February Wrap Up

This might be the most eclectic and random monthly wrap up that we've ever posted about. Sometimes I feel sad that the only things we write about are the things that we take pictures of - because not pictured here are the days and days of just living normal life. Chores and books and meals and laundry and park days and library trips and board games and tears and movies and dishes and questions and laughter. So many things, good and hard. But I am grateful that the blogging habit keeps us posting about SOME of the things so that we can remember what life was like for us at this time. 

February has been a hard month. Our first month without Sue and it feels SO sad. But there have been good things, too, and it's beautiful that life can be filled with happy and sad as it moves ever onward. 

Here are a few things that didn't fit into other posts: 

Jason's baptism in Perry. It was beautiful. Lydia was asked to share her testimony and did a beautiful job bearing witness of the impact her baptism has had on her life and the blessings she has felt from the Holy Ghost. 

Lucy's favorite book and "the only book she can read by herself" is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. She loves to read it to me at bedtime and I love to listen to her sweet voice saying "what do YOU see?" 

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This strange cat visited our yard several days in a row and it looked JUST like Crookshanks from Harry Potter (smashed face, ginger cat) and we laughed a lot about it. 

This probably deserves a bigger post than just a brief mention in a wrap up, but this is all I've got. There was a house that came up for sale on the Middletons street in Bluffdale and we went to look at it. While we were looking at that, we found another house just a few miles away that was GORGEOUS and we went to see that one, too. I've said that when we move, it will probably be sudden. We said that we wanted to be in our house for 5-10 years and we just hit 11 year, so according to the life plan, we could move at anytime. We are pretty happy where we are, we love our house and neighborhood. However, there are some things that would draw us to move (*cough* third car garage *cough* homeschool room). We've been specifically holding off because we didn't know exactly what was going to happen with David's job, but he is in a position now (or will be soon) that he could work from anywhere so we've started to explore our options a little. I got excited about the idea of living so close to the Middletons and just a little closer to that part of the homeschooling community we have built. Neither house was a good fit for our family, though - and when we crunched numbers it just doesn't make ANY sense to move. We have such a low house payment and good interest rate, it seems foolish to move for anything other than EXACTLY what we want. (And even then, the idea of quadrupling our house payment is hard to swallow.) But it was fun to look and to dream, and maybe the move won't be as spontaneous as I once thought. We plan to keep an eye open for possibilities over the next year or two. Maybe rates will drop again or something will come up that will make financial and good house sense. 

Cousin Weekend is one of our favorite things about this stage of life we are in right now. Each month all of the cousins get a weekend to hang out together. We take turns hosting and then on our off-months we get a date weekend. It's great for so many reasons, but one of the funniest side effects is that every month there is one Sunday where we either have 9 kids at church, or NO kids at church. This picture is of the 9 kids plus us walking to church together. It makes me smile. 

One of the favorite random things that the kids like to do is create magnetic structures attached to the exercise bike in our bedroom. Austin and Lydia are particularly adept at this and they created this "amusement park" for stuffed animals." 

SNOW! This year hasn't been as snowy as last year, but it makes me happy that we are still getting some good snow days in February. I will say this 100 times, our backyard is the perfect snowy day backyard. Just enough of a sledding hill and plenty of space to play. 

We went to Kohls for an amazon return and decided to swing by the toys to see if it sparked any ideas for Caleb's birthday. He didn't find anything he loved - but LUCY DID. 

Some other random pictures from this month: 1-Lydia and a busy bag toy at church. 2-David took the kids to Sams Club when I was at my homeschool retreat. 

David traveled to Denver for work this month. He's got quite a few travel weeks on his schedule for this year, but thankfully none of them are too long or far away. I think David enjoys the chance to travel and even though I know he doesn't love being away from us - I'm glad that he has such a great job and gets to do some really great things.  

February Homeschool

I didn't take a ton of pictures this month, and in truth, we had a little slower homeschool month. We still did our coursework regularly and we still had some fun field trips - so it was definitely a success. We almost always host our Science Fair in February and had it scheduled for the third week in February. I usually love this because it's so fun to have a project to work on in the cold February weeks where there isn't as much going on. However, I got behind on the planning work because of Sue's passing in January. After realizing that the thought of going through with the science fair in February made me so anxious I could cry (and I did), I decided to postpone it. The science fair is important to me, so I hope we will be able to make it happen later this spring, maybe April. Once that was removed from my plate, the rest of our homeschool month went really well. 

Lydia created the most amazing "Craft Kit" this month. She worked hard on it for days and days. It's a kit made completely from cardboard and craft supplies that she can carry around for a portable crafting station. It has drawers for specific items, hooks, and all sorts of detailed touches that make it an incredible work of engineering and art. 

Coops/Groups

Library with mini-coop. 


Taking Valentine's cards to the local Elderly Care Center with Girls Club. 


