My Birthday Present

Last week was my birthday. It was a pretty crazy day and I was glad when Mike came home and things could finally slow down a bit. After dinner, we quickly frosted some cupcakes I had managed to make and threw a few presents on the table. As we were getting to work to "celebrate" Peter was noticing that he had forgotten to get me a present. He came over to me and, grabbing around my leg sweetly, said, "Mom, I didn't get you a present. Do you want to know why?"
"Why?" I asked. I was hardly listening and a little annoyed I couldn't use my leg at the moment.
He genuinely replied, "Because today I am giving you my heart."
I was so touched and I told him that was the best present he could have given me. After such a busy day and feeling like I was just going through the motions of celebrating, Peter caught me off guard and reminded me how truly blessed I am.
Maybe I made too big of a deal about it because a little while later he turned to his dad and said, "and what are you giving Mom, Dad?"

Here are a couple pictures. The first one is of the kids doing their clean-up job after we sprinkled the cupcakes.

Here's to Apolo!

Alright, I'm a bit ticked off. I just watched Apolo race the 500m, and I for one thought he totally deserved the silver! Whatever and good riddance to the ref who disqualified him for touching Mr. Canada. Since when does a touch on the hip deserve a disqualification in short-track? So, Apolo, I know you'll never read this blog, but I'm saying, "Good Job and well done! You've shown great sportsmanship and you have torn the track up!"
I would just like to take a poll: all those who think Apolo deserved the silver, comment here!

Valentine's Day

In our house we are celebrating Valentine's Day extended weekend! It started Friday with a Valentine's day party at the Library for storytime. They read books, did a craft, and then went around and collected valentines from the librarians. My kids had a blast! That evening they got a card in the mail from "far-away-Grandma-and-Grandpa". It's always exciting to get mail, so that would have been enough for Peter and Elsie. However, when they opened their cards, they found a 5 dollar bill inside. Peter was running around yelling, "I got 50 dollars!"
On Saturday a great friend of mine, Stephanie, and I put together a Valentine's party for our kids and their friends. I think they all had a blast! In the end, Stephanie and I were in need of an ibuprofen and nap. We played games, had a valentine exchange, and decorated sugar cookies. I loved watching the kids decorate their cookies. Here are a few pics.
Here is Stephanie and her son working as a team.

Elsie licked all the frosting off and left the cookie.

Some (like my son) were all about the frosting

Others were minimalists.


Today has been fun. I woke up this morning with potted hydrangeas in the kitchen and a Papa Murphy's pizza in the freezer. Thanks Mike, that is the greatest Valentine's Day gift a girl could ask for! I woke up not feeling well, so I asked Mike if my present could be given Monday instead. I guess it will be a 4 day festivity!

Exhaustion

This is the sign of having a newborn in one's house.

We can build a Snowman!

With all the snowing, freezing, and thawing that has been going on in our neck of the woods, we have the perfect snow for building snowmen. This weekend Peter and his dad set out to do just that! I must say, this snowman is a work of art. I love the spray-painted tin cans dug out of recycling they used for the eyes. It's very creative, I must say!

Thanks Chanda!

This is a cute dress my sister-in-law, Chanda, sewed for Elsie. I love the 2 different patterns and the bright colors. Elsie loves it as well! Chanda made several of these for all the cousins age 4 and under. Way to go Chanda!
By the way, check out the post on Elsie's birthday if you want to see the wonderful quilt my mom gave Elsie for her toddler bed. I finally put the pictures up!

A Thumb Sucker

I think Kimball may turn into a little thumb sucker if we're not careful! He tries to use it to put him to sleep sometimes. I guess it's time to put a greater effort towards enforcing a Binky.