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Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day! Always have and always will...I'm a romantic at heart and when I was wee lass I would envision all kind of romantic things happening to me on Valentines' Day. Of course...I then was always disappointed and irritated at the whole for the following week for not fulfilling my desires. How inconsistent! (I once actually slammed a book over the top of a kid's head during my health class on said holiday because he messed with me on the wrong day! I'm told it was an awesome hit...I don't remember much of it...just picking up the book, standing up, and then sitting down while everyone in my class looked at me like I had grown another head or something...ne ways...)  But I have grown up and matured and realized that its not the world's duty to make me happy but that it  has to do with my attitude and most importantly letting my expectations be known! (It took being married to learn that one!) 

This year Anthony and I weren't really going to do anything since the holiday fell on a Monday and his family usually does a party that only the adults get to come to...one kid free night...its awesome...The party is this weekend so we thought it would be good to do just that. Saturday came and I found myself getting all hyped about Valentines (mostly because I had to go to the store and see all the flowers and balloons and etc). I finally let Anthony know that I wanted to go out and so we did! 

We went and saw a movie (Gulliver's Travels...not the best date movie) and then played some arcade games which I love to do! We got an awesome number of tickets and decide to get the boys some fun stuff! Which we delivered after we rescued a fireman...while attempted too! (His van wouldn't start so we gave him a jump but it didn't help.)

 Not sure what these are called...Chinese finger stuckers...but the boys loved them! It kept them busy for the next ten minutes anyways...

 Don't you think that these would be great in sacrament meeting? Just imagine one on every finger! Yeah..I think it might work! LOL!

A hacky sack was also a good investment of tickets...a ball that doesn't roll... another great Sacrament toy. (Our chapel is sloped...meaning anything that can roll will if dropped or in our case thrown!)

 Julia celebrated Valentine's Day cutting her first two teeth! YESSSSSS!!!!! It only took two months for those suckers to come in!! You can kind of see them if you look really close!

My sweet husband listened to my expectations and delivered exactly what I wanted...flowers (not roses..I like daisies so much better) and chocolate (dove milk chocolate...its wonderful frozen and then sucked on when life gets a little crazy...two or three times a day... : )  The "kids" gave me the other plant...Peter went with Anthony to get my flowers...

The kids each got a Valentine cup with Circus Animals in them (Banana Puffs for Julia) and Anth got a bucket full of crackers and swedish fish...his favorite! 

Isn't Valentine's Day wonderful?!

Am I really that old?

Two weeks ago I had a birthday...it really made me feel...well ...old.  Loved ...but old. 27 is kind of a weird age for it to make me feel that way. Maybe it has something to do with that I have four kids, graduated from high school 9 years old, graduated from college 3 years, got married almost 8 years ago...I feel like I have grown up! I know that sounds really weird but its true! All the things that I planned on doing when I was young and in my teens has happened...I feel so blessed to have seen many of those hopes and dreams come to reality! 

I had an awesome day and went to bed feeling loved and appreciated! My visiting teachers came by and gave me a yummy cupcake and a bouquet of my favorite flowers. Anthony took the day off to be home with me and the younger kids while I ran kindergarten and preschool drop off! (Do you know how awesome it is to only have to put two kids in carseats instead of four to drive the equivalent of one mile? That TOTALLY made my day!) We then went and got paint for the kitchen..something that has been in the works for about three years!

These are the flowers I got for my birthday and also the new paint on the walls! I totally love the color! It make my kitchen so much brighter...buts that another post!

My mom then took me to lunch with my sisters-in-laws and sister...awesome..and then my dear friend and sister-in-law Christy brought me another cupcake for my birthday! So awesome! Kiss the diet goodbye! It's only once a year right? (I've been saying that a lot lately...man why do they have to have some many "yummy" holidays so close together?)

Anthony and I then got to out for dinner and were going to do some of other things but my non-gallbladder body couldn't handle the onion rings that we had...sigh...oh well...overall it was a great birthday!

A Sledding We Will Go

On Civil Rights Day ( or is Human Rights Day..I always get it wrong) we decided to take the boys sledding at Smith Park! There was plenty of snow and ideal temperatures! We had such a good time! The boys had a blast... which is the most important! 

 My family came up for the event. So this is my brother Glen going down on the baby tube!

 Shaun also came for the fun as well as his fiancée and Rachal, my sister!

 This was Matthew's first time sledding and he wasn't so sure about it. He was a little scared but being little we kept going and he eventually started liking it!

 My dad give Peter a big push! Peter informed me that he was a big boy and could go down by himself now..sigh..where does the time go. The one time that I did talk him into going down with me...we went down a jump and I found out just how old I am...I hurt my back pretty bad and could't move for two days!!

 Matthew going it alone!

