Love. Love. Love.

My dear husband knows me well.  For valentine's day, he has a choice, and over the last few years, he's chosen very wisely.  He can either buy a gift for me that I'll open and probably love, or, he can take an entire weekend off of studying and just hang out with us as a family.  He chooses the later and I'm a happy woman for it.  This year, we chose this past weekend to be our "Valentine's Weekend".  We planned some time alone, but most of it was spent just enjoying being a family from sun up, til sun down. It was amazing.

Here are some pictures so you get a better idea.

 Before we left Denver, we were thankfully able to get some of Scot's childhood toys from his parents.  They've been sitting, quite lonely, up in the attic in big boxes.  This past weekend, Scot rummaged through them and pulled out some Evan-appropriate toys.  They had a blast sprawled across the floor playing with the micro machines while Drew napped, blissfully unaware of the fun he was missing out on.

Scot, being one for consistency, did Evan's school work with him so we wouldn't miss a day.  Evan very much enjoyed showing his daddy how well  he traces and writes his letters in the Write & Wipe books we have.

 It snowed Friday night/Saturday morning, and what's a family with 2 little boys supposed to do after a great pancake breakfast but go sledding?  We went to the perfect little hill by our house and Evan didn't even want a practice run requiring an adult.  He was off almost before Scot had a chance to do a couple runs to make a nice little path.  He would race down, screaming, and then just laugh as he walked back up.  Repeat.

 Drew wasn't too fond of the whole sledding down hill thing.  He did like walking/falling up and down the hill though.  And playing on the snow covered playground at the bottom of the hill.

 In the end, he was quite content to ride in the sled.

 Saturday afternoon found Scot and I ready to enjoy some alone time.  A sweet friend came over for a few hours to watch the boys while we scooted out.  It was much needed and such a sweet time.  Both figuratively and literally.  For fun, we gave ourselves a small budget and had a little shopping "spree" - it was great fun and I really enjoyed our finds.  

We treated ourselves further by visiting the nationally known Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream shop.  We tried almost all their flavors and settled on 4 half-scoops.  Salty Caramel, Brambelberry Crisp, Brown Butter Almond Brittle, and Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet.  Amazing doesn't even come close.  I could have consumed an entire tub of each flavor.  Plus the Honey Pistachio I didn't get.  

Our sweet Miss 'Manda was taking care of the boys through dinner, so we went off in search of some grub.

We found this little mom and pop place, Falafel Cafe, and enjoyed great food in a quiet little corner booth.  It this little hole-in-the-wall place and I'm so glad we discovered it!  If you're local - you should check it out!

 Sunday proved to be fairly normal as it's our usual family day. Church and then a quiet afternoon full of popcorn and games and good conversation for Scot and I.  These little guys loved their sweaters and begged for a picture to be taken.  It's so rare that I get one of both of them.  Both smiling.  Both looking at the camera.  Both in focus.  So here you go!

 And some self-portraits.  This little guy can be a goof.

 And this one.  Oh, he's a wiggle-worm.

Clean Teeth

6 months ago, I went to the dentist here in town and Evan accompanied me.  After my cleaning, he was able to ride in the chair and get a little polish on his teeth.  He felt like a very big boy and was quite excited earlier this week when I told him we had another visit planned.

Wednesday morning, he had his very first real dentist appointment and he did great.  He still got to ride in the chair, but the very gentle hygienist also used the metal hook to scrape, the special brush to polish his teeth, and even flossed for him!  He opened wide and even managed to have water squirted and sucked in his mouth without a drop falling to his "bib".  I was quite impressed.

He thinks the best part was getting to pick out a new toothbrush -- I wasn't about to argue.

Excited to get started

He was not crying -- just opening his mouth AS WIDE as he could

A No-Cavity sticker proudly tacked to his chest

Little Bow-Tie Man

Drew was quite the hit at church on Sunday with his bow-tie

I think it's safe to say he enjoyed the attention

Frugal Fun: Tea

When I was home on vacation, I got very used to going over to the coffee pot, and pouring myself a big mug of tea.  And I told myself that as soon as I got home, I would make tea in my very-rarely-used coffee maker.

How is this a money saver? (and a time saver!)

With only 2 tea bags, I can make an entire (12 cup) pot of tea that is available for me all day long.  And for me, this is great, because I need my morning cup of tea like most people need their coffee.  And I typically like to have another mug-full of caffeine around 2.  And I get about 5 mugs of tea out of that pot.  That's over half the cost saved!  You can't say no to that!

