Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is always fun! This year, however, I didn't buy my kids one Valentine! Yikes! I love to do that stuff, but we have SO much going on all in a row after we get done with Christmas. All 5 birthdays, Valentines day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day all within 5 months and sometimes it is a lot. Thankfully, the kids didn't even notice that I didn't get them Valentines! They had plenty going on that day at school, so we were safe! But, here's some stuff we did:

 Grace and Vic went to Father/Daughter Valentine's Night at Chick-Fil-A. They went with her friend Dani and her dad, Darren. They dressed up in matching dresses and had a fun night! There were crafts, reserved tables, crowns, etc. for all of the little girls! Grace was so proud!

 The girls with the Chick-Fil-A Cow!

 Atticus had to make a Valentine's Box for school...surprise, surprise! He needed a football box and he hand picked certain mascots to put on the sides.

 And Grace made treats for her friends at school too!

 Daddy got BIG Valentine's Day hugs that morning!

 Atticus took homemade cookies to Mrs. Payne. Cutie patooties!

 Everly was cute as a love bug on Valentine's Day for MOPS and the preschool party! https://youtu.be/eE2BHRQr_Io

And Everly learned VERY quickly that Valentine's Day is all about candy! Oh and I don't think Vic and I did anything for Valentine's Day - it's one of those "we have birthdays this month so let's skip this holiday" holidays! But we love each other anyways!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I can not resist a chance to take some pictures. This past Saturday, Vic went to an all day Men's Bible Study and so the kids and I went out for pizza, a target run and then to the George Bush Library to take some pictures. Well, I had hoped to go mid morning to GBL first and then do lunch and target but Everly took a really really long nap (I'm talking 3 1/2 hours) that morning, so we had to reverse our schedule and do lunch first. So, we didn't get to GBL until about 3:30 and it was hot (talking 86 degrees that day!) and they were really trying to smile and hold still, but it wasn't working great. And really it was just supposed to be fun to go there and play and take some pictures, and not a big deal, so we took a few, and then actually left after that because they both had to go to the bathroom. I was tempted to let Atticus go in the woods part back behind there where we were taking pictures, but it was also right next to the cemetery where George and Barbara will be buried one day. And there were cameras on it. And I just didn't think it was appropriate. Plus, my luck would be the event would be filmed and put in the newspaper! I'm not sure if letting your 5 year old take a potty break in the woods of a presidential library is against he law or not, but I'm sure it is frowned upon. Anyways, the other funny thing, was that I gave them all suckers, (yes, even Everly - clearly she is the 3rd child) and let them eat them during pictures. All was fine, until I tried to take it away from Everly to get a picture of her cute smile. She did NOT want me to take that away. Also, by the end, she was the hottest, stickiest mess. And who didn't bring the baby wipes from the car? Me. We got done, traipsed back across the grounds to the car, got in and while we did, some precious paper (that I actually think was a piece of trash) flew out of the car (it was super windy that day too) and across the parking lot faster than I could find it. Well, that just made Grace incredibly upset that her special paper had blown away. So, basically this fun outing was fun, but had it's normal ups and downs of being a 10 months, 3 & 5 years old. But, Happy Valentines Day anyways!

Also, for Valentines Day, Atticus made a Star Wars Valentines box; they both had parties at school and got tons of treats and Everly and I hung out to eat cheerios and then I had to wake her from an epic naps she must have been having! It was a good day to be the kids!

Valentine's Day 2016

This will be more of a picture post. Valentines Day is a fun day to take pictures of the kids dressed up! A couple days before I left for 4 days for my final (of the year at least until I finish nursing this new baby and I somehow convince Vic to let me go scrapbook again in Corsicana while he watches ALL THREE kids) scrapbook retreat, I took the kids to the George Bush Presidential Library to take some fun pictures. They did a good job of lasting as long as possible posing and then we just walked around and took fun pictures while they played and played at the pond and park area outside. We didn't actually go inside the library, but they were so funny to want to look at all the statues (mostly Atticus). One day, we will educate them on the wonderful, kind Bush Family legacy! So, here are some cute pictures. I fell in love with them. I may not be a photographer, but I think my kids are always cute! #momhasrosecoloredglasses #blindedbylove

Happy Valentines Day!