 Andrew wanted to go with us each time..but he eventually warmed up to the idea and went by himself a couple of times.

Overall it was good fun and something that we will be doing more of in the future! 

Life as the Middle Child

Poor Matthew...sometimes life as the middle child or at least the child that comes after two really close boys, is really hard! Three years ago, Anth and I bought the boys (meaning Peter and Andrew) kid sized shovels for Christmas! An instant hit! They love being able to go outside and shovel like Papa ( and sometimes Mommy!).  Because we only have two shovels and now three "big" boys, Matthew has been reduced to this...

 A cast-off spoon from the kitchen drawer!

 Can't ya just feel his excitement about his new toy? Poor kid! It probably won't have been so bad if his older brother hadn't snatched the prize shovel away from him.

 He did make it work and was happy for a little while anyways. Truly he was happy to be able to just go outside and play! Something that doesn't happen too much these days.

 I'm going to be on the look out for more of those shovels! Julia will be wanting to use one next year as well! Four willingly shovelers...hmmm...this totally sounds like a good idea!!

6 months already?

 I can't believe that it has been six months already! Isn't if funny how time works? When I'm in the moment, it seems to last forever but before I know it, it has flown by!  My baby is working on no longer being a baby and I'm not sure that I'm ready to let go.

 These are her not dressed yet pictures! Julia is constantly picking up things off the floor and placing them in her mouth. Her favorite thing to grab is my face! She'll grab hold and bring it up to her mouth for being sloppy kiss! Melts my heart!

 At times, she can be so serious! She loves being on her belly and has started using rolling as a means to get what she feels she needs! Usually one of her brothers toys! They are far more interesting then her own...but then her brothers prefer her toys sometimes!

 All dressed and ready for the day! Having a girl has been fun because of all the accessories that come with it! Santa brought Julia a bunch of new boys and hair ribbons! "She" was super excited!

 Julia has also started eating cereal and loves that she can sleep through the night with a full belly! She also finally gets to sleep in the crib because her big brother Matthew finally got booted out! (She has been sleeping in a boppy pillow in the toddler bed in the boys room! With their frequent visits to their room, she kept getting woke up.)

Julia just recently (like two days ago) learned to sit up and loves the change of venue that it gives her. Before I know she will be walking and getting into trouble like her brothers...sigh...can't we just freeze time, even for a little bit.

Thanks for bringing so much joy to our family, Julia! It wouldn't be the same with out you!

The Stylish Blogger Award

My totally awesome sister in law Nancy honored me this award! I would like to thank her and the rest of all the little people in my life that made this a dream a reality. Thank you! Thank You!....(cue applause)

So the rules go like this:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award (check!)
2. Share 7 facts about yourself
3. Award 7 new bloggers with the award

7 Facts about me....(This could get a little interesting!)

1-Even though I have never dyed my hair, over the last 7 years I have gone from a blonde with golden highlights, to a light brunette with blonde highlights, to a darker brunette with gray highlights! Its amazing what marriage and four kids will do to you! 

2-I can twist balloons into fun shapes! After I graduated college, I decided that I needed to have a hobby. So I decided to learn how to twist balloons. Its a lot of fun and my kids love it when I pull out my balloons. I'm still an amateur but I can do a pretty good dog, giraffe, hat, sword, and something else but I can remember what. Its been a while...time to pull them out again!

3-I was on the speech team in high school and loved to give impromptu speeches! They give you a list with three topics on it and a minute to figure out a basic outline. You then stand up and attempt to give a 3-5 minutes speech about one of the topics. You are suppose to be either informative or persuasive.  I got to be quite good at it!

4-I once gave a ten minute speech (an oratory) about how guys should have my guts to ask girls out. I spoke about different excuses that guys give for not asking out girls and then pointed out that girls have it just as bad as the guys! I know that it sounds really confusing but it was really good. So good that my advisor asked me to give it in front of the whole school. Talk about a little bit nerve wrecking! 

5-I have a passion for Early American history! I can't get enough of it! And with that passion comes a deep longing to travel back east to see all the historical sights! 

6-I have only flown on a plane once in my life and I admit that I didn't handle it very well! Anthony's hand was pretty much worthless after the take off! I much rather drive in a car for long hours then fly! (Shh...don't tell my husband who hates to drive! LOL!)

7-Even though I took 6 years (maybe more!) of piano lessons, I can only play the right hand and only the soprano part of that. I wasn't very dedicated to it but it really helped when I joined choir in middle school because I already knew the notes and music theory. 

Whew...that took a lot of soul searching...

I would now like to award the following with this awesome award....drum roll please...

Michelle Tietjen, Sara Birch, Deanna Poulsen, Rachel Chick, Megan Love,  Samantha Kneiser, and Aleisha Petersen