Valentines Fun!

 My littlest Valentine in her new dress.  Her big brother told her, "I really like that heart on your shirt Bree" and she looked so proud she might burst.  It made me heart sing with joy for the love these two share not only on holidays, but every day.  This is the morning before her ECFE class on Valentines week.

She loves the sensory table at school and here she is dumping and scooping up some pink and purple rice! 

 And although I didn't get any pictures and was not in attendance, Peanut reported back that the Valentine exchange at Preschool went well and he brought home a sack of Valentines and candy to prove it! He took Good Dinosaur Valentines with dinosaur tattoos and a chocolate heart on each one for his friends.  He and Sis also took boxes of chocolate for their teachers.   

On Saturday (the day before Valentines) we had our annual family Valentines party.  Best made the clues for the scavenger hunt and it was the highlight of the day as always.  Thank you Best for your creativity!  Here are the kids finding some of the clues.

They found their Valentine bags hiding behind the castle and filled with chocolate candies, a new Winnie the Pooh nightlight for Sis, nature books for Peanut, and these really cool tiny squares that turn into towels in the water!  Sis got Frozen and Peanut got Spiderman. 

After the scavenger hunt we had some cupcakes and watched "A Curious George Valentine".

And maybe enjoyed some chocolate as well....

Next we had the dance contest.  The kids were up first and Peanut was doing some breakdancing while Sister did her elephant walk to the beat!  Mom and Dad did strut their stuff but it was not captured on film, thankfully.

Sunday was actually Valentines Day and we let Best sleep in while we had our early morning Valentines pancakes, strawberries, and yes that is a piece of chocolate right in the middle of the plate! 

 Peanut ate all of his pancakes and fruit first saving the chocolate for last as instructed but as soon as I turned around Sister's was gone!  Maybe she didn't hear or understand the instructions...smile

and after a bit we headed upstairs to give our Best his breakfast in bed.  He and the kids gave me sweet cards and pictures that I have added to my "Mom's Journal."  I treasure their little handiwork!

Since we've not been on the deck in the sandbox for a few months we decided to go to the zoo for their beach party!  They set up a huge sandbox and it's such a treat in the middle of the long winter.

We also visited the tropics trail and saw the bird show.  It's so fun to have Dad along on these outings when we can. 

We had a great Valentine's Day followed by a great Presidents Day! Peanut is really interested in the Presidents and I got so tickled when he remarked how that "sure wasn't very nice when that guy shot Abraham Lincoln in the head."  Yep, it wasn't. 

  Have a great week friends and family!

 

Inside and Out!

 

  We had one of the most beautiful days of winter last Sunday and we didn't pass up the chance to go sledding with plenty of snow, sunshine and 40 degree temps!  Here we are at the sledding hill in town across the street from the high school.

Sister actually took her first sled ride that day.  She wanted to go so we just took her up the hill a little ways but when she went she got up a pretty good speed!  She said she liked it but when asked if she'd like another turn she said, "No, I watch Bubba." 

This guy, on the other hand, could sled all day.  He gets to the bottom and immediately starts heading back up for another run.  He did take a break for a bit so I could take a turn on the saucer though and I must say it was fun!

When he's not on the slopes, Peanut continues to love Legos, and reading of course.  He's recently combined these two passions by building props for his stories and then acting them out as Best or I read the story as narration.  He gets so excited and he's so creative with his props!

Two weekends ago we went to watch Best's team compete in an outdoor tournament at Centennial Lakes.  It was fun to see a little "pond hockey" and the free cocoa and pizza was a nice treat!

Daddy's girl. 

Peanut drank so much cocoa that he was in a bit of a panic halfway home on the hour car ride...thank goodness we had to make a Walmart pit stop!

On the super cold days...and there have been a few...we are just staying inside doing what we love.  Here we are for afternoon stories with one of our favorite books Stone Soup.

Sissy is growing up so fast.  She walks around pointing to things and asks "What's this called Mama?"  and talks about her friends at "Pre-si-cool", which is funny because since her ecfe class is in the same building as the preschool she has just decided that she must be in preschool too. 

And then there's this!  Potty trained and sleeping in a big girl bed now.  Geesh!  But as cute as she was as a baby, I must admit I'm enjoying this stage even more.  She can communicate so well now that I can really explain so much to her and understand the things she wants to tell me (which is plenty!).   Her favorite joke is to say, "Knock knock, who's there, I'm joking."  She says it as one sentence and then cracks up at herself.  It's pretty funny. 

That's all for now.  Lots of things happening around here and I'm determined to keep documenting our lives.  I don't want to forget one thing because it's all so special and precious to me.  I wake up everyday so happy to spend it with these three people who I love so much.  Have a great week and stay warm friends and family!