Leap Year February

We had an extra day to enjoy February this year.  Yay for Leap Years!  Tax season of course began to ramp up as always, so I don't have pictures of everything, but here are a few.

I took this picture outside my office one evening.  It was such a gorgeous sunset!

 Ryan is loving the portrait setting on his new phone.  He took these great pictures of the girls one morning while it was starting to snow.  It didn't last too long and didn't really stick, so no school was cancelled.

 Can still have some fun though.  Decker loved chasing the snowballs Mia would throw.

 She had just enough to make a tiny little snowman.

 I love 11 year old Mia.  She loves reading and is always happy when I sit down to read with her at the end of the day.  This is one of her Wings of Fire books; she is thoroughly enjoying this series.  She and her friend, Layne, made this fort for a sleepover too.  It fell on them in the middle of the night, but they didn't care.

 Decker can't get enough of the grilled chicken at Chick-fil-a.  We buy him a filet and cut it up every single time we go.  He knows the smell and the bag, and he starts going crazy when he sees it.  Mia let him lick the little container it came in one morning.

 Ryan was thrilled to be invited back with Ron Hughes to teach in Madrid for a week.  Here are some of the pictures he sent me from their times out and about.  It looks so beautiful; I hope to go with someday.

 Ryan was in Spain over Valentine's Day, so the girls and I celebrated at home.  I surprised the girls with pink pasta alfredo with grilled chicken strips formed in the shape of a heart (ok...kind of).  It was a fun attempt!  We also gave each of the girls a new book, a big cool rainbow bath bomb, and some candies.  It was a nice, quiet evening for us.

 I love decorating their bedroom doors each evening from Feb 1 until 14.  It's fun to recognize some of the wonderful traits they each have.  For example, some of Lily's hearts commend her for being "diligent, hard-working, clever, hilarious, interesting, capable, trustworthy, talented, creative, and articulate" while some of Mia's reiterate how she is "supportive, thoughtful, chatty, encouraging, joyous, generous, willing to help, affectionate, skillful, and friendly."  I am so proud of my girls, and the young women they are turning in to.

 Since Ryan was in Spain, Papa gladly volunteered to join the girls at school for the Father Child lunch that day.  I so appreciate his willingness to do this!

Overall, this was a great month.