NOTE:  If you're using Celestial Seasoning's Tea, use 3 tea bags as their teas tend to be on the weaker side.  I use them for my herbal teas in the evening. :)

Big boy bed

It's that time.

No more crib in the house for us.

The time of lifting in and out is gone.

The time of knowing he's contained is also gone.

It's sad and exciting all at once.

We got Drew into his new toddler bed a week ago today and he loves it.

He's only fallen out two times (so far), and except for all of Monday (the day the novelty of the new bed wore off, I think), he's been very good about staying in bed and not getting out to look at books or climb in bed with Evan.  And so far, only one odd position in bed.  I'm sure we'll have more, but he just doesn't move around like Evan used to.

Seriously?!  How is that even comfortable?

I peeked in on them becasue I heard whispering, and this is what I found.

Happy Hearts!

When I was growing up, my brother and I loved Valentines Day -- and not just for the candy.  We would wake up and even though we always knew what was waiting for us (or a version of it), we were always giddy with excitement as we raced into the kitchen to see the table laden with all sorts of yummy treats.  There would be red heart-shaped bowls, little packages of conversation hearts, a small gift, a hand made card with an encouraging note inside.  There would be confetti and Valentine theme decorations.  My mom would make a special breakfast and our Valentine's Day would always be started off the right way.

Until this year, Evan was too young to really "get" Valentine's Day, so I didn't do much.  And even this year, we didn't go all-out.  I had cute little Valentine bowls with treats in them. There were Valentine's to read and I made them a good breakfast (but they were more interested in the candy hearts, chocolate, and heart-shaped marshmallows) and our Valentine's Day was started off on the right foot just like in my childhood days.

But this was not how we started celebrating the day of love (which, for me, should not be regulated to just one day, but that's a whole different post!), nor is it how we ended it.


Last Friday we started our celebrations with a fun Valentine Party.  A "red lunch", valentine exchange, and so much fun.

And quite possibly the most fun of it all: Valentine's Day night we were invited to a very special dinner party.  Per tradition for a friend's family, they have a big fancy dinner to celebrate.  They pull out their fine china, everyone dresses up, and my friend slaves away in the kitchen preparing scrumptious food and a to-die-for dessert.  This year, they invited us to be apart of the festivities, and we were so honored and excited.  Evan especially liked that he got to drink out of a big glass cup, drink "love potion" (pink lemonade with sherbet and a dash of sprite) and, of course, the dancing.

The boys in their vests with their flowers ready to go

Emma and Evan, all dressed up and ready to go to dinner

 

Scot and I got all dressed up, too!  It was so fun!

After dinner, we had a dance party

Drew and Gracie had a blast, too

These four have a blast each and every time they're together

And what a better way to end Valentine's Day than with some true brotherly love.  I looked back on our way home and saw them holding hands.  So cute.

THINK

Just food for thought. This was going around on facebook last week and I thought I'd share here, too.  And in light of Valentine's Day being tomorrow, what a wonderful way to show love to those we interact with by having sweet speech around them.

THINK before you speak.

Is what you have to say:

True
Helpful
Insensitive
Necessary
Kind

??

Cute shoes, huh?

Drew seems to really like my shoes.  Looks cute, don't ya think?

Aqaurium fun

Last Friday, Scot was post-call (meaning he worked the whole night prior) and so he go home about 8am.  After a quick nap on his part, he had enough energy to go with us to the brand new Cleveland Aquarium!  We had so much fun!

I didn't know what to expect since the only real aquarium I can remember going to was the one in Chicago last spring, but I was pleasantly surprised at the layout, the varied types of fish, rays, eels, and sharks, and the general atmosphere.  We bought a year pass and I think I'm just going to write in aquarium days on the calendar! We missed them feeding the sharks by a day, but next time I'll just make sure to visit on a "feeding day". 

Here are a couple pictures.

Drew could have stayed watching the sea horses all morning.  He was fascinated.

The shark tank (a HUGE huge tank) was Evan's favorite.

There's a long tunnel under the tank and we were fortunate enough to have the big sand shark swim right over our heads

Reading, anyone?

I told the boys to go "play or read or something" the other night while I got dinner ready.  While I was chopping celery or onions, I heard quite chit chat.  When I peeked in, this is what I saw.