Photos from Phones - February 2022 Round Up

Two round ups posted in one day. What a roll I'm on! (Let's focus on the positive here, shall we, instead of the fact that this post is two months late?! Ha!) What else happened in February? Let us see . . .

2.1.22
(just hanging out in the backyard for these views)

2.1.22

2.2.22
(it was national tator tot day and we couldn't let that go
uncelebrated so we made a trip to Burger Bar and loaded up!)

2.2.22
(we also made a visit to the phillipino market
in Clearfield (I think?) and picked up some egg roll
wrappers for my mom's famous egg rolls for later
in the month since she doesn't have an asian foods
store in the valley anymore)

2.3.22
(making dumplings (his fave) for Chinese
New Year)

2.3.22
(these kids actually assembled every dumpling
by themselves while I was busy making the rest
of dinner! YES!)

2.4.22
(our inaugural Friday Fieldtrip (something I made up
to get us out and add a little pizzaz into our weeks)
was to the Hill AFB museum.)

2.4.22
(Gregg stayed home and ate spaghettios for lunch, so don't
feel bad for him ;)

2.4.22

2.4.22

2.4.22

2.4.22

2.4.22
(Just finished the 2nd Vanderbeekers book and the kids asked if there are more in the series. (There are three more!) I think that’s a good sign that it’s a hit!)

2.4.22
(We read a couple of these Chinese New Year books each morning as we started school. Lots of fun stories and retellings and good info in the back matter. (Notes: Pet Dragon wasn’t about the new year, but it was fun anyway because it taught us some Chinese characters. The Race for the Chinese Zodiac is the legend about how the animals were chosen to represent each year, but we read an even better version of it last week. (I forgot to take a pic before it had to go back!)))

2.4.22
(A few more random but fun and cute reads from the week.)

2.4.22
(these spammers are getting really ridiculous!)

2.4.22
(I mean really!)

2.4.22
(nerd alert: we each got our map placemats out
during the opening ceremonies parade of nations
and marked (with wet-erase markers) each
country as it marched in. the kids were WAY into it)

2.7.22
(Japanese Notan style hearts into valentines for art this morning)

2.8.22
(A fun poetry teatime last week. All the poems in this book are about books!
Laura Purdie Salas is a favorite poet/author around here.)

2.8.22
(The Fainting Goats (they came up with that all on their own, obviously!)
working on their banner for the Eden Winter Games, our ward's annual
big outdoor winter activity for the youth.)

2.9.22
(Since we decided not to do the ballet this year
with Grandma Blanchard because of covid numbers, she
invited Cal to choose another fun activity date instead. Cal wanted
to visit Hobby Lobby (and "look at every single thing inside")
and pick a project, which was this wooden toolbox plus coordinating
paint, that she worked on back at Grandma's house.)

2.9.22
(Not to be outdone by the girls, Grandpa bought
a surprise LEGO kit for Sam to play with/work on all
afternoon. He was THRILLED!)

2.9.22
(the finished product!)

2.9.22
(the finished product!)

2.9.22
(Grandpa's always got a funny video
to show the kids.)

2.9.22
(Grandma also gave Callie the dress she had picked
out for her to wear to the ballet - isn't it so fancy?)

2.10.22
(too many books, not enough time - this is mostly to
remind me that I want to come back to these someday)

2.10.22
(front porch sunset vibes)

2.11.22
(The day wordle switched sites for me
and wouldn't update the puzzle until I cleared
cookies or something silly and I lost my stats
but luckily I took this pic before that happened so I
will always know my streak!)

2.11.22
(last month we learned about respiratory system (mostly because
Callie was wanting to learn the harmonica and that required a lot of breathing
from the diaphragm and we needed to learn what that was exactly) and this
month we've been studying the heart and the circulatory system. An old
kiwi crate has been sitting in the closet waiting for just this day! We made
a stethoscope and learned how exercise effects heart rate.)

2.11.22

2.11.22
(jumping jacks to get that heart rate up!)

