A Day at the Z-O-O

When Matt asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday this year I told him I wanted to do something with just him and something with the kids.  That's all the direction he got but it's more than I usually give him.  We had planned on going out the Friday of my birthday and then taking the kids somewhere on Saturday.  But when we realized that last Monday was President's Day, that Matt had off work, and that the weather was going to be around 47 degrees and clear, we decided to do something with the kids then instead of waiting until Saturday.

We settled on a trip to the z-o-o.  We've started spelling things at our house lately because Audrey now listens to, and remembers, everything we say.  Several weeks ago we were surprised when we brought up the z-o-o, unrelated to my birthday, and Audrey piped up with, "I want to go to the zoo!"  What?!  We just spelled it and she knew what we were spelling?  There were no other context clues that could have helped her.  But somehow she knew that z-o-o spelled zoo.  She is a constant surprise these days.

So back to the story, we settled on a trip to the zoo.  But this time we decided to try the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.  We don't usually go there because it is obscenely expensive and makes for a long day.  But Truman is finally starting to be old enough for us to take more extended trips.  After I have a baby we don't go anywhere farther than half an hour from home for at least the first year.  There are too many naps and feedings involved during that first year to hassle with so I stick close to home.  But now Truman's big enough that I feel we can venture a little farther away.  As to the expense issue, we found out that right now is the zoo's off season so ticket prices are reduced.  Combine that with the coupon we found and it almost made the zoo reasonably priced.

We wanted to get to the zoo pretty close to opening time because we wanted to leave around lunchtime.  So we decided to take the ferry, or ferry boat as Audrey always refers to it.

Matt made a doughnut run in the morning before we left and picked up some breakfast for us.  Audrey was very excited to have doughnuts.  She's been making goofy faces for pictures lately, just to explain her face in this one.

Truman was quite impressed with his first doughnut.

It didn't take long for him to give up on the little pieces Matt was giving him and just dig right into the whole thing.

Yummy, yummy!

Another silly Audrey face.  After a nice breakfast on the ferry we made it to Seattle and drove to the zoo.

One of our first stops was to see this jaguar.

They have a tropical house and we thought these orchids in the entrance were so pretty.  It was really warm and humid in there, which was kind of nice since it was a cold day.

Matt and Little T checked out the birds.

Audrey loved all of the statues of animals around the park and insisted on being photgraphed with most of them.  So here we've got my two little monkeys with some metal ones.

Matt was a good sport to pose with the big guy.  We don't have any pictures, but the gorillas were really fun to watch.  There were a lot of them and they were pretty funny.  We even got to see a second group coming out to eat their morning snack.  One of the zookeepers was there and she was telling us their names and ages and which ones were related and what their favorite foods were.  It was really interesting.  Matt could have watched them all day but the kids were ready to move.

I love that Truman is wearing his little monkey hat.

This was our first trip to a zoo without a stroller for Audrey to ride in.  Since having two kids we've always taken the double stroller but we thought she'd be fine so we only brought the umbrella stroller for Truman.  So Audrey and Matt spent a good part of the day walking around together.  What a good dad!

We went into the bug house and decided to let Truman out of the stroller.  It wasn't all that big and we needed to be able to lift him up so he could see.  We immediately lost him because he took off back to the entrance to see these bugs.  He was fascinated with them and kept trying to go back.  That boy is fast.  We need a backpack leash for him.

We made a stop at the farm where the kids could check out the Worm Crawl and learn about composting.

Then Audrey tried her skills at tractor driving.

While we were there this peacock obliged us with a show.  Pretty impressive.

Audrey checked out the grain storage in a replica of an African village.

And of course, our girl had to take a turn sliding down the hippo.

Finally we made it to the giraffes.  But they were inside and only this one guy had the courage to brave the cold and peek his head out.  Audrey looks pretty happy in most of the pictures, but she was getting pretty whiny.  She wanted to see the giraffes and was tired of walking and kept complaining.  After the African village Matt couldn't carry her anymore because she got her feet all muddy.  So we were relieved when we made it to the giraffes.  After seeing them we headed back to the front to leave.  We didn't see all of the animals but we saw most of them.  Next time we'll start with what we missed this time. 

