February Round-Up

I'm doing a poor job of staying on top of the blog. But I'm determined to keep doing the round-ups as a way to get the monthly memories down. The idea for my monthly round-ups comes from Katie the Scrapbooking Lady. It's a great tool to recap what you're doing each month.

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
   
   
   
   
   
2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
   The impact of major snow storms dominated February. The kids were out of school for half of the month, tons of activities were cancelled or rescheduled, and life's business ground to a halt under more than 2 feet of snow.
   
   We did manage to still have Grace's birthday party, themed a Valentine's Birthday, on Feb. 13th. She had 13 girls over for a couple of hours and they had a blast.
   
   Johnny and John also celebrated their birthdays, and we had a nice family dinner at Jenna's.
   
   We celebrated the Blue & Gold Banquet with the Cub Scouts, and Christopher's den were the guests of honor, as they will be bridging in March. Both Grace and Christopher earned their Catholic Scout medals and were awarded those in a scout mass at school.
   
   
4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?
   Grace and Johnny's birthday presents. Going to Disney was a large part of Johnny's birthday present. He also got from us The Zombie Handbook, and the Godfather trilogy and the Matrix on DVD. The snow storms made it impossible to shop further.
   
   From us Grace received Kaya, the American Girl doll; a blue sock monkey; Emu boots; assorted books; and a shirt from Justice.
   
   
5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?
   It took us all weekend to make our way home from Florida, so we had some unexpected costs in the form of hotel rooms.
   
   
6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
   Our health was pretty good this month, mostly because the kids were out of school for so long. However, my father had back surgery and I went to stay with my parents for a few days to help him out. Seeing him in that much pain was very, very hard.
   
   
7. What were my accomplishments this month?
   I was proud that we made it through so many snow storms with relative peacefulness. It always makes me very nervous to have a snow storm occur that cripples our transportation - it means possible loss of electricity, which in turn means our nebulizer would not run if Rachel had respiratory problems. It also means we could not get out to s hospital in the case of an emergency). But, Johnny's calm and competent manner was very reassuring and I took it all one day at a time.
   
   
   
   I was also happy that we were able to celebrate Grace's birthday with both friends and family.
   
   
8. What were my disappointments this month?
   
   Nothing that I can think of, besides the frustration of cancellations and snow issues.
   
   
9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)
   
   Finances are tight due to the Disney vacation on the heels of Christmas. Also, exercise ground to a halt during the frigid temperatures and not being able to go outside. Getting into better shape physically and financially is a major goal for the next 6 months.
   
   
10. Anything else noteworthy to include?
    
    Here are my layouts for the month:

Paper layouts:









Digital