Adventures in February...

February was pretty, well, NORMAL for the Pence clan. Now I don't mean that each member of the Pence family suddenly morphed into some bland and boring human. We are each still our own special blend of kinda kooky, a little spicy, sometimes loud, often sassy, and always crazy fun. However, the things we got to do in February were very normal. Birthday parties, family outings, school activities and awards...totally NORMAL! With our own special spin, of course!

First, Aidan got invited to his first first-grade birthday party! YAY! There were superhero costumes, face painting, a bouncy house, and a piñata. The best part (for me) was hearing, upon our arrival, "Aidan's here - YES! Come play with us!" Music to my ears! My little man had a blast playing with his friends!



Later that same day, we all headed to Tybee to celebrate baby Kayley's first birthday. Kayley thoroughly enjoyed her birthday cupcake! I can't believe our baby girl is growing up SO fast! (You would think that I would be used to this little phenomenon by now, right?)



Now Kayley actually turned one at the end of January, but we waited to celebrate her birthday until everyone's favorite monkey could be here - UNCLE KYLE!!



It's always fun when Uncle Kyle comes to town! ;)

February also brought us a school fund raiser - Jump Rope For Heart. This was Aidan's first time participating in JR4H, and he was SUPER excited. We got him a jump rope, so that he and his Dad could practice. Aidan made a video that we emailed to friends and family, to help him raise money for the American Heart Association. Didn't he do a great job?



When I asked him how much money he thought he could raise, he immediately answered, "At LEAST a thousand dollars, Mom. We just raised more than that for Camp Southern Ground."

(Side note-back in December, we felt we needed to do something BIG as a family, to pay it forward for Brain Balance. We talked it over with the boys, and they decided that in lieu of birthday gifts, they would ask friends and family to make a donation to Camp Southern Ground. Andy and I were in charge of the super fun dinosaur birthday party to celebrate our boys, and it was AWESOME! We are so so SO proud of them! And thanks to the very generous donations of friends and family members, they raised $1090 for CSG!)

Anyway, we set a goal of $100, and Aidan got to work. We had to set a new goal twice for him! All total, he raised $287 for JR4H! GO AIDAN! Finally, THE day arrived - it was time to Jump Rope For Heart at school! Lots of parents and teachers worked hard to make the afternoon fun for everyone! It was structured chaos at its best, and we had a great time.



Even Aeson got in on the fun!



Mema came with us, and she had a great time watching her boys! We were so very happy she could join us!


We made some birthday videos in February, too! This one was for Nanny...



And this one was for Coy Bowles, of Zac Brown Band. Still not sure why they felt the need to scream at poor Coy - they really want to be his backup singers!


You might have read (in an earlier blog post) that Aidan made the HONOR ROLL!!



His very first quarter back in school!! For the first time EVER!! We are over the moon and so very proud of him! GO AIDAN! And a BIG thank you to our friends at Brain Balance Atlanta - we would not be here without their hard work and support! Aidan got a pretty cool (and more than a little "rock star") reward for making the honor roll. If you missed that blog post, you can read all about it here: http://brainbalanceaidan.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-baaaaack.html

And finally, we had one of our most relaxed and most FUN family outings EVER! We took the boys to Fort Pulaski and to see the Lighthouse on Free Museum Sunday, and we all had such a good time! The boys LOVED exploring the Fort!



The weather was perfect, and the view was awesome!



I LOVE this photo of my boys!



These too!



I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...;)



When we finished exploring the Fort, we headed over to the picnic area for lunch. A few minutes later, Mimi, Papa, and Uncle Kyle came to join us! We hauled the tailgating supplies out of the van, and let the games begin!


There was Beanbag toss...(and Ashwin tried to steal the beanbags)



Lawn Darts...(and Ashwin tried to steal the targets)



And bocci ball...(you guessed it, Ashwin tried to steal the white ball)



He's sorry! (NOT really!)



LOTS of fun with people we love - YAY!



And who knew Uncle Kyle could juggle?



Afterwards, Mimi and Papa took the Tiny One back to their house for a rest. Andy and I headed to the Lighthouse with the big boys - we'll have to take them again soon, since we couldn't actually climb the lighthouse that day due to painting. It was still fun, though!



All in all, a pretty awesome February for the Pence Clan, I'd say. And check out the latest progress report on Aidan...my little rock star!



Yep, I'd say February was totally...



comletely...



normal!!


NOT!

But it was definitely awesome!


Much love,

Allie