On our way back to the front Audrey saw two stone lions and insisted that we wait until we could have a turn on them.  She really wanted to sit on one and have her picture taken.  So we waited and got a picture that proves I was there too.

After the zoo we got the kids McDonald's and Matt and I got burgers from Dick's, an In-N-Out type place he and his brother and friends always eat at after concerts.  It was really good.  Then we headed home, all of us except Audrey, completely exhausted.  But it was a good day.  I love when we do something on days Matt has off.  It makes me feel like we didn't waste the time.  It was a happy President's Day for us.

Nobody Likes You When You're 23

I was only 21 when "What's My Age Again?" was released and my friends and I, who all felt we were getting old, picked out that one line to quote to make ourselves feel better.  But all too soon that 23rd birthday pounced on us and we were so bummed.  A decade later it leaves me wondering, if nobody likes you when you're 23, how do they feel about you when you're 33?  I guess I'll be finding out this year.

Yes, I have celebrated the passing of another year.  It's hard to believe.  I can honestly say I never thought I'd be this old.  I feel the same as I always have.  I don't think I have the wisdom, maturity, and got-it-all-togetherness that I have always believed people in their 30s have.  I still feel like a kid who's trying to figure everything out.

But it happened and I had a great time.  On Friday the kids and I went grocery shopping and folded clothes.  It was pretty much a normal day until after nap when we met Kim and her kids at DQ for an ice cream treat.  It was so fun to get to talk to her while we ate our Blizzards and our Audreys munched on dipped cones and ice cream sandwiches.  And even though there was some screaming, running, bumping of heads, and Truman dumping water all over himself, it was such a treat.  Thanks Kim!

After that we went home and I got dressed and started making dinner for the kids.  Matt came home and his mom came over to watch the kids so we could go out.  Thank you!  We had dinner at a delicious little Italian restaurant I've been wanting to try for a few years.  We had prawns for our appetizer, I had a caprese salad and Matt had a Caesar, and then I dined on fresh pasta with bolognese sauce and Matt had crab stuffed mezzaluna.  It was fantastic!  Just being out without the kids and getting to have a grown up conversation was heavenly.  It's funny to think that we used to do things like that all the time.  Now it's such a rarity that it seems luxurious.

After dinner the plan was to go see a movie, but we had quite a bit of extra time before it started so we swung by our old ward for a good-bye party that was being thrown for several families who are moving soon.  It was great to see so many friends and we had fun catching up.

Then we went and watched Unknown, the new Liam Neeson movie.  It was entertaining and kept us guessing.  Finally it was time to go home and get some rest.  It was a great day and I am so lucky to have a husband who is willing to plan some restful and relaxing activities for my birthday.  It was perfect.

On Saturday Truman decided to get up at 6:00 in the morning.  So Matt took him so I could sleep!  He took both kids downstairs and made breakfast.  I was under strict orders not to come downstairs until I was told to.  When breakfast was ready Audrey came and got me and we all enjoyed scrambled eggs and pancakes.  Then Matt and Audrey left and Truman and I got ready for the day.  Later we ran a few errands and then went home for lunch and more birthday celebrations.

  When I came downstairs for breakfast these beautiful flowers from Audrey and Truman were waiting for me. I love them! I had forgotten how much I love sweet peas until I got near this arrangement. I took a floral design class at BYU and we used sweet peas a lot. They were some of my favorite flowers because they look so pretty and smell so sweet. I just love the entire bouquet. Matt said Audrey really wanted an arrangement with the Gerbera daisies because she thought they were so pretty. But the arrangements with them were kind of cheesy looking. So they went and talked with the lady at the store and she showed Audrey some loose Gerberas she had. Audrey didn't like those because they were light pink and she wanted the dark pink ones--the girl has definite opinions. So the nice lady pulled dark pink ones out of other arrangements and put them in this one. She made one three year old very happy. And her mom is pretty happy too. I think Audrey did a great job helping Matt choose flowers for me. It's not that I'm picky, but I also have definite opinions. These are perfect.