So, last year, I had a lot of fun posing the kids for some Valentines pictures. You can find them here. But this year, not only could I not think of a super cute idea, I also know how well these two pose lately and was afraid I'd put too much effort into it and then it wouldn't even be fun to do because they would test my patience and then I wouldn't get any fun pictures after all and we would all end up cranky. Or at least that is what I thought might happen.

So, instead I took candid's throughout the last couple of weeks. We had a Valentines party at my friend Cady's house and then we had Valentine's Day at school and church and finally at home. Also, on the actual Valentine's Day, which happened to fall on Saturday this year, we took a little family trip to campus. We walked across it to eat at Chimy's on Northgate and then walked back across to the car through the Century Tree part of campus. It was a fun day and one that the kids really wore themselves out from. Here are pictures from our Valentines fun these past couple of weeks!

Grace was NOT a fan of having her picture made that day, but Atticus was! We just ran some Valentines errands on this day. But, while we were in Michaels, I let Atticus stay in the toy aisle where he loves to get animals and dinosaurs down and set them up on the ground. It was early in the morning and I could keep checking on him every few minutes from a glance across the store. At one point, a lady walks up to me and asks if he was my son. I immediately wonder if he is ok. He is and she said that she saw him setting up the animals and started to talk to him about them. She said she asked him if he liked animals. And apparently, his answer was: "Oh yes. But, dinosaurs are my life!" She was so tickled and being the crazy mom that I am, I actually got teary eyed. But, it is true. Currently, dinosaurs are his life!

 Cady invited a friend of hers and me to help host a Valentines day painting party at her house. She did a super cute job of making edible paint and having regular paint and letting the kids all paint outside and then play and eat snacks. Grace and Atticus were a lot less interested in painting than the other kids. They just wanted to run around and play outside. But, it was a lot of fun!

This is the precious Valentines outfit Melbo made for Grace. I am going to keep it out for a few months because I think she will keep growing into it. It is super cute and actually sleeveless, but chilly on this first day she wore it, so she wore a jacket too. I always love outfits that nobody else has...and she got so many compliments on it at Atticus' school party!

On Saturday, we got dressed and had a nice, leisurely Valentines day. We took the kids to campus and parked in Koldus garage. Then, our plan was to walk across campus, eat at Chimy's on Northgate and then walk back across to our car. The hope was that they would burn a lot of energy off. Honestly, we had moments of fun and moments of cranky. We only brought the single stroller because rarely do both want to actually be in the stroller. Of course, this day, they both did. And Grace wanted to just run off across campus and although you would think she would get too far and come right back (especially since she is attached to me at the hip all day long), she did not and then when I would go after her, she thought it was a game. While this can be funny to her, this has actually been an issue lately because she is not listening when I say "stop". It makes me nervous to even play in our front yard! Anyways, lunch was fun with both kids and they actually let us enjoy it. We rarely take the kids out to eat anymore. On the way back across campus, we walked under the Century Tree. Best Idea Ever. The tree has these really long branches that lay low on the ground so they crawled on them, hung on them, sat on them, and played. And Grace found steps as well so up and down she went. Neither kid wanted to leave. Plus, it was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect so Vic and I were not in a hurry either. I plan to put "going to campus" on my list of playdates this spring. Later that evening, Vic ran out to meet a friend, and the kids and I played outside on the backporch for about 2 hours and opened their Valentines goodies from GG. We ended the day with baths, a movie, and a nice early bedtime of 8pm (for them!). Also, I couldn't help but snap a million pictures of Grace and her hair above. I love it so much right now. I still have to make the most of the time she actually sits still to fix it each day, so it is not perfect, but I love those pigtails and bows! It was a GREAT Valentines day!