Growing Pains: February 2026

February is the month of love with Valentine's day and our very own anniversary. I think both of these events just make me swoon a bit in this month as I walk through life daily. Man, God sure did give me so much to be grateful for. Let's take a look:

I went on a mother/son date night. We tried a new location than we have done in the past and this one tops what we have ever done! A full night of so many activities and then prize drawings at the end. Spoiler: both of my boys won a prize this year and I think that helped to win them over.

We set up magna tile hockey for some indoor fun:

I caught Riley reading the bible in his free timeseveral times this month:

We made it to the children's museum! One of our favorite places. And this time they had a fun dinosaur activity going on that we got to join.

Avery also got to spend time in her favorite spots, the kids NICU area.

Random selfies I found on my phone this month. Whenever she gets my phone in her hand she takes them:

Some heart jello for the month of love:

Riley had a birthday party for a friend and they hosted a pickleball tournament. Riley and his partner were champs and got the pickleball prize (pickles with a pickleball on top, so fun).

We always love muffins and this year I have added into rotation homemade cheese-its. I even make a dairy free version and Jayden loves those!

Just some outside time:

So, many months ago, we were supposed to go on a flight to watch our football game we went to. We had won this package in an auction. When the flight couldn't go out because of the weather, we still went to that game (check out this post if you missed). It was still a fun time.

We tried again to take the same flight and just go spend the day in this city.

We got to load up in the plane, get comfy, and then we waited. And waited. Eventually, we were told there was an engine problem. So, we went back into the airport to wait it out and hopefully leave.

It's hard to be 2 and continue to be told to keep waiting.

Again, we waited and waited. We ended up throwing in the towel and took the kids to the coffee shop. Better luck next time:

Homeschool highlight reel! Here are some things we have been up to.

We started a local chapter as the group we were working with means at least a 30 minute drive one way for us. We were so shocked and awed when one of our first events ended up with 20 kids! We hosted a valentine's day party and play day at the ymca:

The party went well and we have continued to meet monthly for various tours and lessons! Here we are doing an art lesson at the library:

We are also doing ocean studies at home and here is a picture Riley drew:

The view of school sometimes. Riley practiced spelling words while I got my walk in.

Jayden was home with us one day and made donuts with Riley:

One day after homeschool PE we decided to get outside for lunch and hit up our favorite pretzel shop:

We finished archery! The kids did great and Riley even medaled.

We went out to celebrate with ice cream:

A beautiful sunset I captured one evening:

Payton had quiz bowl this month and had a blast. The team took 3rd place here:

We didn't do anything too exciting for our anniversary but Payton did watch the kids so we could go out for a quick drink and play a few rounds of music bingo. I will have you know that we both even won one round each!

Pictures I found of myself with my children:

I love being a mom.

My mother came to visit and I think this is one of the few pictures I have as proof:

Okay, I found one other!

Payton and Monte went on their annual father/daughter dance date night. She is growing up fast and this will be the last year she goes with her dad on her own. Next year, Avery will join them.

I took the rest of our crew out to eat and we sat at the park. It was too cold to get out and play so we ate and watched the ducks swimming. Avery was totally thrilled with this kind of date!

We got some new (to us) art supplies so Payton sat down and showed Avery how to use them:

I'll end this post with a day outside we had. This was just a random homeschool break period. The kids got outside to pretend fish and camp. My biggest three used to play this all the time and yet, somehow I forgot about how this used to be a daily game. It had been so long since I had seen it played. But, in the moment I saw it, I was so reminiscent. It made me weepy. I miss the days when my kids were all home and lining up their camping chairs to face the cornfield and "fish."