 One of the secret errands Matt and Audrey did this morning was get me a birthday pie.  Audrey was quite upset that I was getting a pie.  For several days now she has been talking about the cake she and Pops were going to make and telling us that it would have flowers on it.  She argued with Matt about it but he won this year.  He got me a strawberry rhubard pie.  We had it with ice cream and it was yummy!  Audrey didn't like it though so I think next year Matt will be baking for my birthday.

 Then it was time to open cards and gifts.  Audrey was sweet enough to help me with everything.  She is at such a cute age right now.  She's interested in all things relating to celebrations and asks a lot of questions.  She's been asking me what kinds of cakes I had when I was a little girl and has been telling me all about the cake she wants this year--a Barbie cake.  But I love how much she knows and understands and can remember.  She told me her friends would come to my party today and seemed disappointed when I told her they probably wouldn't.  She also told me that I should have a lot of presents at my birthday party.  But I explained that some of my presents were in my cards so that seemed to satisfy her.

 I had no idea what Matt had gotten me and was so surprised when I opened my gift and found a boxed set of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  I've heard good things about those books and have been interested in reading them for some time.  Matt remembered me mentioning them a long time ago and got them.  I'm excited to start in on them!

The rest of the day was nice.  We took naps, well, everyone but Audrey took a nap.  Then we went to Barnes and Noble and then to dinner at Red Robin.  The kids really seemed to enjoy their food and I loved having dinner without having to cook it or clean up.

And you may think that is all of the birthday celebrating.  But it isn't.  By adorable, sweet, loving husband told me that he is making dinner tomorrow!  So for three nights in a row I didn't/won't have to make dinner or warm up leftovers!  I feel so spoiled.  I could definitely get used to this.

I guess that judging from the past couple of days, I'd have to say that people do like you when
you're 33.  And that's good.  Because I've got an entire year before I'm 34.  Thank goodness. 

Truman at 15 Months

I am so behind on everything right now!  That week and a half the kids were sick really threw me off and I'm still trying to get caught up.  I have a bunch of posts I need to do but I figure this one should come first since Truman turned 15 months over two weeks ago.  So, here goes.

I know I say this a lot, but time really flies!  Truman is now a 15 month old boy and since turning one I have really noticed how quickly he is growing up.  He is learning and accomplishing so many new things each day that it's hard to keep up with him.  The one thing that hasn't changed is that he is a happy, smiley little thing and we all adore him.  So here are some things about our boy at 15 months, because I don't want to forget.

Height: 32 inches, 75th percentile
Weight: 25 pounds 11 ounces, 50-75th percentile
Head: 49 centimeters, 90th percentile

This post is late because Truman was sick the week of his scheduled 15 month check-up, so he got antibiotics instead of a well child check. At that appointment, when he was 15 months, 2 days old, he weighed 24 pounds, 7 ounces. He had been sick, throwing up, and not eating well which might explain why he weighs over a pound more just two weeks later.

Here is the rest of it. At 15 months, Truman:

