February… a month of celebrations..!

We were finally able to celebrate all of Shane’s hard work in school.  His teacher called to let us know that he would be receiving an award for most improved.  We were able to surprise him by showing up at the school on the day of the assembly.  He was awarded for going up three grade levels in reading and two grade levels in math.  This is quite the achievement for him and we are very proud of him.

Celebrating Shane's achievement

Shane with his teacher

Of course we also got to celebrate his birthday this month.  In order to prepare for the special day Matthew and I spent ours cleaning out, painting and moving his belongings over to his new room.  He loved having a new room that didn’t include storage.  It was nice to be able to do this for him and have him feel like he had his own place to relax.  

Shane's new bedroom

This is a month of birthdays for my family so we ended up combining a few of them.  Josiah was going to have his own party but his little brother ended up getting sick.  So, we celebrated it at my parent’s house at the same time we celebrated Shane’s 13^th birthday.  Shane loved his gift from us and Matthew was proud to give him a gun.  Of course his cousins were in awe and Aliya wouldn’t leave his side all day.

 Shane's new gun... and a proud cousin Aliya

Showing off his new books...

Josiah opening his gifts... 

Elizabeth's still attached to me...

The younger bunch...

The older bunch..

Sharing their birthday cake..!

The next day we had a party for him at our place.  We invited Matthew’s family and our neighbors over for tacos and birthday cake.  It was the first time we hosted a party in our house.  It was a lot of fun having people over to enjoy this special day.  Before the guests arrived Matthew and Shane enjoyed shooting his new gun after going over the safety procedures.  By the end of the day I was exhausted but it was a good kind of exhaustion. 

Matthew was proud to teach him how to shoot..!

Shane learning to shoot his new gun..!

Finally using our wedding gifts to host a party..!

Shane and his grandma

Happy 13th Birthday Shane..!

Shane opening gifts while the boys enjoy their cake..!

The following weekend the family got together again to celebrate my Father’s birthday.  I love these rare occasions that the family is able to come together.  This month I had a little extra free time since I was down to one class.  It gave me time to relax and do a puzzle as well as go out to lunch with Christy and on a date with Matthew.  All in all it was a good month. 

Doing something I love to do...