A Happy V-Day

I loathe Valentine's Day. To me it seems to be a made-up day for retailers, allowing them to sell over-priced flowers and chocolates. On that note, hubbie and I decided to celebrate the Love day without spending any money.

I wouldn't call our Valentine's Day celebration romantic but it was fun. Hopefully we have created some great memories for our children. A good friend gave me the idea last year to make dinner at home feel like a night out (thank you Miss D). So we enjoyed Salmon and fancy mashed potatoes and salad at Mama Casa Mia Restaurantee by candlelight. The kids got to drink apple juice (a big no except for at breakfast) out of fancy glasses and we spent the meal chatting with each other, hubbie and I telling stories from our childhoods. It was a night full of giggles and so much more pleasant than any restaurant could ever be with two young children.

Then it was time for games. We set up mixing bowls in descending sizes and tossed conversation hearts and we played pin the arrow on the heart. Overall I would say that the day was spent as it should be...showing those we love how much we care for them in non-material ways! Next year another idea stolen from a friend...pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast (thanks to Miss M)!!

Kid Update

I realize that I haven't updated with any news on the kiddos for a while now. It seems that our lives have been over scheduled these past couple weeks with a large workload for hubbie, multiple meetings for me and tons of activities for the kids. Big Bro is out of school until Wednesday and it seems that we will now get a much needed break.

Anyway, here's a couple of new pictures and an update on the kids.
Little Sis remains fearless. She has mastered handstands on the recliner much to my dismay. I can envision a fall with another emergency visit and it makes my heart pound.

She also enjoys standing on top of her daddy's shoulders. She LOVES her gymnastics classes and I guess she is just bringing her talents home.

Big Bro is having a great time at Cub Scouts. He looks like such a little man in his uniform. I am, however, not enjoying sewing on all the patches and have not completed this task yet which frustrates him.

He is talking more grown up every day now. He loves to use the word "awesome" and draws it out as in "a-w-e-some", which makes me cringe and giggle at the same time. My favorite though is to keep asking him silly questions to the point where he gets annoyed and responds "Seriously Mom". It sounds like something that should come from the mouth of a boy twice his age!


You can catch a small glimpse of our freshly painted family room in these photos. I am attempting to sew window treatments, get the photos back on the wall and finish accessorizing this weekend so I'll post more photos when it's complete.

EW!!!

I found out yesterday the head lice has been found again at Big Bro's school. This is the third time this year. UGH!
It's just eggs (nits) this time. I'm not sure this tidbit makes it any better.
My head is itching just thinking about it. EW! EW! EW!

Consider this...

This came home in Big Bro's newsletter from school today and I thought it was worth sharing.

"Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

Tot Talk

Conversation happening right now at the snack table between Little Sis and 4 year-old J.

J: Why are you putting your blue jacket on?
Sis: Cuz I am cold.
J: But why are you cold?
Sis: Cuz I didn't have my blue jacket on.
J: Oh.

Me: Giggles.

First Haircut

Little Sis had her first haircut on Friday. A very exciting event for little sis, and slightly traumatic for her daddy! She is 3 years 8 months old, so it was definitely time for a haircut. I had been trying to convince her of this for the past few months but up until a few weeks ago she was certain that cutting her hair would be the equivalent of becoming a boy. "But mama I don't want to cut my hair 'cuz I won't be a girl no more".
We went to a little shop that specializes in kids' cuts and she sat in a little jeep to get it done. She was very proud of how still she sat and is telling everyone "and I didn't even whine". It took the lady approximately 3 minutes to cut it so I did feel a little ripped off, but Little Sis got a special experience for her first cut. Little does she know that next time I will be taking matters into my own hands. Wonder how well that will go over.
Here she is... still a girl and looking more and more like a little lady than my baby.

MLKJ Day!

Big Bro had a part in the school assembly on Friday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day. He had his part memorized but was very nervous to be up on the stage in front of the rest of the school. You can not see him very well but can hear him (and his sister's encouraging words) fairly clearly!

Missed Photos

I wanted to share a couple of photo's I missed from the first part of the month.

Hubby and the kids built the snowmen on the 1st. Our Frosty has since melted. In fact we don't have any snow left on the ground now.
Here are a couple of photos of the gingerbread houses we built with the boys. I made them all from scratch this year. It was very time consuming but the kids had such a great time with them, making it totally worth it!

I'm Big Bro's Mom!

We went to Big Bro's reflection ceremony on Monday night. Oh, what a night! It is great when I excel at something but seeing my son do it was so much better. I could not have been more proud. He was thrilled as he got not only the ribbon and certificate I promised him but they also gave him his own little photo album and disposable camera to help prepare him for his next photo shoot!


Last night I had a meeting with one of my mothers groups and we were talking about how once you become a mother you loose your identity and become so-and-so's mom. The more I think about it though, the more I realize that there is nothing else I would rather be. I love being at his school and having the kids call me C's mom. I am so incredibly proud of him (and my daughter as well) that it is really an honor to be called their mother. I don't feel like I have lost my identity at all. I am still me and I still stand for the same things. I feel more like my identity has just been expanded. I'm sure this comes off as rather cheesy but I am really quite happy at where my life is at right now. (This could also be the result of reading "The Last Lecture" and remembering that time is finite and that we should really live in the moment.)

Sorry about the poor photo quality, hopefully I will be able to post some better ones soon. As you can see here Little Sis was pretty proud of her brother as well. He's sharing a chair with a little girl from his class and sitting two rows in front of hubby and me!

The Thorn

Big Bro did a Reflections project back in the fall. The Reflections Program is an arts recognition and achievement program for students sponsored by PTA. Big Bro grabbed the camera and took some great shots all by himself. We entered this one that he entitled "The Thorn". We just found out this week that he won in the photography division. Well technically there are 5 top winners in each division, but it is judged school district wide with many entries so that is still quite an achievement.
Big Bro wanted to know what he won. He was certain it would be a new toy! We explained that it was probably just a ribbon and certificate. Also his work will be put on display at a local high school on Monday evening and then it will go on to the State Reflections contest. He's pretty excited, and we are so proud.