• Wears size 12-18 month clothes.
• Wears size 5 shoes.
• Still wears size 4 diapers.
• Has 13 teeth!  Seven on top and six on bottom.  He's got the middle four on top and bottom, then a space, and then all four molars, except for on his top left.  On that side there is no space.  There is a little tooth--his newest one.
• Now has enough hair for a haircut.  I'm a little sad about it, but Matt insists that it will happen soon.  Some of it on the top and back is getting a little long but the main problem is that it's starting to go over his ears.  I still say that the best description of the color is strawberry blond.
• Is walking and running.  When he runs he crooks his right arm and swings it really big.  It's adorable.
• Still loves to be held.
• Loves his Mama.  But loves his Pops a lot too.  In the morning he cries when Matt leaves and when Matt comes home he immediately raises his arms and will cry if Matt doesn't pick him up right away.
• Has been bottle free since 14 months.
• Sleeps for about 12 hours a night from 7:30 until 7:30, usually.
• Takes one nap after lunch for about two hours, give or take.
• Sleeps with his pacifier and a blanket in his crib.  He usually sleeps on top of the blanket.  Sometimes he has his panda bear PillowPet in there too, usually at Audrey's request.
• Has some unusual sleeping positions.  He will often fold himself in half to sleep.  He'll sit with his legs straight out in front of him and then bend at the waist until he is folded in half with his face in the mattress.  Or he sleeps on his knees with his bum in the air and his face in the mattress.  We don't know how he doesn't suffocate.  Very rarely we'll see he stretched out completely on his tummy.
• Can sometimes be particular about food.  If he isn't sure about something or doesn't like something you give him he'll just stick out his tongue to spit it out of his mouth.  I personally think texture has a lot to do with whether or not he likes a new food.
• Has a favorite food.  It's bananas.  He eats one every morning for breakfast and would probably eat several a day if I would let him.
• He likes to eat bananas, oranges, grapes, yogurt, oatmeal, canned peaches, bean and cheese quesadillas, hot dogs, American cheese, turkey and ham lunchmeat, corn, pancakes, canned carrots, pizza, and most things sweet--candy, cake, cookies, etc.  Seems to kind of like ice cream but he makes a crazy face and shakes his head when you give him some.  I think it's the cold he's not too crazy about.
• He does not like eggs, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans.  He also doesn't seem to be a fan of fast food.  He's had a couple of McDonald's cheeseburgers and we usually have to cajole him into eating a couple of bites.  He sometimes seems to like the fries but other times he won't touch them.  I tried giving him a cheese roll from Taco Bell and he just kept spitting it out.  And he wouldn't eat the chicken from a soft taco either.
• He occasionally likes bread, blueberries, strawberries, canned pears, grilled cheese, and pasta.  
•  Can say a few words but isn't talking much yet.  He can say, "mama," "dada," "night night," "nana" (banana), "up", "tickle tickle," "baa baa" (sheep sound), "mmmmm" (for moo), "nay nay" (horse sound), and bub bub (bubble)."  He doesn't use these words to try and communicate with us much.  He will mostly just say them if we ask him to and he's in the mood.  His pediatrician said this is normal and that as long as he can understand what we say, repeats words, and babbles then he's fine.  Whew!
• Understands commands and responds to them.  He'll get his shoes, put books away, clean up toys, and do a lot of other things he's asked to do.
• Likes to sit in his Lil' Zoomers Spinnin' Speedway.  He especially likes to sit in it and then turn it on so it makes all the noises but can't spin because he's sitting in it.  He'll probably burn out the motor.  Sometimes he just sits in it and plays with other things.

• Is forward facing in the car as of 14 months.  He's happy now that he isn't backwards anymore.
• Gets a pacifier only when he is in his crib as of 14 months.  He still loves the green one but we're trying to wean him onto a regular one.
• Still loves baths.  Whenever we ask if he wants a bath he runs to the bathroom and stands by the tub and bounces up and down.  When you take off his clothes he tries to climb in himself.  He puts his face in the water and drinks it and also dumps cupfuls of water over his face while trying to drink it.  You'd think we never gave the kid anything to drink by the way he acts in the tub.
• Went through a phase (that I think he might be over now) where he threw everything in the trash.  We found a lot of toys in there.
• Loves books.  He loves to get books off the shelves and will sit and look at them for a long time.  But he doesn't like us to read to him yet.  We still try but most of the time he's looking at his own book and we're just reading in his vicinity.  I guess that's better than nothing.
• Likes to be where people are.  Throughout the day he will follow me around and play in whatever room I'm in.  Very often he'll carry a book around and will sit in a corner and look at his book while I do whatever I'm doing.  In the morning when I'm getting ready he'll sit on the rug next to the bathtub and read his books or play with a toy.  When I'm making dinner he sits on the rug in front of the door to the garage and plays.  If I'm cleaning and moving from room to room he'll just follow me around from my bedroom to the laundry room to his room, etc.  Each time he finds a place to sit and stays there until he's bored or notices I'm gone.
• Has started throwing little mini tantrums that are actually pretty funny.  When something doesn't go the way he wants it he yells and stomps his feet.  He usually gets over it pretty quickly.  But it's funny and I have to make a conscious effort not to laugh.
• Loves having his teeth brushed.  When we say it's time to brush teeth he runs to the bathroom and stretches to try and get on the counter where we sit him.
• At night he knows the bedtime routine.  After prayers, scriptures, and storytime we tell him it's time for night night.  He goes to the bookshelf and puts his book away and then turns on his night light.  Audrey gives him his pacifiers (the green one and a regular one), I turn on the little space heater we have for his room, and he usually goes to his crib where Matt picks him up so we can all give him a hug and kiss and tell him we love him.  Then it's into bed and lights out.
• Is a sensitive little man.  If you too harshly tell him no or he otherwise gets his feelings hurt then his little face crumples and he just sobs.  It's really sad.
• Is fascinated with Audrey's toys.  I think it's because he doesn't have access to them as often.  He likes her Barbies, mainly to chew on their feet.  But he also likes the kitchen and food, doctor set, puzzles, Cinderella carriage, and would love to get his hands on the Barbie plane and Littlest PetShop stuff.  But we keep all the little stuff away from him.

