Happy Heart Day

They say that Valentine's Day is overrated, or a Hallmark Holiday, but I love any reason to turn an ordinary day into a celebration.  Especially with little ones in the house.  Jordis was dressing for the holiday a few days in advance.

I was pretty excited that my Valentine's treats for bible study turned out exactly like they looked in the picture.  That rarely happens.

I also got a box of chocolates from my secret sister.  Yum!

Jordis and Xander each brought home a ton of cards and goodies from their classmates.

We ended the day with breakfast for dinner (and a picture that for some reason keeps showing up sideways even though it's upright in my computer...grrrrrr).

Hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day, too!

Easter

Jason worked all night so he was in bed for the Easter morning festivities. We cared a lot more when they were smaller but now we prefer sleep over revelry, so I told him he could miss it if I didn't have to get up at 6:30 when he came home from work. It was a good trade-off and the kids didn't seem to mind.

They showed him what the Easter bunny brought and we bought them life jackets to wear on our boat once it's built, so Jason still got to watch them get excited about something.

As has been the case all spring, it was rainy on Easter, so no outdoor pictures of the kids this year. In fact, I couldn't get a good picture of them together to save my life. When one was ready the other wouldn't cooperate.

Jordis cute and ready with signature head tilt. Xander not ready.

Xander finally cooperative, Jordis not so much.

Xander still photogenic, Jordis decides to be present.

Like Xan's tennis shoes? He hates dress shoes and I figured it wasn't worth the money to buy him any to wear for two hours before he outgrows them. Trying to pick my battles.

After church we picked up Jason and went to my mom and step-dad's house. The kids had an Easter egg hunt before lunch.

Then the boys played Wii while the girls cleaned up the kitchen.


It was my mom's birthday weekend as well, so she opened presents and then we had dessert and played some Go Fish.


We left and paid a visit to Jason's parents as well. They got the kids each a great collection of books, so they were excited and also had something to entertain them in the car on the way home. It was a nice relaxing day with family.

Easter preparations

Last year we were in Tennessee for Easter, so this year we were able to fit in a few more activities since we were home. Jordis went to a fun event at church where they had live animals, stories, crafts and an egg hunt.

Unfortunately it was raining so the egg hunt had to be inside. I've never seen so many eggs in one place.

On Good Friday Jason's sister came over and we had an egg-coloring extravaganza. We got fancy and made some tie-dyed ones and used stickers to spell things.



The Easter bunny even did some preparations of his own.

Happy New Year!

We started, (or ended, depending on how you look at it) our year on a quiet note. We're not big New Year's Eve party people to begin with and Jason had to work at 6 a.m. on New Year's Day, so we just hung out at home. It was so warm on New Year's Eve! It got up into the upper 60's so we went outside with the kids. They put on a lovely concert for us in the driveway.

We are also not typical when it comes to our New Year's Day eating, because we don't like the traditional foods that most people serve. So I made us brunch for dinner. Just don't look at my homemade cinnamon rolls. I was already making the dough when I realized I didn't have enough flour so I attempted to use some wheat flour. Won't be doing that again. Anyway, I got out the china and let the kids drink orange juice with grenadine and some 7-Up mixed in, so it was good enough for them. Added some candlelight and we had our own little fancy evening.

Labor Day

Unlike most families, we don't really think of Labor Day as a 3-day weekend. Our weekend has been Sunday/Monday for the past few years, so there's not an extra day off for us. But my mom and step-dad invited us over for the holiday and I'm not one to pass up a family get together. We were going to go to their house for a cookout, but in the end they brought some fried chicken and a few sides over here and I had some watermelon, baked beans and made some chocolate covered strawberries. It was cool enough that we could use the fire pit after dinner.

We even made S'mores.

Xander decided to entertain us. He had his own repertoire, but we bribed him with $1 to sing Country Roads. He only knows the chorus, but he puts an excellent twist on it.

Random Goings-On

Ever been busy but not really doing anything? Yeah, that's us lately.

This child CRACKS me up. I haven't decided yet if she's going to be a fashion designer or a feature on What Not to Wear. The day she picked out this ensemble it was 85 degrees.

All she needs now is some dreadlocks to go with that hat and sunglasses.

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend the kids and I spent the morning with my mom. We started very early at the Worthington Farmers Market.

We also did some shopping, ate gyros and went for Italian Ice. That night after Jason and my step-dad got off work we went to their house for a cookout. I was a bad mom and didn't take pictures, but the parental units took pictures of the kids in the sprinkler.

Some man at the farmers market must have really wanted me to buy some of his things because he tried to tell me that Jordis "looks just like her mother." Really? I think not. Let's check it out......

Um, let's see. Jordis has big brown eyes. They are so big she doesn't have much in the way of eyelids. I have small green eyes and a lot of eyelids. The bridge of my nose is really narrow and hers is pretty wide. And I don't have to mention the skin. I have on makeup here and she is still darker than me. 'Nuff said. And no, I didn't buy any of his wares.

Let's see, what else. Oh, Xander had a new spelling word. Like it? Jason said it's perfect.....if they want to teach kindergartners about rum we have a great excuse to take them out of school to go to Mardi Gras.

Jason's summer softball season started. The kids are actually cooperating a little this year while we're there, and sometimes they even watch the game for a minute or two.

Last week Jason worked some overtime for the Memorial Tournament. He spent 10 hours over two days monitoring the traffic light in case cars got too backed up. I wish someone would pay me to sit by myself under a shady tree. I'm sure it's not that simple, but I'm thinking I'd enjoy the solitude. On one of the days I took the kids to the afternoon farmers market nearby and for some italian ice so we could visit Daddy. They were really excited when he let them each push the button to change the traffic light.

We also had a gorgeous double rainbow. I never would have known if my neighbor Dena hadn't called me. It was right after we'd put the kids to bed and sat down to watch some TV, so I ran upstairs to show the kids before it faded away.

Such a neat way to end the evening.