2.11.22

2.11.22
(For Black History Month, I put this pile of books on hold and we have been reading one or two each morning. We haven’t made it through the whole stack yet, but it’s been fun (and heartbreaking at times) to read about these lives and achievements.)

2.11.22
(our Friday Fieldtrip took us to Liberty Park in Ogden
where we wandered over to a basketball court (the kids wanted
to find "treasures") and we learned about Wat Misaka, who
the court was named after.)

2.11.22
(we also visited the Main Branch of the Weber County
Library and wow! was it huge!)

2.11.22
(the kids loved that it had multiple floors)

2.11.22
(the kids area was huge, and especially fun we saw an old
librarian friend, Dayna, who used to work in our branch and was transferred
to main a couple years ago, and she still remembered us!)

2.12.22
(It's Eden Winter Games day! My group's first
even was ice hockey at the Phipps's backyard rink.
I snapped this pic for Gregg to see what he thought of
their use for a disc golf basket ;)

2.12.22
(marching to the next event!)

2.12.22
(snowball slingshot)

2.12.22

2.12.22

2.12.22
(snow sculpture)

2.12.22

2.12.22
(nordic combined (aka running a circuit, pulling
a team member in a sled and wearing snowshoes))

2.12.22

2.12.22
(back to the Phipps's for curling, plus a photo op with a
(fainting?) goat)

2.12.22
(nailed it art competition)

bonus video!

this is why you shouldn't keep your Christmas tree around till February

2.12.22

(while I was helping at the Eden Winter Games . . . Gregg was teaching the kids a valuable lesson!

He said it took one match and was over and done in 60 seconds. Yikes!)

2.12.22
(just snapping a pic for trying on sunglasses
on eyebuydirect.com!)

2.15.22
(We’ve been learning a bit about Shakespeare himself before diving into his works. This book had all kinds of interesting facts about the bard.)

2.15.22
(The most interesting things I learned about Shakespeare were on the last two pages of the book. Who knew he invented so many words and phrases that we don’t even realize?!)

2.15.22
(Shakespeare’s phrases and words, continued. Amazing!)

2.15.22
(All published last year, all delightful in their own (very different) ways.)

2.15.22
(Heatha sent me this online quiz, thinking I would get a kick out of it, and she was totally right!)

2.16.22
(I shared it with my lab-friend Marcy, who also got a kick out of it, and suggested answering
all the questions the opposite of what I really feel... this is what happened that time.)

2.16.22
(To get ourselves excited for the Great Backyard Bird Count we read this book about the first official Christmas Bird Count that happened in 1900. It also had a fun note from the author who is the girl who goes owling with her father in Owl Moon. 🤩 We pulled out our trusty bird book to help us ID the birds at our feeder, but none showed up on this chilly, breezy day, so we’ll try again for the official Count on Friday.)

2.18.22
(Field Trip! We're riding Front Runner during Free Fare February
down to Farmington, and then walking over to Cabela's (Cal's prize for the 31 Day Reading
Challenge))

2.18.22

2.19.22
(in case you needed proof that Gregg is the funnest/cleverest parent:
he spent a whole Saturday morning building a cardboard bobsled with the kids
and then filming them and editing them onto a real racetrack!)

2.19.22
(here are the behind the scenes shots)

2.19.22
(first was just a still shot photoshopping job)

2.19.22
(they're ready to race!)

bonus video!

green screen action shot

2.19.22

2.19.22
(video edits underway)

bonus video!

they race!

2.19.22

(the final cut! see if you can hear Gregg's voice dubbed in saying "kids")

2.22.22
(Some of my personal Black History Month reading. Both were amazingly written (I love Amanda Gorman’s voice and Curtis is such a great author) but heavier than I was expecting with themes of coronavirus, black lives matter, climate change, Native American abuses, slavery, etc. (I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting those themes, but now you can be aware if you decide to read them, too.))

2.22.22
(A fun picture book bio about an interesting invention/inventor. Spoiler alert: he was born in Utah!)

2.22.22
(they came! prescription sunglasses for the girl!)

