Valentine's Day 2010

I love to decorate the kitchen for Valentine's Day. I put the gifts that Dan and I got the kids on the table, so they would be completely surprised when they woke up Valentine's Day morning.

When Gabriel came downstairs he said, "Hey, it's Valentine's Day."

"Mommy, you got a Pillow Pet for me?" He has been seeing the commercials on t.v. for months, and every time he says he wants one.

When I asked him if he liked the monkey, he said, "I love it. I'm trying not to cry about it." He melted Mommy's heart with that statement.

He truly does love his Pillow Pet. I got some books for the kids too.

A sleepy little Grace was not sure what to think about the Valentine's Day decorations and the gifts.

She said, "It's a bumblebee!"

She seems to like her Pillow Pet too.

The kids wanted eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. I was surprised that that's what they asked for when they could have had pancakes. I guess bacon makes is special --- we rarely eat bacon for breakfast.

We went to Grandma and Papaw's house after breakfast. Of course, Valentine gifts were waiting for the kids there too.

The kids got activity sets from Grandma and Papaw. They have color books, water color paints, stickers, crayons, and wipe-off books inside.

Gabriel's book was none-other-than CARS. Grace got a Princess book.

We stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way to Grandma and Papaw's. What could be more special than fresh donuts?

I think we all had a fun Valentine's morning.

St. Baldrick's!

Some friends of mine last year did this thing called St Baldrick's. They did in honor of their friend's son, Izak, who was diagnosed with cancer at age 15 months. He is the same age as Gabriel. I decided to join Team Izak this year. Here is how it works: Click the title above (or give money to me) and donate to the cause. You will get to see me shave my head. The website is below, as well, for you to cut and paste into your web browser. It's that simple.

I know a lot of you who follow our blog follow our friends' blogs as well, so it really does not matter who you donate to. We are trying to raise $5000 between all 5 of us. I will be sure to post pictures after the event.

For a little background, St. Baldrick's is the largest donor to Childhood Cancer Research besides the Federal government. The donation is completely tax deductible, and the website is secure.

Thanks in advance!

https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/371369

Exercising

Dan has been exercising every evening when he gets home from work. Tonight he had two little ones mimicking everything their daddy did. It was so cute!

Modern Girl

Grace can take care of babies while wearing heels. That's a talent I haven't fully developed yet. Not to mention, she can run in her high heeled shoes. She's certainly ahead of me on this skill too!

I love my modern little mama!

Side Note: You may notice that Grace is undressed more often than she is dressed lately. This is 100% her choice. We put clothes on her, but she takes them off constantly. Hopefully this is just a phase and not indicative of her future career choice. Haha!

Snow Ice Cream

After playing in the snow yesterday, I decided to make some snow ice cream for the kids. (Notice Grace is wearing clothes here? Yeah, it happens occasionally.)

Grace got a turn to stir the snow cream first.

Then Gabriel helped stir.

Grace was still cold from being outside, so the snow cream was not a hit with her.

Like me, Gabriel has a raging sweet tooth, so it was all good with him.

More Snow Play

More snow . . . Grace's favorite thing to do when it snows is sit down and start eating it.

This time the snow was deep enough --- about 7 inches --- that Grace had a hard time walking in it.

The kids always get a kick out of going down the slide when it's snowy.

You should have heard Gabriel's giggles as he slid into the mound of snow at the bottom of the slide.

Grace decided to give it a try, but was not a fan of sliding into the snow mound.

Like I said, Grace had a hard time walking in this snow and spent a lot of time on her bottom.

She seemed to like the swing though.

Even Lucy had fun playing in the snow. She and Hershey raced around the yard together bouncing through the snow.

Grace got cold and frustrated with trying to walk in the snow, so we went inside after less than an hour of playing. It was a fun hour of snow ball throwing though.

Goofing Off

Yesterday morning, Gabriel decided that he wanted to have a "party" in the living room. Grace and I dressed in our fanciest jewels to come to his special party. And like any party, I brought my camera along.

A fellow blogger introduced me to the term "photo bomb" via her blog. That term describes Gabriel's actions SO well. (Thnx, Jaime!)

The kiddo does whatever he can to ruin a Kodak moment!

So I chose to NOT try to get a "good" self-portrait, and just let him do his silly things.

And I think silly describes him quite well.

Breakfast Heaven

I love fixing a special breakfast for the kids when we have snow days. An unexpected day together deserves a special start.

This morning I made homemade waffles with blueberries and whipped cream on top. It was a heavenly breakfast treat!

In Awe

When the kids woke up this morning, they stood at the back door watching the snow fall. They were in such awe of the falling snow.

"I Already Did!"

You know how anything having to do with pee, poop, or toots is hilarious to kids? Well, Gabriel could NOT STOP talking about his three favorite subjects in the car last night, and he was cracking himself up by just saying the words pee, poop, and toot. **Sigh**

In his slap-happiness, he said to Grace, "I think you should pee-pee in your pants, Grace."

To which she replied, "I already did!"

Maybe you just had to be there to appreciate how funny her statement was, but Dan and I could not contain our laughter. She had the perfect response to his ridiculous statement.

Superbowl 2010

We went to the McAfee's for a Superbowl party Sunday evening. Grace, Jake, Sam, and Jackson enjoyed some yummy finger foods.

Gabriel decided to sit like a big boy on one of the bar stools to eat. This kiddo sat up there and ate, and ate, and ate. It's not that he ate a ton of food, he just eats so dang slowly.

Grace played in the toy room with lots of other friends.

Darbi worked on sucker #3.

Self-portrait I love you, Honey!!

Dan wrestled Sam. It's a good thing Sam is a tough kid because Dan sure can play rough.

The roller coaster is always a highlight for the kids at the McAfee's house. Preston enjoyed a few trips down the track.

Sam and Gabriel rode the roller coaster together a few times. You should have heard them laughing. It was too funny!

They had so much fun together.

Such silly boys!

Thanks, McAfee's for inviting us to your party. We had a great time! Good food, great friends, and the hometown team in the Superbowl! What could be better?

Valentine Cards

Gabriel has to take Valentine cards to school on Friday, so we made them out this afternoon after naps. I wrote his name on them with a marker, and he traced his name with a pencil. Friday should be a fun day of Valentine card exchanges and treats!

Bedtime Story II

I love the time we spend each night reading bedtime stories. I love that the kids enjoy reading books so much. I love the time that we spend cuddling together. I just love story time.

Black-eyed Girl

Grace's fall Monday made her left eye black. Her hair covers the knot and the bruise on her forehead. I don't notice her black eye until bath time when her hair is wet and pulled back. I don't think you can see her black eye very well here, but trust me, it's there. If you look at the corner of her eye by her nose, you'll see it. This picture was taken Tuesday night. Tonight it's a lovely hue of green and brown.

Goose Egg

This afternoon when I was picking Grace up from Mrs. Staci's house, Grace fell against the corner of the wall in the doorway. She wasn't running, wasn't being silly, didn't trip over anything. She just took half a step toward me and fell.

The poor little thing ended up with this massive purple knot on her head. It knotted up immediately and turned purple before I could even pick her up and move her to the couch. She cried for a short time, and then she was fine again. She is a tough little booger. Good thing!