Way late Valentine's Day

I had every intention of blogging about Valentine's Day on the 16th.  We spent a great family day together on the 15th, since Jarrod was leaving town for a week, and I thought on the 16th, I'd get all caught up on this blog!  And then....my computer failed me.  Or should I say, my anti-virus protection failed me.  So, I was without a computer for several days and it really threw my whole week off.  Drove me nuts!  I rely on this laptop so much!

So, finally....Valentine's Day!  A simple holiday that we never made a big deal out of, but once you have kids and you see things through their eyes, it truly makes everything more magical.

I started the month by adding hearts to the kids' doors every night (well, almost every night) telling them something we love about them.  Gavin acted like it was a bit overkill, but he was the first to point out when I forgot a heart!

The kids woke up on Valentine's Day to find little gifts for them.  Riley got a new microphone, which she's in love with.  She's such a performer!  Gavin was so excited to get a new Star Wars book, a book light, and mini Lego set.  It put such a smile on my face to hear him say 'Wow, that's so awesome!' when I explained the book light.  Love our little reader!  {And yes, I've seen him up at both 11pm and 5am reading in his room since then...}
 

Since Valentine's Day actually fell on the week of Gavin's February break, we went out for donuts and then 'surprised' Daddy at work {the kids thought it was a surprise, but I had checked with him first to make sure he wasn't in a meeting.} 

The real surprise for Jarrod was that on our way out, we sneaked into his car {thank goodness he left his doors unlocked!} and filled his car with hearts telling him why we love him.  The munchkins thought that was really cool. :)

We had some homemade pizza for dinner and watched Despicable Me 2, a Valentine gift from Mimi and Beepa, since it was a Friday after all....Friday Family Movie Night!  Jarrod came home from work with tulips for me which were beautiful.

It was such a special day, full of memories!

Valentine Party Time!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Since Gavin doesn't have school on Thursdays, they celebrated yesterday with a party and boy was he excited!  He got his Valentine cards all ready, courtesy of his oh-so-talented Aunt Megan...

Riley and I joined him for the party, and let's just say, she's getting really comfortable in his class!  If only I could walk her into the child care at the fitness center and have her feel as comfortable.

The kids all delivered their cards to their classmates...I loved watching Gavin find his friends' names on their bags and match them up.  As I watched him do all 13 cards independently, I couldn't help but think back to last year and how I helped him with this task.  Yet another simple reminder that my boy is growing up...

They decorated cookies for a snack... Riley was treated to a cookie, too, but I wasn't a nice mommy and wouldn't let her have frosting.  I don't think Miss Linda would've liked us very much had she been able to put her little frosting-covered fingers all over the furniture.

 Next, we headed upstairs to play games.  Gavin loves this part of the parties!  {And Riley even got to participate!}

We celebrated today with a doughnut breakfast at Krispy Kreme and we'll be having heart-shaped pancakes (or pizza...haven't decided!) for dinner.  Love these little things that make days like to today memorable.  I love my Valentines.

Wordless Wednesday

Someone wouldn't participate in Valentine pictures, but had no problem goofing off with Sister's headband after I was finished.  Silly boy.

Our Little Valentine

 Oh.my.word.  I have to admit, I've been so excited about Valentine pictures because I wanted to put a strand of pearls on Riley and get her all dolled up.  It was so much fun!  The picture below is one of my favorites, and it was taken and edited on my phone.  Imagine that.  I have a very expensive camera and Photoshop Elements, and my favorite picture was edited with a 1.99 app.  Instagram is awesome!

 

I kind of feel guilty that we haven't taken Riley for professional photos.  I love some of the pictures I take of her, but I don't think they're professional quality, especially when it comes to the editing.  But, I keep trying!  

I couldn't, for the life of me, get a great smile out of the girl when I really wanted one.  I even enlisted the help of Gavin.  I had him standing behind me, doing jumping jacks, snorting like a pig, singing her name...nothing!  

For 0.97 cents, I got a super cheap plastic tablecloth at Walmart to tape up the door in the toy room, pulled the blinds to let as much light in as possible, and started snapping away.  

 I can't believe our little Valentine is already 6.5 months old, trying to scoot and crawl herself around, and reaching and getting into everything already!  Time is going so fast...

Riley Savannah, you are so beautiful!

Our Little Valentine!

We've been talking about Valentine's Day for a couple weeks - doing crafts and Tot School things with hearts, etc.  Randomly over the past week, Gavin would just blurt out, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!"  He's such a sweetie.  He was really excited when he woke up Monday morning and I told him we had some Valentine surprises for him.  

Daddy picked out a soccer ball for him since they've been "practicing their moves" while I work.  And I put together a little gift bag with a book, some stickers, a new pair of scissors, a sucker, and some race cars.  All day he kept thanking us.  So sweet!

After Daddy left for work, Gavin and I shared some pink heart shaped pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream for breakfast.  Yum!  Then he had a Valentine party with some friends....he was the only boy!  Our little Ladies' Man!  It was a great Valentine's Day.  Too bad I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 and didn't even make it through out Monday night shows with Jarrod.  Oh well...  He still loves me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are some pictures from our Valentine shoot I did earlier this month with Gavin. I didn't post any yet because I wanted to wait until our family got their pictures in the mail. I love doing "shoots" like this and I'm loving playing with my camera and learning more about it. But....this was a lot harder to do this year than it was last year when he couldn't walk! :) I didn't get many good ones the first time I tried, but after his nap and I moved the white sheet to the couch, he was a bit more interested. The first idea I had (with a big heart cut-out for him to look through) didn't go over well. He wouldn't hold it at all! But, here's is my Valentine!

I just looked through the pics again - good thing the sucker had a stick, huh? He never held the sucker by it! :)