2.22.22
(also came? Sam's LEGO minifig set that
he ordered with some money burning a hole in his pocket)

2.22.22
(these photos were taken by him, by the way)

2.22.22
(also came? Cal's LEGO set that she bought
with some money burning a hole in her pocket)

2.22.22

2.22.22
(what is actually going on here? we're not
sure about the backstory to this set - roasting
(and burning) hotdogs in a garbage can fire?)

2.23.22
(Maybe I’ve already shared this one last year, but it’s worth a repeat! It won a Caldecott Honor this year and it is such a delight!)

2.23.22
(see what I mean?)

2.23.22
(Sam has been enjoying these early graphic novels because they’re funny. But they also sneak in a lot of cool crow facts, which I love. (And Sam does, too, as a nonfiction fan.) Apparently there’s a third book in the series, but our library doesn’t have it (yet).)

2.23.22
(A cute one, and timely for the Olympics we’ve just enjoyed.)

2.23.22
(We’ve taken this one slowly, renewing it multiple times over the past few months. It’s a collection of eight folktales from five different countries that take place in the dark, cold months of winter (starting at Halloween and moving through the coming of spring). The illustrations are beautiful and the stories are magical; it’s one to just sit with for a while.)

2.23.22
(maybe I shared this one before, too, but I read it again at the suggestion of  Lea
and was reminded how much I love it, and then shared it with a few friends who
I thought would love it too. It's so full of goodness and kindness and patience and joy.
I might need to buy it!)

2.23.22
(it's sort of a graphic novel I guess? but the art
is amazing and the words are all hand written, and there aren't really 
that many words anyway)

2.23.22
(Stuck on birds around here! Here are some fun, playful nonfiction titles to learn a little nature, science and history.)

2.23.22
(Heatha sent me this recipe and I made it (subbing some of the flour for whole wheat
because I always do and adding raisins because yum!) and, besides my mistake in underbaking
it, it was spectacular and now I want some more!)

2.23.22
(I was seriously shocked he wore this hat all the way
through the library from the after school club room to the far corner where I was sitting
waiting for them to finish)

2.23.22
(Downtime between after school club and LEGO robotics club at the library today. The crossed legs kill me every time (but usually it’s Sam who does it!). 🤩)

2.23.22
(some cute stories with cute art)

bonus video!

new hobby alert!

2.24.22

(she's been wanting to learn to knit or crochet for a while, so I finally

sat down with her and a book (that she found at the library, of course)

and we (re)learned how to chain!)

2.24.22
(then I had to dig out all the crocheted things from various family members:
cream afghan from my Great Grandma Lamb (commissioned by my Grandma Elwood),
light green afghan in back from my aunt Sondra,
maroon/cream/blue stripes from my dad's friend,
pink and white doll's blanket also from Great Grandma Lamb,
purple doll's blanket from Grandma Thornley, and
neon green doll's blanket from Aunt Sondra)

2.24.22
(these were a hoot!)

2.24.22
(that was quick! she sent me the recipe yesterday and
bread is ready today!)

2.25.22
(another Friday, another Fieldtrip, this time to the Pleasant
Valley Branch of the library)

2.25.22
(Wow! What a story! I couldn’t put it down. This is Linda Sue Park’s attempt to reconcile her “childhood love of the Little House books with (her) adult knowledge of their painful shortcomings.” She did a beautiful job telling the story of a half-Chinese girl living in a frontier town in Dakota Territory in the 1880s.)

2.26.22
(This was an entertaining and eye-opening middle grade novel about immigration, racism, poverty, friendship, determination, hope, and the power of words. (Especially interesting to read after Prairie Lotus, with similar themes of hate and prejudice, just taking place a hundred plus years apart.))

2.28.22
(we made multi-media self portrait collages
for art today)

2.28.22
(Sam opted for the chalk pastels)

2.28.22
(my friend, Erin, sent me this and I thought it was perfect
for the past couple month's obsession with birds)

Every other round up here (whew!):

2022: Jan

2021: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2020: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar Quar + Mar | Feb | Jan
2019: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2018: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2017: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June