of holiday festivities, outdoor festivities, and ENT festivities, OH MY!

 Fire & Ice Festival

I was so excited to scope out this local festival!  I had heard that it was a taste of MN winter fun and was psyched to check it all out.  Literally has NO IDEA the entire festival was on a frozen lake.

O.  M.  Goodness.

It was pretty impressive.  Seriously.  They had dog sledding, ice skating, sledding, horse drawn carriage rides, food trucks, and even a concert ALL on the ice- complete with a fireworks display!

I had never seen anything like it.  We enjoyed being a part, but like I've mentioned before- we're not such a great crew in the cold, so we spent an hour (didn't have the stamina to stay for the fireworks of course) and then headed to eat... in the in-of-doors- HA! 

{Super Bowl Festivities made complete with a football-shaped cake;)}

We were able to make it out to the good 'ol General Mills office to have lunch with Daddy again!  Harper LOVES it... maybe we need to schedule a 'take your daughter to work day' soon?!?!  HA!  Harper is also finishing up the winter session of gymnastics.  She still seems to enjoy it- loves the little girls she tumbles with- but has a fear of the high beam and uneven bars :(.... we're working on her confidence with it all, but I think we'll be taking a break from gymnastics in the Spring... all Harper wants to do is RUN so we need to figure out something with a bit more cardio in the warmer months- ha!

Harper was SET that Mr. Norman would be having a birthday party this month.  Being that we found him as a stray a year ago, we aren't real sure of his exact birthday, but we decided his birthday month should be February.. and dental records showed that he should be right around 3 years old- HA!  

Happy 3, Furry Boy!!!! 

 

{she decorated those dog-friendly cupcakes all by herself;)}

Seeing that he spent most of the month with his lovely cozy cone around his neck (he licked a hot spot to death- or an open sore- on his paw), he enjoyed the birthday shenanigans!

Little Ms Maggie has been enjoying this cold month from the comfort of the loft- for the most part!

 

I had to capture this Daddy-Daughter love at its finest... SHE LOVES HIM!  She sees his hand coming for her and immediately bursts into laughter.  She would love if he would just rough house and tickle her over and over and over and over and OVER again.... haha!

She.  Loves.  Him.

Maggie also had her initial evaluation with a non-profit hippotherapy program close to our house.  

It.  Was.  Amazing.  

Just like every therapy-type environment, Maggie initially freaked out and exploded into full meltdown status within 10 minutes of our visit when we were talking and learning about the farm.  As soon as she got up on that pony- meltdown over.  She was LOVING it.  Kept reaching out to touch and pet the pony and was ALL smiles!!  I think that if Pete and I were cartoon characters are jaws would have been touching the floor- we were so impressed!!  So she met qualifications for the program- we are just waiting to get the financial part all ship-shape and it'll be a go!!  SOOOO excited... I swear Maggie and Lily the pony have some sort of crazy ESP- a blooming friendship for sure!

We also have tried out Caroline's cart a couple times!  Maggie's foot braces are too large for the regular cart seat and lets be real- I've been so excited to try out this cart for kiddos with special needs!  She has a little growing to do ;), but we had fun for sure- THANK YOU TARGET!!!

Mags battled a little sickness, but all in all the beginning of 2017 has treated her well.  She is Ms. Feisty Pants though for sure... new words, new sounds, and new attitude- ha!

The littlest one of the bunch NEVER SEIZES TO AMAZE ME in the most frustrating of ways- HA! I love her with everything I have... like when she sits and 'organizes her week' with me- hehe, but not when she does this...

...got into my hair gel (within a few minutes of being on her own), and gelled her hair- well just the right side.

O.  M.  G.  

I always say I need to stay 85 steps ahead of Evelyn in order for things to go smoothly, but I am thinking it needs to be more like 100.  Every day she is into something new.  

Every day I am thinking up new ways to create boundaries for her.  

Every day she gives me new ones to create.

It's.

An.

Endless.

Cycle.

She did take a pause- for about 10 minutes- to get ear tubes put in.  She just could not get over ear infections and she managed to rupture both ear drums, so we decided tubes would probably be the best bet.  She's been great, sickness wise, ever since!!

Cute moment captured.  

Little sister helping big sister with her switch toys- PRECIOUS!!

As part of Evelyn's 2nd birthday gift, we gave her room a big-girl makeover!  I know she is a bit young for a twin bed, but she was seriously worrying me with how much wood she had chewed off her crib rails- ha!  She started not sleeping well in the night and I remembered with Maggie, moving her to a big-girl-bed helped her stay warmer being tucked in;).

So... I, with Pete's help, tackled her furniture with about a gallon of chalk paint- ha- and a few fresh pieces.  We had fun and Evelyn seems to love it.  She hasn't quite figured out that she can crawl out of bed yet- ha!  Shhh... don't tell!

Sweetness Moment

tucking her teeny weeny self into bed... and hearing her sweet voice say "I wuv you".  

Seriously.  

Heart melted.

And maybe it's because she's my youngest and I am trying to hold on to all of the baby moments with her, but her teachers send so many pictures of her day, I just cannot stand to let them go- so yes... here are snapshots of February in the Butterflies Room... Evelyn style!

 

{that face... ahh... gets me every time- and I mean EVERY time- just ask my husband}

All in all it was a good month.  Can't say I'm particular fond of the continuous cold through Minnesota February, but we filled it with many fun, cozy, family moments mostly indoors.  But seriously... we're getting to be like caged animals- how much longer 'till spring?!?!  ;)