• Has lately started sitting in things--plastic bins, boxes, laundry baskets, upside-down stools (see above picture), etc.  Most of the time he either needs help getting in or out.  But sometimes he does it all by himself and he does love to sit in them.
• Loves his toys that have buttons, move, or make noise.  If they do all three then that's an added bonus.  It's funny how he instictively knows how to push cars around.
• Started folding his arms for prayers (some of them) at just a little after 14 months.
• Finally decided he could come down the stairs all by himself at just under 15 months.  We almost never use the gates anymore.
• Can show us his feet, toes, hands, head, nose, mouth, and ears if we ask where they are.  We're working on the other body parts.
• Loves to play peek-a-boo and ring-around-the-rosie.  He's also quite entertained by a good, "Aaa-choooo!"
• Is at the stage where he falls and bumps his head or smashes his face a lot.  He's pretty tough, but he does like some sympathy.

 If you look closely you can see a scratch on his nose, over his left eye, and a big scratch and bruise over his right eye.  The minor scratches are probably from his fingernails.  They are sharp and we can't keep them short enough.  I don't know how he got the big one.  On Sunday I went to the bathroom and when I came out he was crying and had this injury.  Audrey was in her room the entire time so I assume he fell on a toy or something.  The pictures above and below are of the day it happened, 2/20.  The third picture it what it looked like on Wednesday, 2/23.

• Loves to turn lights on and off.  That might actually be one of the reasons he loves having his teeth brushed; he sits on the counter right next to the bathroom light switches.  He also does it in his room when we're getting him dressed on the changing table.
• Loves to stand and look out the window from either his room or Audrey's.
• Loves to look at himself in the hand mirror I use to put on my make up in the morning.  He'll kiss it and lay his head against it.  So adorable.
• Generously gives us hugs and kisses.  He's snuggly and affectionate and I love it!  He'll lay his head on you and let you snuggle with him.
• Likes to brush his hair.  If we give him any kind of brush or comb and tell him to brush his hair he'll rub it from the back of his head to the front and then stick it in his mouth.  Then he repeats it.  I think he likes how we always tell him how handsome he looks when he brushes his hair.
• Is a bit of a ham.  If something he does makes us laugh then he'll do it over and over. 
• If he notices that he's wearing socks and no shoes then he immediately gives a little yell and starts pulling them off.  This mostly happens when I go to change his diaper.  If I manage to get him into his crib for a nap with his socks on, I can be sure then when his nap is over and I go to get him I'll see two little white socks lying on the floor in front of his crib.
• Every morning when I go into the bathroom to start getting ready to take a shower Truman notices my socks right away.  He will reach down and start pulling on them so I'll have to let him pull them off.  He then takes them and puts them in the clothes hamper.  He'll do this to Matt too.  In fact, anytime he sees socks he thinks they go in the hamper, dirty or clean, doesn't matter.  He'll also pull clothes out of his drawers and put them in a laundry basket in the laundry room.
• Has started helping me unload the dishwasher.  He'll pull out silverware, one at a time, and hand them to me.  This is especially helpful when the dishes are clean.  He is generally fascinated with the dishwasher and I caught him sitting in it one day, playing in the water.

