February 2018

Remember how I was talking about Girl Scout cookies back in the January post?

Well, Katie was recruited to come up with a goal tracking chart for her troop.

Her troop includes Daisies up through Cadettes.

(Her cadette troop meets separately)

Their goal was 5000 boxes.

Here's what she came up with.

The theme of this years cookie sale was "Seas the Moment!"

Each dot equaled 50 boxes.

The dots ended up being multi-colored pieces of paper that were supposed to look like scales.

(not poker chips, like in the picture below).

February 2nd came.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted 6 more weeks of winter.

Huzbend and I were officially married for forever years.

And, it was the first "Popcorn Friday" at the middle school.

Yay!

We could find no one to volunteer for this one, so guess who had to do it?

Yes. That's right.

PTSA Co-Presidents.

Comes with the job.

But, don't be so concerned. There's a perk to the job.

Your kid buys you water and a cookie during her lunch period.

She must really feel sorry for you.

Although we can't make our own pizza dough anymore (too much flour flying), we've been purchasing it pre-made.

Katie doesn't like pizza. So, Huzbend can whip up an awesome dinner with not a very big chance of cross contaminating whatever Katie is eating.

YUMMMMMMM.

Speaking of cross-contamination.

We got some cashews from somewhere.

Both kids are allergic.

Huzbend had a craving.

I told him that he can't touch ANYTHING after he eats them.

He has to wash his hands and face and be careful not to get dust anywhere, etc., etc.

This was his solution to the problem.

Eating nuts with a spoon.

I still made him wash everything after he was done.

February brings with it Valentines Day and, every year, a stomach ache from eating way too much molding chocolate.

You would think I would learn.

The kids had Mid-Winter Break towards the end of the month.

I'm not sure why they need a vacay so soon after returning from the two weeks they have off at Christmas time...but, hey, they enjoy it.

The PyeongChang Winter Olympics were in full swing by this point.

We decided to go ice skating.

Katie had been before, but this was Mikeys first time.

Katie just jumped out and starting moving.

She has no fear.

Or just doesn't care.

I'm not sure.

Mikey was a biiiiit slower.

We made our way around the rink a few times.

Katie went off on her own because Mikey was too slow.

Mikey got some support from me for a few laps and then decided to try on his own.

It's hard to skate, when you're way out of practice, and hold someone else up at the same time.

What a workout!

They both had a lot of fun (and falls).

Operation Ice Skating was a success!

ANOTHER Girl Scout cookie poster.

They were getting ready for booth sales at this point.

It snowed.

The bunnies must've been having a party.

There wasn't that much snow, but the kids were still excited.

What a better way to spend a cold, snowy day in Seattle than to go to the ZOO!

Yep.

It was open.

We gave Mikey the map and he led us around.

Needless to say, there weren't very many people there.

The orangutans were stuck inside because of the cold.

There was plenty for them to play with.

Here's one who was busy shredding (and trying to eat) a magazine.

The kimodo dragon was out and about under his heat lamps.

Katie fell in love.

Honestly, there is something wrong with that child.

The wolves weren't having the cold weather.

They were all curled up and napping.

Hmmmmm.

The resemblance is uncanny.

Brother of a different mother.

We were able to keep warm with the help of hand and toe warmers.

So, there really wasn't too much complaining.

Which was a surprise.

Lunch (and special treat) break!

Then, we were back at it.

We made a stop at the "Family Farm" section before we left for the day.

Even though the kids are 8 and 11, they STILL can't stay off the tractor.

It makes them very happy.

The last weekend in February was cold and kinda yucky.

We didn't go anywhere or do anything.

It's weekends like these that bring out the glue guns and Xacto knives.

It's weekends like these that fuel the fires for more Cardboard Creations!

Huzbend worked for a few hours to create this cardboard replica of Sauron's helmet.

In case you were wondering where all this cardboard comes from, we keep a large pile of cardboard boxes in our basement.

That is the truth.

It stays there from about November until it begins to drive me nuts and in a fit of cleaning, I recycle all of it sometime in Spring.

Obviously, it hadn't irked me yet in February.

Katie's Cadette troop began working on a World Cuisine badge.

She was tasked with cooking up some meals.

Here she is dicing up some chicken thighs to make Chicken Tikka Masala, an British/Indian dish.

Adding spices.....

Cooking up the chicken.....

