Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to one and all!!!

Here's a run down of one of my favorite days of the year (not that I would ever be construed as a romantic, but I think it's such a fun holiday, especially with kids)

1. Samantha had a Valentines Party at preschool.

2. We got to attend the ward Sweethearts dance last night-lots of fun!

3. I sent out these-

I want you to know that I handmade that card.

4. I woke up to this-Tom is the best!

5. For further proof that Tom rocks-he bought special things for all the kiddo's too. Balloons all around and flowers for Samantha and me (I got a dozen, she got one :)). His reasoning was cute: I bought a balloon for Tommy because he's a boy, and then I thought Eliza would like that better than a flower. Then I realized that even if Samantha got a rose, she'd be sad if she didn't get a balloon. That's true love for you!!

6. Valentines is my one holiday a year that I put aside the fact that Tom would rather have something like a router table or a wireless router (both routers, neither have anything to do with the other) instead of something cutesy. I do something cutesy dangit because now it's a tradition, and this year I made him a special little album. And even though it's not a tool or something, he still really likes it!

7. But I always end up getting something "real" for him too. This year's he's getting the big food processor he's been wanting. But shhhhh, I haven't given it to him yet, so don't tell.

And just so you don't think that we're too romantic in this household I will relay a conversation that Samantha and Tommy just had while she was making Valentines for her Grandma.

Samantha: I feel so happy making Valentines-I love it

Tommy starts kicking her chair violently

Samantha: "Tommy, STOP it!! That's not showing love"

I don't like it

Tommy: I like it too

Samantha: NO! I DON'T like it

Fighting ensues.

Happy Valentines Day!

This cannot be!!!

The same week my oldest baby went to sign up for kindergarten next year she also declared that she had a loose tooth! Can you believe that?!? It seemed really early so I did some quick internet research. While the average age is 6-7, children can loose their teeth 1-2 years before that so that's Samantha. The articles also said that early teeth-getters tend to be early teeth-losers. Also applicable to my Samantha.

Last night, after countless hours spent talking about it and wiggling of it-it fell out. Can I just say, teeth are kind of nasty when not firmly attached in your mouth. So the tooth fairy visited our house last night. I was not ready for this milestone. I am too young for this, my children are too young for this. I thought I was going to have a house full of toddlers only for forever. Wah.

Oatmeal Burns

Does my title intrigue you? I hope so. Sunday morning Tom was making oatmeal for us all. Tommy stuck in a spoon to "help" him stir and then took it out again. The boiling oatmeal landed on his cheek-under his eye- and burned him really badly. I have a picture of him yesterday. It looked bad, it definitely blistered:

But it looks 10 times worse today. The fact that his dad shaved his head and he's unclothed adds to his pathetic look I think....

Poor guy

Penance

When your husband works on his day's off and until 10:00 every night you get these:

I would rather have Tom but these are quite pretty too.

Camel Back

Hey! I did something physical and outdoorsy and that involved exercise and exertion. It's a miracle!

A friend in my ward organized an informal hiking trip to a fairly local mountain-Camelback. Her husband said we couldn't do it....so we had to do it. It WAS steep. Oh man, and it wasn't a trail, it was just rocks 98% of the time. But the view was breathtaking.

And here's some almost proof-it's not the top but that picture is just t0o crappy of me. It was lots of fun! I only felt a little like vomiting on the way home :)

Samantha: She's a Material Girl

So I have a funny story about Samantha that's too long for her sidebar section. Just days after posting about how she wasn't too whiny or "gimme gimme" about Christmas the following happens:

We are coming home from CA and she has out an insert from the Barbie movie we own. She presents it to me and says that she wants all of them. I explain (pretty well I think) about how we can't have all of those things and I'd consider getting her one as a birthday present. So then-because she's a quick thinker-starts to cut them out. Why? "So you can get me these three, Mona Lynn can get me this one, Emma can get me this one, Grandma Marti can take these 2, etc. etc."

She assigned out every single movie. She's a problem solver that one.

Ringing in the New Year at the Tidepools

We spent New Years in California. I went back and forth about whether I was going or not. I had originally planned on going before Christmas but that turned out to be bad for my parents because of Olivia's school schedule. So then we worked it out so that I would drive up afterwards. Erin even delayed her flight so she could stay and party some more-so that was fun!

We didn't do a ton, but that was okay because the kids just love having someone to play with. My mom got a new trampoline mat so the kids could actually jump on the trampoline for the first time ever. That was the HIT of the trip. I'm so dumb-I only took pictures with my mom's camera so I don't even have pictures of them on it but they did love it. And if you're wondering if I can still do a flip-I still can.

Here's what we did take pictures of:

Yeah, that's pretty much it for general pictures.

But on New Years Eve we had my aunt and uncle were in town and we had a mini-party. We played Imagine Iff and the dictionary game (homespun Balderdash). In the history of my life I have NEVER EVER had anyone choose my definition in this game so I digress into ridiculous definitions meant only for laughs/ridicule. I think I achieved my goal. Plus, I started ripping up all the paper when I didn't win and throwing it my sisters (because I'm just that mature). So that is what this picture is all about-and celebrating a Happy New Year of course.

And on New Years Day we did something kind of cool. We went to Palos Verdes and saw the tide pools. It was beautiful and really cool. There was a really steep trail down to the water and then it was kind of dicey because there was no trail but we managed. The kids loved seeing the "animals". We saw starfish, sea anemone's, sea cucumbers, and crabs. It was great, it was gorgeous, and it was free!

I'm king of the rock