• Is usually pretty friendly with strangers.  He gets a lot of attention when we go out shopping.  It's unusual these days not to be stopped several times by admirers and people commenting on his hair (and Audrey's) and telling me how beautiful Truman (and Audrey) is.  Most of the time he tilts his head and plays shy but gives them big grins.  They love this.  Sometimes he'll talk and only occasionally will he reach for me and be generally alarmed. 
• Likes to play with toys that have little doors.  He spends a lot of time opening and closing the doors of the Little People house and farm, Audrey's farm, and the Littlest PetShop daycare (when he can get his hands on it).
• Is a cute little dancer.  Whenever he hears music he'll start waving his arms up and down.  That's dancing.  Lately he has just started to kind of walk around too so it looks a little more like dancing.
• Yells or says, "Uh, uh, uh," and points when he wants something.
• Likes to drink out of regular cups. I haven't been brave enough to give him one and let him do it himself, but sometimes I'll hold it for him so he can drink out of it.
• Has started squinting and closing his eyes whenever I get the camera out. It takes some time to get a picture of him with his eyes open these days, but I do get some funny little faces.

Truman is such a joy.  We are so blessed to have this handsome little fellow in our family.  I am excited to see what he'll learn in the next three months.

Rise and Shout!

Congratulations to my niece Megan

who just found out she'll be a Cougar this fall!

A Valentine's Day We Won't Forget

Before we had kids Matt and I did Valentine's Day pretty big.  We always gave gifts, went to nice restaurants, and even places like the symphony and ballet.  But having kids changes things and our Valentine's Day celebrations have been a little more low-key the past few years.  Since Valentine's was on a Sunday last year we had planned to go to dinner on Saturday.  But when our sitter cancelled close to the date we decided to stay home.  So after spending one Valentine's Day at home with the kids I was definitely ready to go out and be a grown up this year.

And we did.  Sort of.

Our day started out like any other.  We all got up, got ready, Matt left for work, and the kids and I had breakfast and started in on laundry.  We changed all the sheets and washed, dried, folded, hung up, and put up.  We stayed home all day because it was a wet, gray, yucky day.  During naptime Audrey made a card for her dad and I started packing up the diaper bag.

Since Phil was going to be gone, Misty generously volunteered to watch our kids for us.  Amazing, right?  Audrey was looking forward to going to Tyler's house and Matt and I were looking forward to dinner and a movie with just us grown ups.  But we still wanted to keep things simple, and since Misty lives in another town about half an hour away, we were planning on dropping off the kids and then staying in that town for our festivities.  There is a little Thai restaurant there that we like so we planned on having dinner there.  Then we were going to see a movie at the local theater.  So during the day I got everything ready and then waited for Matt to get home.

 When he got home he had a surprise for his little girl.  A pink rose of her very own!  Audrey was/is thrilled with her beautiful flower.

 Then Audrey and Truman gave Matt his gifts--bags of peanut butter M&Ms!  His favorite! 

 Truman likes the bags of peanut butter M&Ms too.

 They also gave Matt his beautiful handmade card.

He came bearing gifts for the mom too.  Pink tulips and a giant box of chocolates.  He usually gets Sees, but this year I mentioned how exciting it was when my dad would bring home a Whitman's Sampler box of candy, so Matt got me one of those.  I do love that boy.

Then I gave him my gift.  It's super romantic so I hope no one gets embarassed. 

It's a book about the 2008 financial crash called The Big Short by Michael Lewis.  Matt was telling me about it awhile back so I picked it up for him.

So after all of the gift exchanging we loaded up the kids and headed to Misty's house.  It was raining pretty hard (for Washington) and was really windy when we left.  We noticed that a few blocks of the main road out of our town were without power.  But it was only a few blocks.  But when we got to Misty's neighborhood we knew we had a problem.  No lights anywhere!  Their power had gone out about 15 minutes after we left our house.

At first we thought we'd wait with the kids until the lights came back on, but Misty insisted we leave the kids and go out.  So we did.  We drove into the town and nothing had power their either.  Nothing!  The entire town was black.  Even Safeway and Wal Mart were dark and closed.  All of the traffic lights were out and it was kind of a mess.  So we were faced with a dilemma.