Sauce added to chicken and simmered (we bought the sauce).

And voila!

Tikka Masala for dinner!

Well done, Katie!

January 2018

The kids had to go back to school on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Back to school meant back to homework.

Good thing there's "Homework Dog!" to help.

I'm not sure how much "help" he gives.

He's just there for moral support really.

And for cuddles.

Mikey made a paperbag Infinity guantlet for Huzbend.

It matches Mikey's paperbag Infinity Gauntlet.

I guess they can rule the galaxy together now.

The first weekend in January began the kick-off of Girl Scout Cookie sales.

Katie's troop hosted a "Cookie Rally". 

A "Cookie Rally" is an event held to teach younger scouts about cookie sales.

There are booths with topics such as:

Marketing, Money Matters, Goal Setting and "Making Your Pitch".

Katie was in charge of the Money Matters table.

She had the girls count back change.

It was pretty busy.

She and her troop worked hard for about 3 hours that day and ended the event with some Girl Scout songs. So far, she really digs being a Cadette.

That evening, we were invited to join some friends for a celebration of "Dia de los Tres Reyes".

Or translated...Three Kings Day.

(It's on January 6th and is the Mexican version of Epiphany for you religious people out there).

Mikey dressed for the occasion?

Three Kings Day is a celebration of the three wise men finding and bringing gifts to Baby Jesus.

In Mexico, at least where our friend grew up, they get together with friends and eat A LOT of food.

Awesomely delicious food.

And, they play loteria.

It's like bingo, but instead of numbers there's images.

Each image has a name that the caller calls out.

Getting faster and faster and faster.

If you fill up your board, you win!

Here's Mikey and his tabla (board).

Here's a close up of the tabla.

All the names are called in Spanish, so you really have to be on your toes.

It's a quarter to play.

Winner takes the pot.

Next up, it was time to cut the Rosca de Reyes.

(AKA King's Ring).

It's a circular cake that has little tiny Baby Jesus's hidden in it.

If you cut a piece and find a Jesus, you're blessed.

This cake had multiple babies to be found to make it fun for the kids.

Oldest cuts first.

Huzbend was not the oldest. As you can see, there are two other pieces missing.

The kids took their time finding the exact "right" spot to cut.

Katie found a Baby Jesus!

Mikey gave it a shot. But had no luck.

The cake was super yummy.

Katie couldn't eat it because of the gluten and Mikey couldn't eat it because it was made in a bakery and we weren't sure what was in it.

So, Huzbend and I pigged out on Rosca de Reyes.

Don't worry, we brought GF & NF brownies for the kids.

Not sure what is happening here.

Four kids are squashing one of the dads.

It's a good thing he only had one piece of cake.

Besides all the fun, food and cake, there was also tequila.

Lots of tequila.

A few rounds of shots were taken. These were my first shots ever.

Tequila burns.

I also learned that it can clear your sinuses.

I'm watching you!

Katie entered the PTA Reflections Art contest and won herself a Judge's Choice award.

Again!

Not much else happened the rest of the month.

Just normal life stuff - school, afterschool activities (art/coding/spanish class/cadettes), PTSA stuff, etc.

Mikey finished playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Katie got sick and napped a lot.

With tissues sticking out of her nose.

Then, Huzbend finished Breath of the Wild.

Towards the end of the month, Mikey's grade had a field trip to the Pacific Science Center.

Here's our group eating lunch.

I wore a Goofy hat we got at Disneyland in December.

They gave each of us adults a CHAPERONE sticker.

I stuck it on my hat.

The kids soon advised me that my name was now....

"GO CHAPERONE-Y"

There was a dance that went along with it, but I'll spare you.

We had a good time racing around the museum in record time.

They gave us, like, an hour.

We hit up the Butterfly Garden and for the first time, a butterfly landed on me.

I think he was amused by "GO CHAPERONE-Y".

This thing is wicked cool.

The point of the field trip was to "Do Science".

They accomplished that with a class on bugs.

Mikey did, with just a small protest, pet the hissing cockroach.

The "worst part" though, according to him, was when they had to pick through Tupperware bowls to find the different life cycles of a mealworm.

Egg through larva through pupa through adult (beetle).

The problem was that it smelled.

Somewhat horribly.

One last Mom/Mikey pic before we left.

That next day, we documented Katie's IV infusion.

(You can read more information about that here)

On to February!