February

February kicked off with a birthday party for one of Kyndall's best friends, Katie. Her party was at Urban Air which is an indoor play place that kiddos LOVE.

As I've mentioned, every Sunday morning for the past six months we've been picking up one of Kyndall's little friends and taking her to church with us. After church we treat her to lunch out, usually at the location of her choosing and then we drop her back at home for a few hours before picking her up again for evening church activities. We absolutely love having her with us each Sunday and we are so thankful that her parents allow us to pour into her in this way. Today when she jumped into the car she handed me four quarters and told me she wanted to repay us for all of the meals we've bought her and the gas we've used to pick her up and drive her around. She said this was her own money and it was all she had but she wanted us to have it. What a simple but profound lesson in being grateful. If only everyone had a heart like this 8 year old, the world would surely be a happier place! 

Super Bowl Sunday brought a nice surprise! I entered an online social media contest with our local Chick-Fil-A and much to my surprise I actually won! We enjoyed this giant tray of nuggets and a gallon of tea as we watched the Super Bowl. Or really I should say at Matthew watched the Super Bowl, as Kyndall and I couldn't care less about it.

I am 37 years old and I've never been to a concert of any kind. It's just never really been my thing. But what has always been my thing is anything and everything Celine Dion. Simply put, she is my absolute favorite. Matthew completely surprised me by dropping a small fortune on two tickets to her world tour here in Dallas and when I say it was a dream come true I really mean it! To me, she has always been the epitome of beauty, class and talent so seeing her live was everything I imagined it to be and more. 

He didn't know a single word to a single song but he stood with me for two hours as I belted out every one of them. Love him!

Our seats were fantastic!!

Kyndall had a school project in which she had to write an expository paper on a subject that she knew a lot about. So naturally, she chose to write her paper about Raising Cane's restaurant! Ha! She did lots of research and received a perfect score!

We woke up to a tiny bit of SNOW one morning before school! It wasn't much and it didn't last long but it was a fun surprise!

That same morning I caught a glimpse of this gorgeous sunrise as I was going into the church gym. I don't see the sunrise very often but when I do I am always so amazed!

Matthew's birthday weekend arrived and Nonie and Poppie flew in for a few days to help us celebrate. We had lunch with Kyndall at school on Friday...

Actually, we sat with Kyndall as she ate her lunch. For some unknown reason her class eats lunch at 10:00 a.m.!! Nobody is hungry for lunch at that time! So, after we sat with her I took Nonie and Poppie to run some errands and then I had them try out our new favorite pizza place in town.

That same evening was the annual Daddy/Daughter Dance at school. I enlisted the help of my friend and hairdresser, Kirsten, to assist with the glam process.

She set up shop in her kitchen on her day off

Kirsten's daughter Karli adores Kyndall

This was their 3rd year attending the dance and they always make it an extra special night by getting all dressed up and going to dinner before they dance the night away. Matthew always gets her a corsage to match her dress.

Their annual pose is getting harder since she's getting so much taller!

For the second year in a row Poppie happened to be in town so Kyndall had two handsome dates to the dance!

Dinner at Chili's

Kyndall and some of her friends--Mahogany and Avarie

Having a blast with her friends....

And leading the conga line....Ha!

Dancing with Poppie....

And with her Daddy....

A few of the photos that the professional photographer took...

That very same day the photo on the left came up in my Timehop memories. How has she grown up so fast?? Makes me so sad but so proud at the same time.

Being the school's PTO Vice President, I am pretty much in charge of running events like these. It's a LOT of work but it's so worth it when I see how much fun all of the kids have. This year we decided on a "Candy Land" theme for the dance and we decorated accordingly....

The next day was Matthew's 39th birthday and he requested a trip to the movies, dinner at Texas Roadhouse and a yellow cake with chocolate icing from Latham Bakery. We made all of that happen for him and it was a fun day. Kyndall was in charge of decorations which explains why I had a turtle invasion in my kitchen...

Getting embarrassed earlier that night at dinner....

Our weekend with Nonie and Poppie went by quickly but as usual, Poppie left a little "walking money" surprise for Kyndall on his dresser. He always does this for her and she loves it!

Speaking of surprises, I found this precious note on my nightstand along with a package of my favorite candy. Things like this make my heart just want to explode!