I teach a music class to the preschool at SPARK right now and I love being in there with Lucy. Our favorite songs are: Matilda the Gorilla, I'm a little Teapot, and Slippery Fish.

Ski-Bus finished this month. This group of kids rode a charter bus up the mountain each Friday so they could gain/improve their skiing skills. They had a great time. We decided to host a party on the last Friday and we picked them ALL up from ski bus, came home for pizza, and a movie night. I think that every person should have the chance to watch Cool Runnings for the first time with such a great group of kids. It was hilarious and we had a great time. 

Field Trips

Lehi Bakery (Donut Factory) 

One of the hardest parts of hosting a Homeschool Field Trip group is that you never know how many people are going to attend from week to week. It makes it difficult to gauge what kind of group to plan on, and because the group has grown so big this year (yay!) it makes it harder to plan field trips that are better suited to a certain number of people. So instead of opening this field trip up to the whole group, I hand-invited a couple of families to join us. This tour was MAGICAL! We loved it so much. The owner "Baker Dave" walked us through every part of their newly updated bakery and shared a lot of what it means to own a bakery. We loved it and especially enjoyed eating the donuts at the end.  

Children's Museum with the Haderlies 
We are so lucky to have this gem of a children's museum so close to our house. The kids love climbing in the jungle and exploring the different exhibits that they have there. 

Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake. 

We got to watch a movie in the dome theater and the highlight was when they projected the "night sky" as it is right now in February and she pointed out some constellations and things to look for. It was really cool. 

Shantel's February

A few glimpses into my February: 

This meme. 

When you've officially run out of excuses: "Will likely be a little late because of who I am as a person." There is more truth to this than I wish there was. I justify sometimes by saying that really I'm a maximizer and if I can squeeze in XYZ before I go then that's better than getting there and waiting around. But a little voice in the back of my head reminds me of the time someone told me that people who are late value their time more than other peoples and when they use their time selfishly it makes them late. Darn. I am actively trying to be better at this, but also - I can only give so many excuses before I just have to admit that I might be a little late no matter what. 

Some books that I've been reading. I made a new friend (@readintorebecca) through some Ward Conference visits that we did for Stake Primary and she's been supplying me with fun new books to read. I have been doing 99% of any book reading via audiobooks - so it's been fun to get some books back in my hands. 

I've been expanding and deepending my friend community and have attended some really nice things. Early morning temple visits on the first Friday of each month (Cara and Bethany). A "Bunco Birthday Party" for a sweet friend, Dani. Plus lots of Marco Polos, meaningful conversations during field trips or coop pickup times, and opportunities to rub shoulders with some really amazing people. 

I also was able to attend our Stake Women Conference and enjoyed the morning thoroughly. It's always so neat to be able to join as sisters in the gospel to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and be reminded that we are in this together to strengthen, love, and lift each other. This class was taught by one of my sweet Primary Presidents, Tenille. I'm grateful for my stake calling that has given me such sweet friendships with so many amazing women. 

Homeschool Retreat Planning 

These pictures make me laugh because it's incredible that this chaos turned into such an amazing weekend! Last year Ali and I planned a homeschool retreat together and this year we wanted to do it again. It was planned for February 15-17 and even though it looks a little chaotic, Ali kept us well prepared and on track. I think we make a really good team and I am overwhelmingly grateful for her friendship. Here are some of the details of the prepwork:

Homeschool Retreat 2024

The retreat itself was smooth and amazing. Once again, Kate Naylor blessed my life immensely by offering to drive her truck. I had been insisting that I could drive my van, but having her drive was a huge blessing because it snowed much of the way and I wouldn't have felt nearly as confident as she did in her 4x4 truck. Due to some issues with our Airbnb getting canceled (twice!) we ended up hosting the retreat in Garden City (Bear Lake) and we loved it! 

We had a lovely weekend of workshops, outdoor activities, personal homeschool time, and good food. It was amazing to see the organizational chaos turn into such a delightful weekend. I'm grateful to be surrounded by so many women who love and work and care for their families so diligently. Homeschooling takes courage and it's a blessing to have a community of people who are brave enough to choose this homeschooling path and will help support and encourage each other along the way. 

I taught a workshop on "The Power of Fun in Homeschool" which I really loved prepping for and talking about. We painted one night, went on a snow bike ride one day, and spent the rest of the time learning and working together and during personal time. 

Community is important to me and I've loved seeing my community grow and strengthen in so many areas. This month has been wonderful as I've connected with others and been able to accomplish a lot. 

 This month has also been hard with the recent loss of Sue, who means so much to me. The grief has impacted me in significant ways and it's been harder to do a lot of my normal things to my normal levels. I've been so sad. I've had a hard time balancing things that usually are easier for me to handle. I cry at the merest mention of anything emotional (which if you know me, seems like it isn't much different- but I'm talking sobbing, not just tearing up). I have also felt peace, hope, and happiness - and it's been an interesting thing to watch the happiness and goodness walk hand in hand with the sorrow and slowness.