My Loves...

We had a nice long weekend with everyone home including Grandma. Friday was busy with Scott and I going in two different directions and when we all came home together we spent it relaxing. Well, technically the kids had some chores and I made dinner and washed dishes but it was rather relaxed compared to earlier in the day. We got a lovely Valentine's Day present from Lucas labeled: To Mom & Dad. He made us a coupon book full of freebies! We looked thru it and as a momma....I was very happy to see his choices! His coupons were good for: washing dishes, helping with laundry, cleaning the garage, feed and water the dogs (or dog), free coupon (for anything we wanted), breakfast in bed and a head massage. I used the free head massage coupon on Sunday night as I tucked him in. He wrote a check on my coupon and said I could use these coupons over and over! OH! What a mother's delight! When I told him how awesome that was he said, "Oh! Why did I have to tell you that!?"  :) When we talked about the sweet gift he said he wanted to share the book between me, his dad and his mom. As sweet as that was I figured his mom would want her own copy....besides what if he decides to only do the coupons once and I miss out on him cleaning the garage? I can't take a chance like that! So, because he was in bed, I offered to make a color copy of the pages, cut them out and make another book for him to give to his mom. And that's what I did. I felt a little silly at first but really, that is what I want to do as a Bonus Mom. I want to support, encourage and help my kids' relationships with BOTH of their parents. And if I need to make a gift so that Lucas can share his love easier between two households then that is what I will do.

Do you see that little girl in her daddies lap? That sweet thing turns 14!!! on Sunday!!! I came out of the kitchen and had to capture this moment. She had given daddy a hug and then crawled in his lap. She doesn't really fit anymore but she stayed for quite a long time cuddling and watching tv. Why do they have to grow up so fast?



On Saturday morning, Scott took Lucas to his science club meeting and Lucas learned how to blow something up. He was ecstatic! When they got back, he helped me make our LOVE themed breakfast...pink and blue heart shaped pancakes! I love working with my kids in the kitchen!

That afternoon, we made it a family affair and all piled into the truck to go pick up Grandma. She hadn't been home for 2 months so it was a long time coming. We went out to celebrate on our way home and ate at Zio's. Mom is so tiny and frail and still struggles with her post neuralgic shingle pain. She did ok at lunch but was sleepy and hurting. On Saturday night, Eli and I went hunting for a special Valentine's gift and brought home Heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. We did this last year and thought we should keep our heart shaped theme going thru out the day...On Sunday our neighbors gave us mussels, snails and scallops to enjoy but I was only able to eat one snail. I have never had any before and the look kind of freaked me out. The taste was great but the texture was more mushroomy than anything else....not too bad but I'm ok if I never eat them again. That afternoon I also decided to make homemade marshmallows. Noah wanted to help me and I let him do it all while I supervised. Scott came in at the end and helped us finish them up....and oh. my. goodness....commercial marshmallows are ruined for me now....there is nothing like homemade ones!! The are delicious!!! And they take forever to melt and go great with coffee and hot chocolate!!! YUM! We cut them into stars and decorated with colored sugar....cause they obviously didn't have enough sugar in them...

As for the boys and their gifts....the big boys were too embarrassed to bring their teachers gifts so I didn't push the issue. Lucas wanted to make something for his sweet teacher so he helped me cut and decorate the stars and we wrapped and decorated them with some fancy ribbon. She was pretty excited. As for Eli, he had a newish Valentine that he wanted to give a gift to. They are best friends and have been bf/gf several times in the past few years. He wanted to give her some of the crystals that he made so we found a cute little jar to display them in. We sprayed them with a coconut spray (they were stinky au natural) and Eli put a little note inside. I decorated with the ribbon and he put her initials on 3 sides of the jar. It was very cute and sweet. He put a lot of thought into the gift and it turned out great!

And last but not least we made it to Valentine's day. My sweet husband started my day with a super sweet card and a little chat before I got the kids up for school. Our weekend was great and I was hoping for some very good news but got some very bad news on my way out the door to the boys' parties. In fact, it made me late by a few minutes. I wanted to stay home and cry but had to get on with life. This year, I got to help with Eli's class. I stopped in to Noah's and Lucas' class but could only stay for a few seconds...too hard to try and help in all three when there is only one me! We had ice cream sundaes, valentine mad libs and then we played a game. I was in charge of the game so I picked a family favorite; the paper bag game. Eli and Autumn decorated the bags over the weekend and I broke the kids up into 4 teams. They were competing to see who could go the lowest. You have to balance on one leg and bend over to pick the game up with your mouth. Each kid had 3-4 chances and then they passed it on. Once someone got the bag we cut another inch off the bag and the next person could try. It turned out to be a great game for them! They were laughing, giggling and falling everywhere! There were 2 teams who were amazing! Eli's team and one other got the bag down to about 3 inches tall! Our family has never been able to do that! It was a lot of fun but I got to experience how stinky a room full of 5th graders can be! WHEW! You can see from the photos how we started with a full bag and progressed to just a few inches. It was a great party and gave my spirits a boost. How can you not be happy when you are surrounded by happy, joyful kids?

So, we didn't have your typical Valentine's day (because of the bad news) but I know that I am loved by 6 very special people and that will just have to do for now. They are amazing people who I look forward to seeing, hugging and loving on every day. My husband loves me, encourages me and believes in me. He is my best advocate! My mom loves me, supports me and prays for me. My kids love me, like me, need me and want me in their life. Really, what more could I ask for? Happy Valentines day my loves!