February-- Toe, Hole, Ski, Me

STEM activity was Chromatography. We learned how to pull molecules out of liquid solutions with different filters.  Dads toe healing is progressing nicely.  It should as the kids pray for it nearly every day.  Got out the Melt-a-beads for craft hour.  Zara diligently using the tweezers selected and placed her 100+ colors just so on her flower. Hyrum after 5 minutes grabs a handful and drops them on his pad and shakes them hoping some would stand upright.   It's a stretch but with all 3 of us helping and encouraging him to finish he gets a small circle done.   It's still a bit cold but  Zara wanted to take a bike ride to see the new pothole.  Later the kids were determined to go to the picnic tree now the snows melted. We took shelter in the copse of trees across the street.  Zara made me a treasure hunt. Once she helped me decipher the clues I was actually impressed with her designs and creativity.  Our ward had a Valentine's dance.  They taught us the 2 step and had a swing competition.  I was missing my sisters as I tried to line dance alone for one song.  That weekend Preston and I took Katana Skiing for the first time. Idaho does 5th and 6th grade ski free passes. Didn't really look into it till now.  We bought some gear with the thought "if we have it we'll use it."  She was nervous and it wasn't the best snow but it was a fun workout. She did really well and only fell a few times. We kept telling Preston to leave us to the slow s-curves but he was patient and caring and stayed with us all day. "It's no fun to ski alone."

Zara finished her paint-by-numbers she got for Christmas. She was so precise and patient.  She possesses focus and a very steady hand.  It turned out so cute.  Katana was inspired at our ladies night out last year by some soft hair scrunchies she bought.  She has spent the last few months learning to make them. She has tested several different yarns. She's sold a few to family and friends. Recently her YW group had an activity where she lead a tutorial on how to make them.  Mace has been through 2 backpacks this year. I used his last one as a guide and with upholstery material made a double layer bag I hope will hold up a bit longer. I was really pleased with myself.  I also felt a push to finish my puzzle quilt. I watched tutorials about free motion quilting and was excited to give it a go. My basic little Baby Lock BL9 probably isn't ideal for a project this big but I think it turned out really nice.  Boys are rocking new hair art. Axels minecraft sword stretched my artistic abilities.  A Girls spa night was the last thing I needed to be ready for the cruise.