A SWEET Valentine's Day

 What a sweet SWEET day this has been! We enjoyed another day off of school because of the snow, so there was no morning rush to get out the door. We took our time getting ready and then the kids helped me make a special Valentiney breakfast. 

 Chocolate chip pancakes, pink eggs, and strawberries were on the menu for this morning;) 

A sweet start to our day, for sure!

After breakfast, we headed over to our good friends (and neighbors) the Robinson's house.  Since Valentines day is also my birthday, my sweet friend, Juli, called and offered to watch ALL FIVE of my kids so I could have a few hours to myself. After being snowed in for the past three days, a few hours to myself sounded like absolute BLISS and like the BEST birthday present EVER!!! I dropped the kids off, but didn't want to venture too far from home because the roads were still icy. I decided to just go to our neighborhood clubhouse to workout, then headed home to take a shower and get ready in PEACE;) After that, I ran to the grocery store for a few things before picking up the kids. 

It was nothing too exciting, but exactly what I needed.

When I picked up the kids, Juli had this darling gift waiting for me. It's just the.most.precious. thing. EVER and the PERFECT way to remember what my 34th birthday was like...a winter wonderland;)  

 When Shane got home from work later that evening, our Valentine/birthday celebrating continued. 

We had fun making our own heart shaped pizza's for dinner

 and then while they were baking, we played some silly Valentine games in the living room.

 For dessert, we pulled out our chocolate fountain and enjoyed some delicious fondue!

Addy-Kate gave it a thumbs up;) 

 Such a simple day, but I don't think it could have been any SWEETER!!

I "mustache" you to be mine

So...I think our little valentines turned out pretty cute this year. Who knows when we will actually return to school to exchange them though?!?! However, when this snow finally melts and we head back...we will be ready. 

 I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the whole "mustache" theme that seemed to be so popular this year!

 And I thought it would make the perfect valentine. 

The kids had fun posing for their pictures and then I used picmonkey to turn them into sweet valentines.

We added adhesive mustaches to Sophie and Riley's, but Addy-Kate preferred to give her friends chocolate;)

Corban wasn't too thrilled with the whole "mustache" thing, so I told him to go online and find a valentine he liked. He chose this one and I thought it was SUPER DUPER CUTE!!! I didn't tell him that though because I didn't think "SUPER DUPER CUTE" was exactly what he was going for;)  

 Since Hudson doesn't go to school yet this year, 

 and he doesn't have any class parties to attend, he decided to hand-make all his special valentines. 

He even added a sweet message to each one.

L-O-V-E!!!

 And since Valentines Day is TOMORROW, AND since we are stuck in the house because of the snow, we got a little crafty this morning and made these plastic heart ornaments.

 They turned out so pretty and look lovely hanging in my kitchen window. 

School or no school tomorrow, I am definitely ready to celebrate Valentines Day with all my little (and big) LOVES!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

February Happenings

So...here we are half way through the month of February already. Say what?? 

Time seems to be ticking by so fast these days, and I'm just doing my best to breathe and keep up with it all. Shane's been traveling A LOT with work lately, and with him gone so much, I'm left at home holding down this crazy and sometimes wild fort by myself;) 

The big boys are a HUGE help though, and I think they enjoy being called the "men of the house"!!

So this post is a catch up on all our FUN February happenings. 

The first two weeks of the month is Chinese New Year! And while our family doesn't celebrate every single day like they do in China, we have had fun making this holiday significant and special!

We've enjoyed trying some different Chinese dishes and have even gotten silly playing games with chop sticks.

We have ONE more celebration planned for Saturday night. This time we will party with several other families who have adopted from China too. We can't wait!

February is also called the "month of LOVE"!

We enjoyed having our cousins over to celebrate with a little Valentine party/play-date!

We had a blast doing a few Valentine crafts and then indulged in a pink and red themed lunch!

The kids read some Valentine books and exchanged sweet cards with one another. 

Such a precious time!

 And the fun didn't stop there. No siree...

Later that night, Miss Sophie Lu had her first ever FRIEND sleep over. Sophie's bff, Zoe, came over for a night of non stop giggles, cotton candy, and princess movies. 

And surprisingly they DID sleep. I couldn't believe it, but they actually slept;)

 February has also brought us lots of SNOW DAYS! 

 I don't remember the last time we saw this much snow in the south, but it's been AWESOME!!! As I type this right now, the ground is covered in at least 6 inches of white, fluffy snow.  

 There's NO school again today and as soon as the sun comes up, my kids will be begging to head out and play.

 So today will probably be filled with more sledding, more snowmen, more hot cocoa, and DEFINITELY more FUN!!!