warmest february ever

This has been an incredibly warm February. Last week was in the 60's and 70's. It topped off at 79 degrees on Friday. It was AMAZING and a record breaker. Flowers and trees are blooming. Some people are sad about no snow. Not here, man. Not here.

Some highlights of February include:

• I did IF:Gathering with some girls in Morgantown. It was AWESOME. Jennie Allen is the real deal and I've really been enjoying some of their studies.
• Ben was in Colorado for a week for his annual timeline training for Young Life. We had one early dismissal (planned) and two 2 hour delays for snow that week.
• I spent the entire week Ben was gone working on a United Way application for possible funding for Young Life. I may or may not have cried in the middle of Panera over it. 
• Thanks to the warm weather, we realized our air conditioner compressor in the van is broken. Thankfully we realized it now because it will go out of warranty in about 3,000 miles. Now we'll be able to get if fixed waaaaaay cheaper. A total win for warm weather.
• I'm going to be a Work Crew boss at Saranac this summer. What?!? Ben will be a staff spouse.  Double what?!? We very much made the decision together as it's a total role reversal for both of us. I gave Ben a very honest assessment of what it will be like being the parent instead of the spouse with the job. We've been on 13ish assignments and Ben has always been the one working. Now it's my turn. I'm watching my control issues rise to the surface.
• We are moving forward with hiring someone for the Young Life College position. Que the angels and the spotlight from heaven and the hallelujah chorus.
• I'm doing Work Crew training again this year. That is always one of my favorite things to do and it's good practice for this summer.
• Sophie and I went to Charleston to see Disney on Ice. That was one of her Christmas gifts this year. She loved it, we shared it with friends and even played hookie from school. 
• Lent started today. I'm giving up chips and salsa. I have a very real problem.
• Ben, Ted, Ken and Wyatt went to the Big Monday game of WVU vs. Texas as the second set of tickets for Christmas. A 9:00 pm game may have been a little over ambitious.

Pictures from the month:

This was early February. Sophie loves to drag out the beach chair on a nice sunny day. It was about 55 degrees and she wanted to put on her swimming suit. We settled for sunglasses, flip flops and homework in the sun.

This was the day we locked the kids and the sitter out of the house. Oops!

Yes!

The tree beside our house budding. The daffodils are extremely confused.

All students in Mon County grades 3-12 now have a Chrome Book. They are doing LOTS of their work at school on those. They can even bring them home and do work. The new plan is for "Cold Days" (as opposed to snow days) teachers will still go to school and kids will stay home and be able to do work on their Chrome Books, therefore not loosing any school days. That hasn't happened yet. This was a two hour delay with some friends over. Always nice to all be playing on your electronics.

We got to dog sit Flash this past weekend. It was a lesson in the world of puppies and feisty dogs that can sneak out the front door. The kids really did well. But I realize how freeing being dog-free is. I'm not ready yet.

Ben went to Campaigner weekend in Pittsburgh. He's leading at MHS now and loving being with high school kids. It's put a pep in his step.

Our new favorite game is Exploding Kittens. It's a fun card game. There's not a lot of strategy, but it's easy to teach the neighborhood kids when they stop by. Ben and Sophie were strategizing on the longest game of Exploding Kittens ever. For some reason, Ben is always the first one out.

Another beautiful day with the beach chair is out.

Hanging (haha!) at the park with some leaders.

Sophie's friend Maisie was in town.

Ben and Dave had a little dad/daughter brunch on a Saturday morning. Sophie was thrilled to miss one of Ted's basketball games.

These two came home with Valentine's Day gifts. M&M's for me (for my popcorn) and a balloon for Sophie.

Fighting over their Valentine's Day loot. Remember when Valentine's Day was just cards? Not the case these days. There's candy, pencils and other pinterest things.

Ted likes to ride his hover board to the bus stop. Which means yours truly gets to ride it home. Can't say that I mind.

Ted told us about a week before the Super Bowl that he invited some friends over for a party. Alrighty then. He collected all the mom's phone numbers, asked people to bring things and set it all up. So Ben made a betting board, the kids ate a lot of junk, and they stayed till 9:00 pm. We thought the Falcons had it all wrapped up. Stupid Patriots.

We hit up Disney on Ice on Thursday with Maisie and Michelle. (The girls saw each other twice in one week!) We went on a Thursday night because our kids weren't supposed to have school on Friday, but that turned into a make up snow day.

The girls waving at the princesses.

Love these friends!

We stayed the night. In the words of Steve Grimm, Dave made a "big old bait" for breakfast. Everyone was nice and cranky after a late night.

Sophie played hookie from school on Friday. We drove home, did some work in the afternoon and enjoyed smoothies on the back porch in our flip flops.

 OMG! These mouth contraptions from the game Speak Out are our new favorite things around here. We laugh so hard. It's our new favorite way to sing Happy Birthday!

Ben and I made a quick trip to Pittsburgh yesterday. Partly for fun and partly to finish up some stuff from Campaigner Weekend involving a broken down car and things left behind in hotel rooms. We got some good coffee and had lunch and played some games at Dave and Busters. It's always good to get out of town for a little bit.