February at the Bangerter house

For a girl who doesn't like anything on her head, in the past week Anna has really surprised me. It started last Friday. Right before this video Anna took one of Alina's purses and put it on her head like a baseball hat and wore it around the house for about 20 minutes. Later that day Anna found this little kid washcloth and ran around the house with it half over her eyes. So funny! Monday, Anna yet again surprised me. I was looking through a bag of girl clothes someone was giving to us and Anna saw a bag with headbands in it. She started her squeals and I finally gave it to her telling her that it was just headbands and you don't like headbands. I put one on her and she proudly wore it around for about 10 min. I think she is starting to notice that everyone else but her has hair on their heads. I think she wants some. Hopefully soon Anna!

I was really surprised at how well she ran around the house with it over one eye!

Alina's purse being worn as a hat.

Anna loves to hold things and purses. Until my mom got this hello kitty purse for Anna's birthday Anna was using Alina's rain boot ( it has handles that are perfect for Anna) as a purse. Thanks mom!

Anna must know that she is small for her age, because she loves to climb into small spaces.

Both of my girls have been surprisingly soft with books and they both love to sit and read books. I love this picture with the sun streaming through the window. I always pick a spot like that to read.

One evening Anna walked out of our closet with Adam's work boot. The funny thing is that Alina loved to do the same thing at her age.

Alina would help Adam carry his work boots from the front door to the closet every evening. Look at how much hair Alina had at that age! I used to think she was bald.

The other day it was in the 50's and we were at a friend's house. Anna found the mud. I saw her take her first step into it, but I just could not stop her from playing in the mud. I just could not deny her her first experience with mud. I love mud myself and I had to control myself to not climb in as well. Someone had to be clean as we went home.

Another warm day in Manhattan. We had to take a trip to the zoo.

I told Alina once that Anna was her best friend and that she needed to treat her that way. Ever since, Alina will refer to Anna as her best friend. I love it!

For Family Home Evening last week our lesson was on Noah and the Ark. The girls loved acting it out. Thanks to stuffed animals and puppets we had a lot of animal pairs.

Anna loves to get in the toy bin.

Our first K-State Basketball game.

It finally snowed here in Manhattan and we actually got to play in it! It was so nice to have winter around. I have enjoyed the warm weather, but what is a winter without a little bit of sledding? Anna looked so cute in her snow gear!

We have a "slight" right by our apartment building. I thought it was going to be too "slight", but it was perfect for Alina and Anna. Alina was in heaven and she wanted to stay out, but unfortunately Anna only liked it for about 40 min., so we had to go in.

Alina had the look of pure joy as she played in the snow. There is nothing better than to watch your children when they are happy.

It is really hard to get a picture of Anna when she is walking because she makes really sharp turns ( it actually is very athletic the way she cuts and moves), so I was so happy when I caught this picture.

We made Valentine cookies, and Alina loves to pose for pictures.

Alina took this picture. I was really proud. She must be taking after my sister who is good at photography, because she doesn't get it from me!

For Valentines Day I wanted to have a fun dinner. I was planning on having Italian chicken gravy over rice. I got the idea from a friend to use Beets to make your rice red. The color turned out amazing! I cooked my beets ( I then cut them into heart shapes for our vegetable) and then cooked my rice in the leftover water from the beets. Alina and I then made heart shaped bread sticks and it was a great dinner. Happy Valentines everyone!