February went by quickly with more weekends of volleyball and school events that kept the weekdays busy too. Taryn's picture starts out our February because on February 2nd, it was their 100th day of school. The Kindergarteners had to wear a t-shirt that they had made with 100 things on it. We picked Perler beads, which we glued on to her shirt in the shape of "100." The hot glue may not have been the best option, because the beads popped off pretty easily, but it was the fastest option and the shirt did last for entire day without losing too many beads.
Aubrey's birthday was the biggest event of the month. She turned 9 on the 10th February. The sad part was she was sick for most of it. The week before her birthday Taryn had been home sick with a fever. Aubrey caught it and wasn't feeling well by the end of the week, and she missed a couple days of school. Luckily it was just a fever and not anything worse. Aubrey's actual birthday was on a Saturday and she woke up that morning feeling better. And because Abby's volleyball tournament that day was scheduled for the afternoon, we were able to go out to breakfast to celebrate. She opened her presents which included a lot of accessory items which are her favorite. She got chokers, magnetic earrings and a super soft blanket among other things. Here she is when she talked to Grandma Gibbons on the phone and the picture I used to post her birthday on Facebook.
She had also received her birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons and when she opened it and saw that she got a lot of cash, she was determined to use that money to buy the one thing that was on the top of her wish list - her very own pet! She kept saying that since Abby had her own fish and Tessa had her own tortoise, it was her turn to get her own pet. She said she would have been happy with a bunny, a lizard, a snake, a guinea pig, a hamster, a gerbil, or a chinchilla. I even had her research what she really wanted and made her tell us how she was going to take care of whatever she got, if she got a pet. Well, Tyler and I quickly vetoed the snake idea, but we've done hamsters before, so that morning of her birthday after breakfast, we went to the pet store and she picked out her very own pet. Meet Blizzard, the dwarf hamster. She even used some of her own money that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons so we had to send pictures to let them know what their birthday money went towards. He's pretty cute and tiny and the girls love to watch him run around, climb the walls, and race through his tubes.
During Abby's volleyball games the afternoon of Aubrey's birthday, Aubrey's fever came back and she spent the last couple hours sleeping on the hard floor of the El Paso Convention Center. We went home that night and took it easy and let her sleep. At church the next day, Abby spoke in sacrament, so we all went for that first hour, but Tyler took Aubrey home afterwards. She was so sad to leave because she wanted to stay for all of church, but we didn't want her fever to come back like it had the day before. They went home and made a dessert for her birthday since we hadn't had any birthday cake yet. We had the Kasallis's over that night to sing to Aubrey and wish her a happy birthday. It wasn't the most exciting birthday ever, but she said she was happy because she had gotten everything she had asked for, including her very own pet.
Because Aubrey had missed school the day before her birthday, we waited until the following Friday to take treats to her class. Their program was coming up, so they spent most afternoons practicing with the entire grade in the cafeteria. I had to find them there to give her class donuts. Her teacher, Mrs. Rader, who's in the back, had everyone sing to Aubrey as they rushed to grab their donut and leave for the day. I had spent that week and the following week at the school every day for the book fair. It was a crazy busy month when you added in the sick kids, but having my parents here helped. Aubrey spent two of her sick days hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Black's house and she thought it was the best thing ever because each day she watched a new Harry Potter movie. By the end of her sickness, she was begging to miss one more day of school so she could watch the next movie, Harry Potter 6. I was just glad she was feeling better and she had a good birthday week.
One night while I was reading in bed, I looked over and saw Aubrey next to me who was also reading. She looked so pretty, I took a picture. I love this girl. She's spunky, adventurous, outgoing, and super friendly. She loves to meet new people and she's very good at befriending anyone and everyone. She is our drama queen with the loudest voice, but we love her for her personality. She still loves dressing up fancy and would choose dresses and curly hair every day if she could. She loves the knee high black fancy boots she got for her birthday too. Happy Birthday Aubrey!
The 3rd grade school program was about two weeks after Aubrey's birthday. Their theme was about friendship and they sang some current pop songs about friendship like "Fight Song" and "Count on Me." The kids loved singing the songs and doing the actions while singing. One of Aubrey's favorite things to do is sing, so she loved practicing for the program and singing loud for all to hear.
After the program, we grabbed a couple pictures of Aubrey with some of her friends. Here she is with Milan, and then with Kaitlyn. They're all so cute!
As for volleyball, Abby still has games every weekend. They also have been playing league games on Friday nights as well. When they wear these black t-shirts, we know it's a league game. I recorded the majority of this game, so I remembered to grab some pictures while they played.
Getting pictures of Abby while she serves is my favorite because that's when she's the closest to where we're sitting, but I try to remember to get some of her on the court or with her team as well. Abby usually plays middle which is a spiking position, but she sometimes plays outside which is also spiking but from the sides instead of the middle. She's getting so good, it's so fun to watch her play!
Here are two other weekend tournaments, but I just didn't get very many pictures. The one with the girls in red was from when they played in the El Paso Convention Center on Aubrey's birthday. The one where she's in white was from a weekend tournament at Stars. I took it right before she served and only realized that night that it was the only picture I had taken during that day.
There was one weekend in February where no games were scheduled. Abby's coach had promised the girls a movie night for playing so well, so they spent their free Saturday hanging out together as a team. I love that they all get along and love spending time together on and off the court.
Here was the final tournament of February. I took more pictures as they played this one. These first two pictures are still from Abby serving and you can see her "donkey kick" that's her signature serve that everyone talks about.
I took one picture while she was on the court too. I also decided to grab a picture of Abby close up off the court so you can see her cute face. Here's Emily and Abby while they had a break. I love these girls so much.
And one more close up while Abby was on the court. I tried zooming in which is why it's kind of blurry. That number 6 is our girl! As a part of a birthday gift for AJ Kasallis, Abby had me take a picture of her showing her number. We photoshopped "GIBBONS" on to her shirt too and she framed the picture to give to AJ. It was a joke because a couple Christmases ago, during one of our $1 gift exchanges with the Kasallis's, Abby ended up with AJ's gift which was this exact picture but with AJ showing off his numbered football hoodie. It was pretty hilarious, so now they each have a picture of the other one in their sporting attire.
For about 4 months, I watched my friend Dani's baby while she went back to work. Dani and her husband are here in El Paso for medical school, and they had their first baby, Evelyn, last summer. She wanted to go back to work part time while her husband finished school, and I offered to keep Evelyn with me. It was like I was paying it forward because that's what Jennifer did for me when Tyler was in school and Abby was a baby. It was such a blessing to us how it all worked out back then, and I was happy and excited to be able to do that for someone else in the same situation. I didn't take many pictures of her, but here's one on one of the last days that I watched her. She loved this emoji pillow and she was such a cutie. The girls loved that I watched her too and enjoyed the days I had her when they were off from school which wasn't very often.
And finally, to end the month of February, we have to include this picture. Never say that Tyler's not an amazing and involved dad! He went with Tessa and Aubrey to their Father/Daughter Activity Days Activity which the girls decided was going to be a makeover party. All of the dads let their girls put makeup on them! I was pretty impressed. We loved seeing the pictures that they sent. The dads were such good sports. Activities like these are ones that the girls will never forget. I love my family!
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