I HEART February

February is famous around here for being dreary- But I love February for a few reasons...

#1 my sisters always come in February
#2  the holiday in February is all about LOVE (I really like LOVE)
#3 we usually get our taxes done quickly and get our tax return in February (nice)


see... I HEART February.

Here are the some highlights...

All winter long in Cache Valley mom's just sort of hibernate. (or maybe it's just me?)  We make it through the Christmas bustle and the January blues and then February hits and we just need some LOVE So I decided to host a little LOVE party!  I invited a few girls to come over for a Valentine's Day luncheon.  I asked them all to bring one of their favorite things and we did a little gift exchange and learned more about each other too!  We ate taco salad and fruit.  The kids ate chicken nuggets and then played- it was a fun afternoon and I think we all felt the LOVE! 

a little valentine on the rocks.... from me!

the place setting... my favorite sour melt in your mouth candies.

The set up... a table for the ladies and a table for the kiddies....

The dessert bar...

the favor boxes... one last Valentine for the road!

 The Boys Valentine's Day Class parties...

 

Gabe's first Valentine's for his preschool class.

We made these for all the boys but somehow I only took pictures of Gabe's final product.  Evan and Eli's looked just the same and they all loved the picture of themselves and how they turned out!  Homemade and they weren't even that much work!

Here's Eli home from school with the loot...

and then Evan... He had a Valentine etiquette party that included all of the 5th grade students.  Earlier in the week they had some kids from the local high school come and role play ways to treat the opposite gender.  they talked about manners etc... and then for the Valentine party the kids were suppose to wear their best dress clothes and use good manners.  Evan escorted 2 girls to the party and then had to talk to them as they politely ate some refreshments.  I asked Evan how it went and he said it wasn't too bad.   I asked him what he talked with the girls about and he said they just pretended to talk when the teachers were looking at them.  hmmm?

I am usually aware of most of my boys tricks but I sort of forgot about the Valentine treats and didn't set up a plan for consumption.  A few days later I went down to gather laundry from Evan and Eli's room and noticed that these envelopes of candy were stuffed into their pillowcases... Come to find out they had been laying in bed every night secretly eating candy after lights were out and teeth were brushed!  I was kind of mad.

Starting the beginning of February we set out our "love buckets."  the boys really love this tradition of ours!  We have a "love station" that is set up with supplies- markers, stickers, paper, treats and some other craft stuff and then as a family we ask everyone to write a note to each person in our family every  day leading up to Valentine's day and fill up the love buckets.  They boys love getting little treats and notes and were constantly checking their buckets.  I love seeing what they write to each other and I love the opportunity we all get just to say nice things about each other.  I promise every time we do this- there is less fighting and more loving- its the best!  See how great February is?

the buckets start to overflow and so we spread the love by hanging our notes up to remind each other  just how much we love we have in our family!

These were some of my favorite love notes this year...

I tried to get a cute picture of my little romeo's... but it was the end of the day and they did not cooperate very well... so this is as good at it gets, oh well!   Romeo's?  More like stinkers and rag a muffins -but I sure love these boys of mine...

Still to come... Evan's spelling bee, Valentine date night, Jr. Jazz basketball, milestones and ALL the happenings while my sisters were here... yikes!

Random Days

We are loving this warm spring weather.  the snow is starting to melt but there is still enough on the ground so that when the sun shines and reflects on the snow it makes for an even brighter day!  YESTERDAY Gabe and Ollie decided that they needed their sunglasses on while they ventured out onto the back patio again and again trying to decide if it were really as warm as it looked! (I don't want to complain...it is warm but not THAT warm yet!)

It was so beautiful outside and we decided that we just had to get out of the house.  We picked up Glen for a quick lunch break and after we walked over to the nearby bakery to get a special "after school snack"  for Evan and Eli...

After school the weather started to cool down a little more but was still nice enough for these boys of mine who are suffering from spring fever!

Once Glen got home from work we had dinner and then decided last minute to go swimming... Spring fever for sure!  It was indoor of course but the smell of chlorine goes hand and hand with summer and the pool water was so warm... it was perfect!  The oldest boys and Glen also got in a little racquetball while the babies got showered and jammies on with me....then we headed home and thought that everyone would crash and that we would all get a good nights sleep after all that play... Well that was not the case- Gabe was over tired and whining on the way home- As Glen carried him up to bed he thought he felt warm- sure enough- A fever!  Now what?... we have had just about EVERY sickness in the past 2 months- seriously! We gave him some motrin and tucked him into bed hoping he'd be ok. Then later, just as Glen and I were heading off to bed- here came Eli in tears with an ear ache!  We figured he had water in his ear from swimming... but nothing we did seemed to relieve the pain. He is tough so when he cries we know it must really be bad!   He was in SO much pain all night- he went from our bed to a bed on the floor off and on and just could not get comfortable- he moaned and cried most of the night.  And then Gabe joined in half way through the night and between the two of them none of us got any sleep!  By morning Eli could not open his mouth and he was so dizzy- was walking around with his head tipped side ways!  I called the Dr. fist thing and we took them in and learned Gabe has a double ear infection and both ears are "as bad as they get."  And the doctor said it looked like Eli's eardrum would burst any minute and he just had so much pressure in his little ear.  Poor poor boys!  Having sick kids is so sad!  How random that they both had ear infections too!  They are on antibiotics today as well as ear drops and pain meds and I prescribed sprite, soup and a movie day... Evan came home from school and found us all asleep on the couch!

So that was our random yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday) just in case you were wondering! :)  I am working on lots of other updates... they just seem to be so much more time consuming- this one was easy so fresh on my mind...and random I like that!  I don't like trying to remember and the pressure I put on myself to stay in order etc... - but I am working on it and maybe I will even post a few over the weekend!  Now I am off to catch up on some much needed sleep!