February 2014

February's temperatures made it hard to know how to dress. We had everything from below freezing to mid-70s. There were days the boys dressed in snow clothes to go and out play and just a few days later wanted me to dig out their summer shorts. CRAZY! We won't spend too much time complaining though as much of our extended family is suffering through the worst winter the nation has seen in several decades. YUCK!

The month started out with another snow day. This means Daddy is home and the sleds are coming out. The snow is pretty but the freezing rain is terrible. Mommy thought a trip to Walmart was in order one morning and thought she would "beat" the weather only to end up on her keester in the driveway. We all decided to stay in that day! Our poor plants all budded during the warmer temps and were in for a very rude awakening as the rain froze the little blooms. We hope there is enough of a growing season to see them bloom again.

Co-op classes started again this month with our home-school group. Eli is taking a soccer class and a wildlife explorers class. Thad is taking a safari adventure class and a story time class. Mommy and Marie are helping in the nursery.

The boys got a surprise when Daddy was invited to help chaperon a trip to the Tulsa Aquarium and was told he could bring the kids too. They thoroughly enjoyed a trip on the big yellow school bus with all the "big kids". They had never been to an aquarium before and LOVED checking out all the fish, turtles, sharks, and other water creatures. Eli's favorite part was walking through the shark tank in a special tunnel. Thad thought the "Nemo" fish were the coolest. Daddy loved spending the day with the boys!

Mommy and Daddy got to attend an overnight marriage retreat over Valentine's Day. It was absolutely wonderful. They are practicing some things they learned to make their great marriage as close to perfect as they can get on this side of heaven!

Eli is doing great in school! He is currently working on kicking the thumb-sucking habit. His goal is to earn a desperately wanted BB gun. He already picked one out and can't wait to purchase it. Mommy and Daddy are equally excited to see him overcome a long time habit. Thad is also cheering him on as he wants to do some shooting too!

Daddy's big project right now is re-doing the shower in the master bathroom. The old one had a badly cracked floor. The shower is now gone exposing the "bones" of the house. The new shower has been purchased and hopefully within the next few weeks it will be up and running!

Marie is now sleeping through the night, "talking" up a storm, and grabbing at anything that looks interesting within her reach. She is a delight and we love to see her smile. She is especially generous with her smiles to Daddy and the boys.

We hope that you are well and that the long winter does not have you down. Spring will be that much better after we have struggled through this long winter. With much love, The Rices.

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