Donkey Basketball!

Every year the FFA holds a fundraiser. They get students, coaches/teachers, and local firemen/policemen to come and participate in Donkey basketball. Apparently this is an Idaho thing because I've never heard of it before but Casey was aware of it. They first had some athletes pitted against the firemen/cops. I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face at how odd / funny it all was. People riding around as the Donkeys went in circles around the gym, sometimes falling off, sometimes getting off to pull their donkey towards a fallen basketball. Casey was apart of the second group of teachers/coaches vs. FFA club members. For the first half of Casey's game he was in the middle not on a donkey; he began the game, tried to get runaway balls, and tried to steal the ball off of donkey riders passing by. The second half of the game he got on a donkey! He did as well as anyone trying to keep balance, direct an unpredictable mule, and get some shots up.  Peter was mesmerized for most of our time there, but didn't want to touch the donkey's after. Kendal was loving it all, asking a million questions, and wanting to pet and ride a donkey as well.

Last couple of weeks:

On presidents day we went for a walk around Dirkies Lake with Brett, Vanessa and the kids. It's about a mile walk around the lake. Peter and Becca were holding hands for the first bit of our walk. Kendal and David were everywhere. Kendal loved spotting animal tracks in the mud and asked a lot of questions (as usual : ) David discovered his voice echoed so he spent the latter half of our walk testing out his vocal chords. We even spotted a rock chuck along the way. Peter did awesome and walked the whole way which is a big deal since he is prone to trying to get his way onto our shoulders on long walks.  The sun was out and it was a beautiful walk.

We've continued to relish outside time with the abnormally warm weather. When we hit a couple of windy / slightly cold days this week the kids were confused why outside time had to be cut shorter or they were cold.Kendal is getting better at riding her bike. She can go for good stretches by herself, but she still tends to lean to the right as she rides.
We've enjoyed more of Daddy time these past couple of weeks. Kendal has gotten him to play games with her almost everyday and she's loving it. Casey took her on a Daddy Daughter date to the regional spelling bee. He had a few students from the school / our ward in the bee and knew Kendal would find it interesting. She however asked a lot of questions and was telling a kid his word was wrong while he was on stage (Casey had to shush her up. She's definitely opinionated and sometimes doesn't have a filter - we're working on that.)

Kendal is still enjoying preschool and learning with me. She's getting so much better at reading. Since Peter was potty training this past month and getting rewards Kendal wanted in on the action too. She set a goal to read twenty five books to earn a prize. She accomplished that goal this week and will proudly take her two quarters to Smiths next week to spend. She wants to earn ice cream next.
Peter is pretty much potty trained. As long as I make sure he goes every few hours he stays dry. He's getting better at going on his own but when deep play is going on it's hard for him to leave it and go potty. He also has a hard time holding in non solid poops (sorry tmi), but does well with all other forms. Peter is loving building with his Legos and comes up with a new house / plain, train, or treasure chest daily. Casey says he was the same at his age and made lots of planes as a kid.
Pictures below. These kids can't get enough of play dough time and it's my go to on Thursdays when I'm cleaning bathrooms. Kendal and Peter's Lego creations. 

Our stake boundaries changed this month and a new ward was created. We are now part of the sixth ward. It's pretty much a condensed version of our old ward with half a dozen new families added. Our ward now meets at one which is horrible for nap time and with a young ward like ours sacrament meeting definitely was loud on Sunday. Casey is now the Sunday School president for the ward. They were looking for someone to come in and be a guide for the youth of the ward and be a good leader. Since Casey teaches the bishops son they knew he does well with youth. He'll be great at this calling and I'm grateful for the wonderful work he does. I am still call - less; however I was asked to teach primary on Sunday and they were putting together class lists and going over it with me and some of the other teachers to see if it was fine with us so I  figure I'm staying in primary, but we'll see.

Hidden gems

Every so often I make Casey pull out his sim card to and find some hidden gems.The pictures range from October till now; Enjoy!

 Ninja Pete

 Halloween

Just perched and flossing away

 Snow play

 Christmas time (Casey's students gave him a beard from a play his students did)

Grandpa's Backhoe (We'll attempt Grandpa D's tractor again this spring)

Lovely

This past week we had preschool at our house. On Monday we focused on the letter R. The kids played with Ramps. We made and shot off Rockets. We learned about Rhymes and played a rhyming game. We also made valentines Roses. On Wednesday we started off with exploding hearts (baking soda hearts + vinegar). The kids loved them. We made heart shaped animals and the bags to hold valentines in. We also read stories about Valentines day and loving others. We played musical hearts and ended with a party where the kids passed out their Valentines and ate snacks.
Casey was gone Wednesday and Thursday night for Varsity games. They ended up loosing both games to Filer. On Saturday they went to a State play in game in American Falls; which they lost as well; so Basketball season and travels are officially over for this school year.
The kids and I have been loving this warm weather spell we're having in the middle of what should be winter. We've been outside almost everyday and we hit up the park three times this past week. We even took the training wheels off of Kendal's bike this week and are working on balance and hopefully we'll master it over spring break next month.

(Side note: Peter is doing really well with potty training. His independence is shining through in all of this.)
Since Casey was going to be gone most of Saturday he and Kendal made a special dinner on Friday. Kendal was happy to help and we ate a heart dinner with everything cut into heart shapes. On Saturday the kids and I hit up the park and played video games together for fun. We also ate lots of treats throughout the day to celebrate Valentines day.
We had stake conference this weekend. We ended up missing both sessions both the adult Saturday because Casey was gone and today's so we could attend a baby blessing for Thomas. The Stake is officially re-aligned and we are now in a new ward (the 6th ward).

 We had the whole Darrington clan make it to the blessing on this lovely day! I love all of these peeps!

Last week of JAn.

 Last week was Casey's team's last game of the season. The kids enjoyed playing around while I watched Declo crush us. While the season wasn't an overall success the team has improved over the course of the past couple of months. Casey had a tough group to work with and he did his best coaching them this year. Now he just has playoffs to be at for JV and Varsity then we'll get him back (at least for a few weeks till track starts).
Kendal learned about occupations this week at preschool. One of the days they were bakers. They made hats and baked muffins. Kendal was so proud and excited to share her treats.
The other picture below is from this past week when the kids put gloves on their feet and danced around in my kitchen like penguins.

 Casey had patent teachers last week and then had Friday off. We went to Logan for the weekend to spend time with family and have a baby shower for Anica. Kendal was our little helper and wanted to be involved (or at least in the middle) in everything. We got her to haul/drag around my parents massive vacuum; it was pretty comical to see her attempt, but we appreciate the enthusiasm.
We made a bunch of homemade breads and served them with fruit for the shower. Anica got some adorable stuff for the baby. Kendal was everywhere, and all over the guests. We're excited to meet our newest nephew next month!
The other picture - Casey was getting the kids out of our hair for a bit. I spotted him riding this toy hauling Peter around. Moments like this make me smile, and love him even more.

On Sunday we went to sacrament meeting at my parents ward. The kids bench hoped amongst everyone during the meeting. After that we headed out and went to Casey's parents for the rest of the day. The kids had fun, we ate a lot of food, and watched the super bowl. The kids were mad when we left, but all good things must come to an end.