Valentine's Day

After much anticipation, the boys and I had a completely easy day. Both big boys were very excited to come and tell me it was the day so I tried to be super excited for them. 

Finding their treat mailboxes.

While the boys munched on breakfast of fairy bread (an Aussie thing I found out about while living next to one in Jacksonville), I made a rather large pot of coffee. 

I made the mistake of telling the boys they could open a box from their Noni and Pop Pop after nap time. Well, in the excitement of the day, naps (for either) didn't happen. I considered it a gift to myself as bed time would be coming super early and I had a fabulous bottle of wine that I wanted to crack open.

Opening Grandma's cards.

Gifts from Noni and Pop Pop were fun!

I should have seen the ominous clues...

To kill some time on such a beautiful day we headed out to "Trash Park." Eli acted off all morning but I just assumed his gaseous nature was from the junk food. While we were at the park he slipped and fell between two wooden structures, busted his lip, scratched up his back and then promptly fell asleep on me. When we got home all was alright. Around 10:30 he came in to my room saying he "didn't feel better." Just a few minutes later he was thrashing around and ended up with an upset stomach until the wee hours of the morning. He went through 10 diapers in two hours. Poor dude. After all that he started to vomit. Pink and red. Yay. 

It was a great day but this Mama is DONE! 

T'was the Night Before Valentine's

Really. Turner is THAT excited about Valentine's Day. It's my fault, though. We haven't had much to do so the boys and I concentrated efforts in to paper crafts, baking and planning sweet nothings for tomorrow. 

We made treats for our friends and even delivered them. The paper purses, crayon boxes and teeny take out boxes contained candy and other treats for the kids while the chocolate sauce was for the parents.

 

Some of the loot we delivered to our local friends.

We crafted our hearts out, made each other things and we've given lots of random hugs and kisses. 

The weather has changed, for the better. Today it was close to 55 or 60. The kids LOVED being outside without all the crazy winter gear. It's so much easier to give them the boot without having to load on the jackets and hats! 

Enjoying an al fresco lunch.

Yikes. I look THAT good. 

Since I'm not exhausted or anything, I made these love bugs to hang above the boys' beds. They'll love waking up to the little surprise!

Target $1 spot mailboxes hold an incredible array of junk and Valentine's messages from Mommy!

Tomorrow we'll be enjoying heart pancakes with sprinkles (the requested breakfast), we'll play with rice boxes, make Valentines for Daddy and just try to enjoy the day together. 

I hope your Valentine's Day is great! It's the first time, in my memory, that I've looked forward to one so much. The world through the eyes of your kids is really the most wonderful part of parenting.

My Kind of Snow Day

It snowed AGAIN this past Thursday. I have to admit, I freaked out since I have no back up. I grabbed extra milk Wednesday, just in case there was more snow than predicted. I mean, I really have NO idea what to do. Things ended up being just fine. It did snow, but the next day was in the 40's so it wasn't so bad!

Turner LOVES to get out in the white stuff.

He's such a  bit helper. 

With MUCH coaxing, Eli donned a snow suit and went out.

He ended up enjoying the exercise and the use of the snow shovel.

Chunks hung out with me, but still had a good time!

This baby is always smiling.

What happens when you get a phone call while trying to make oven s'mores.

The day was filled with little nothings that added up to a full day. We cleaned, baked, fought, slept and crafted. It was just a normal Thursday around here! 

The count down is on! Just a few days til the Big Dude is back!

Valentine Crafts

This is the first Valentine's Day the kids have been in to doing crafts. Turner, especially, loves doing hand work. 

This is probably ruining the surprise, but here are a few things we've been working on. I'm not sure who's enjoyed the crafts more, me or the kids!

Felt hearts hand stitched on to card stock. I poked holes with an embroidery needle and then
let Turner stitch through with a blunt end needle. He thought he was hot stuff sewing!

Feet print to make "feethearts."

Tire tracks in paint for cousin Nelson's Valentine.

Keepin' it cheesy.

$1 spot mailbox from Target filled for cousin Nelson. The two items on the bottom
are balloons. Apparently, you hit them with your fist and they pop open. Hopefully,
it won't scare the crap out of the kid!  

Paper crafts a la The Shabby Princess (and my fabulous friend, Christine). The strawberries
have conversation hearts and went in Nelson's mailbox.
The box is filled with mints for my dad and a heart on the inside says
"Pop Pop, we were MINT to be together." 

These two were sitting and dumping trash (wadded up paper) from their trash trucks.

Ballentimes

I have been suffering from a serious sinus infection. It is extremely painful and I have NO idea how or why I got one. It's my first and I hope to avoid them in my future. I can't seem to get well these days!

Despite the crazy pressure headache I've had since Sunday, life goes on. The kids, especially Turner, get really emotional when John leaves now (apparently) so I've been trying anything in my power to keep the peace and keep them occupied. Turner has been really excited about "Ballentimes" Day so we made this giant heart countdown calendar. 

Two paper bags tape together, painted with pink white and red.

Behind each smaller heart is a small task to do for the day. Things like "give extra kisses to someone," "make Valentines for Noni and Grandma," "make treats for our friends" and the like.

Just something to do each day.