After a wonderful weekend with family, we had a rude awakening on Monday morning when Matthew's car window was busted out around 5:30 a.m. while he was inside the gym. The thief took his wallet which contained his credit cards and his ID. It's a long story but we have been dealing with this horrible situation for several weeks now. Despite shutting off the credit cards immediately, the thieves used his ID to steal nearly $11,000 from our checking account over the course of a week. Talk about a nightmare! We are still sorting it all out and trying to get our money back from the bank.

For Valentine's Day Kyndall was given the assignment of making a box for the class party. It could be anything that reflected her interests and personality. She chose to make a turtle but not just any turtle--She made the late, great Taco.

Valentine's Day seems like just another cheesy holiday to some but to me it's so much more than that. February 14th is also National Donor Day. I am unspeakably grateful for the decision that my donor made when he or she chose to sign the registry, likely never imagining that their gift would someday go on to save the life of a very sick young wife and mother whose days were scarcely numbered. Because of their gift I've been able to celebrate six extra Valentine's Days with the people that I love and that is priceless to me. So on this day each year I choose to honor his/her memory by living it up and making as many cheesy, silly, ridiculously over the top memories as possible because I know that's what they would do if they could come back.

So, we started the day out right with heart shaped waffles for breakfast, complete with milk in a "fancy" glass. 

Even the boys were decked out for Valentine's Day

Cupid came while everyone was at school/work....

We have way too many stuffed animals but I couldn't pass up this one for our turtle loving girl!

Treats for her teacher and classmates....

She requested Taco Bell for our Friday lunch date at school and I fancied it up a little with some cute plates and napkins...

She made this sweet list of all the things she loves....

I attended her class party which was basically like a 3rd grade rave thanks to a room full of kids coming down off sugar highs!

We exchanged gifts once Matthew got home from work....

My parents had this custom antique sign made for her and gave it to her as a Valentine's Day gift. It's perfect for her new craft room!!

Aunt Kelly sent her money...

And sweet Wyatt sent her this stuffed turtle that he won at a school carnival just for her!

You're never too old to get Valentine's Day cards and cash from your parents!

She took her turtle to Valentine's night dinner

They let me choose our restaurant for dinner and naturally I chose my favorite place, Oscar Delta because tacos are my love language!

After dinner they wanted to stop at Kroger to pick out dessert--As if there hadn't been an abundance of junk already consumed on this day!

We've been sponsoring our Compassion kids for over 5 years now and we always love getting updated pictures and notes about them. They have a special place on our fridge and in our hearts.

When Adara jumped in our car on Sunday morning we realized they were unintentionally matching for church!

We had a day off of school for President's Day so we slept in and then enjoyed a yummy lunch. Matthew had to work so we made it into a girls day!

When you live in a small town, it's a pretty big deal when new restaurants or shops open up! After lunch we checked out the grand opening of our new local pie shop!

We squeezed in a play date with Kyndall's friend Avarie

We ended the day with a walk around the neighborhood and feeding the ducks at the pond behind our house. It was the perfect way to spend a day off!

I've had this kitchen table since 2005. It was one of my first big purchases after I graduated college and got my first apartment. It's been with me for 15 years and has survived 7 moves across 4 states. I've been wanting to replace it for a while now but just couldn't bring myself to part with it. I finally found a replacement that I liked so we said goodbye to it after many, many years of memories!

Saturday morning Matthew got the job of putting the new table together...

Ta-Da!! I LOVE the way the new table brightens up this corner of our kitchen!

Saturday morning chores never hurt anyone

I told you it's a big deal when you live in a small town and new restaurants open up. We finally got a Panera and while we aren't totally crazy over their menu, we LOVE their bakery selection! We have made this our new after school treat spot!

Our friend Mr. Tyson who is the general manager of Cane's surprised Kyndall with the newest limited edition Cane's plush puppy. So far she's collected three of them, including the 4th of July edition and the Christmas edition. Now she has the St. Patrick's Day addition as well. 

We spent a Saturday morning at the movies seeing "The Call of the Wild"

Another sweet memory popped up on my phone and made me smile. I remember taking this exact picture and posting it to this very same blog! Feels like I did that yesterday!

I looked back to see the sweetest sight on the way to church!

Just a light after school snack at Panera! Ha!

February was a busy but fun month! March brings the beginning of Spring which also means SPRING BREAK! Stay tuned for our big Spring Break adventure!!!