Valentine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and oh did we celebrate our love!

We started out the morning with heart-shaped waffles.





We decorated Valentine's and Blythe denied being my Valentine, Jericho's, or Mamo's she insisted that Ian was her Valentine! We told her she could have more than one, but she wasn't interested.









I love her people. They don't have a neck, much less a body, but they are SO happy.







And sometimes all they have is a face, but she makes up for it by giving them earrings.



This wasn't exactly what I had in mind for Blythe to wear on Valentine's day, but when you have a 3 year old with a mind of her own, you rarely get to pick out her outfit...regardless of how hard you try.



This little ensemble inspired a day of Paton Twirling and marching..





We concluded our day with a warm bowl of home-made tomato bisque soup and some yummy valentines day treats.







HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

An Unexpected Getaway

Last Tuesday Jason called at noon to say that he was going to a conference in Houston and would be back Friday. Within 30 minutes I had finagled a way for the girls and I to join him, meet up with a good friend at the outlet mall from Bryan, and spend some quality time with our cousins from Montgomery. Then I quickly fed the kids lunch, put them down for a nap, packed us up, shut down the house, and we were on the road by 4:30!

We arrived to this:





A quaint little resort nestled in Cypress, TX where the girls and I would spend one night and Jason would be for his conference.

The resort delivered all of your classic 'hotel' entertainment.

Unlimited access to all cabinets and drawers:



Jumping on the bed:





Talking on the phone:





Watching Movies:



And my personal favorite, a photo shoot!








sometimes there are little moments that melt your heart and this was one of them. Blythe very generously gave Jericho her pinecone.







We packed up and headed to the Cypress outlet malls where we spend the day with the Romansky's. We scored two new pairs of shoes for Blythe, but the best deal we got was spending much needed time with our good friends whom we miss dearly. There is nothing better than meeting up with good friends where the conversation just flows and everyone is so happy to be in each others presence.

Once we wore the kids out and we couldn't deny them naps any longer the Romansky's headed back to Bryan and we headed out to the next leg of our getaway... COUSINS!

I loved having lots of cousins as a kid and sadly my kids don't (yet) have that experience too often. Blythe was very pleased to learn that even in a house full of boys there were plenty of dress-up clothes.



She watched her older cousin in aw as he taught her the finer points of jump roping.


This is a patient and loving boy. He worked with Blythe for a good 20 minutes teaching her when to jump so he could jump rope with her...SO sweet

Having older cousins who know how to read is a huge bonus!


My child has a problem with clothes - she thinks they are completely useless and usually by 5 I have stopped trying to convince her otherwise - hence the more than half naked Blythe

And young cousins are just as much fun too. To the park!




This little lady would swing all day if someone was willing to push her







Sometimes last minute and unexpected is JUST what we need. I need some good 'girl' time with people I knew well, not with new people. Both types of conversation are good, but sometimes you need one more than the other. And while yes it is true that you have to have the first to get the latter and some of these firsts will transform; I needed a big scoop of the latter and Robyn and Julie delivered!





SMILE..it's Valentines day and I have two little valentines to craft with and get ready for when our main valentine gets home!

Super Bowl Weekend

I love weekends. I love the weekends where we have nothing planned, just a blank canvas waiting to be filled up and I love the weekend where at least 10 different paint bucks have already spilled all over the canvas and you have to weave around one color to get to the next. This weekend was right in the middle, Saturday being a blank canvas, and Sunday already painted in red, blue, and white for the Super Bowl.

Friday evening commenced with a rain storm - a much needed rain storm that is.



With the rainstorm came a cold front so we warmed up Saturday morning to peanut butter waffles.





Despite the cold front we couldn't convince the girls that painting in panties might be too chilly.











After panty panting we began the super bowl prep. We served red beans and rice (I know classic Super Bowl food, but when you need to feed a large crowd on a dime it's just right... thank you cold front for further justifying our red bean and rice choice.





Thank goodness these 'peanut butter footballs' tasted a lot better than they looked.

Seeing as non of our hometown teams were playing we needed something to bet on..I mean root for.


not interviewing a coach at half time?? is this a first?

Some actually watched the game



The kids decided a movie on the projector was more their style



But they did enjoy a game of their own..Pin the football in the goal!


clearly we don't have any future NFL 'pinners' on our hands

This girl LOVES to rock the head band...80's style



This one just loves to say "cheese"

matching outfits requested by Blythe

Confession: I discovered a few 'easy' edits in photobucket. I don't know what lead me to push the 'edit' button today, but I went there and now I know what's there. I have been slightly jealous of all the smart phone people who take cute pictures of their kids on a grainy phone, stick them in an instagram program and voila have a super cute photo in seconds...well this is kida like instagram and I like it!

This weekend delivered..I hope yours did too. Happy Monday