It was already after 7:00 and we had a few options.  Should we drive half an hour back to another town and hope they have power, find a restaurant, wait for a table, eat, and then drive another half hour to pick up our kids much later than we had planned?  And in doing this leave our poor friend in the dark with a bunch of extra kids, even though she insisted it was fine?  Or should we get the kids and then try to find a restaurant?  Or should we get the kids and then just call it a night and go home?  We had called a neighbor so we knew we had power.

We finally decided to get the kids and call it a night.  On the way home we noticed that the few blocks of main road in our town that were without power when we left were still without power.  But it was isolated and everywhere else seemed fine.  So we stopped at McDonald's on the way home and picked up dinner.  At home we had a nice little family dinner of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets.  Then we each had a piece of chocolate from my box and then the kids went to bed.  They were tired.  Matt and I put on our pajamas and snuggled up on the couch to watch some shows recorded on our DVR, but only the ones with Valentine plots.

If all of that wasn't enough, Matt was sick.  He's been sick since Saturday.  He's got what the kids had minus the throwing up and fever.  So he wasn't feeling awful, but he wasn't feeling all that great either.  Oh, and he forgot my cards, one from him and one from the kids, at work.  I didn't mind, but he felt bad about it.

It wasn't the most romantic Valentine's Day we've ever had.  But I will venture to say that it will probably be one of the most memorable.  We often have a hard time remembering what we did for Valentine's Day/birthdays/anniversaries and often mix them up.  I have no doubt that next year when we ask each other, "What did we do last year?", we'll both have an answer.

And I need to include a big thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to Misty!  In addition to watching our kids she was also watching Matt's brother's kids, so that added three more to the total, making a grand total of seven!  We really do appreciate you watching our kids on Valentine's Day with no power, even if it wasn't quite as long as you had planned.  And it's even more amazing that you managed to make sure the kids had fun playing games, pretending to be ghosts, and running around your house like wild animals. You are the best!

Candy Land in the dark with Truman trying to play along.

The big kids having dinner by lantern light.

Valentine's Eve With the Kids

 Last Thursday, the 10th, Audrey had her preschool Valentine's Day party.  The first day she went to school this month she came home very excited about Valentine's Day.  She kept talking about all of the hearts and told me quite pointedly that preschool had hearts all over but that we don't have hearts at our house.  She was right.  We don't have much in the way of Valentine decorations and I never got out the few things we do have until the day before.  Things were just too hectic with all the illnesses we were fighting.  Actually, I had a lot of fun Valentine activities that I had planned that got nixed when the kids got sick.  In fact, even though the kids are better, things still aren't back to normal here yet.  

 The day of her party she came home with a bagful of valentines and little gifts from her friends and teachers.  She made her little heart bag herself and is quite proud of it.

Since Matt and I were going out on Valentine's Day and wouldn't have much time together with the kids, we decided to celebrate the holiday with them a day early.  On Sunday the plan was to have a nice dinner and then give the kids their Valentine gifts.

 While we waited for dinnertime Matt built the kids a fort. 

 Truman had fun just running in circles under the fort and around the chair. 

 Pops is so much fun.  It's no wonder these kids adore him.  I adore him (and the two munchkins next to him ) too.

 While the three kids played in the fort I set the table for dinner.  I pulled out the few Valentine-ish decorations I have.  Audrey thought the table was so beautiful but couldn't understand why the pink vases didn't have any flowers in them.

 Finally we were almost ready to begin.  I love Audrey's little grin.  You may notice that she looks especially dressed up.  She's wearing her "ratty clothes" because it's Sunday, after church, and she can wear whatever she wants.  She would wear these clothes everyday if I let her.

 I love these little pink heart votives I got at Crate and Barrel when Matt and I were first married.

 The kids are ready to eat.  Don't those breadsticks look delicious?

 For dinner we had red and white striped lobster ravioli with garlic and tomato cream sauce, roasted asparagus, the previously pictured breadsticks, and raspberry lemonade (for Audrey) and blood orange Italian soda (for Matt and me). 

Truman even got to eat the ravioli because a month or so ago we found out, by accident, that he isn't allergic to shellfish.  I was making dinner and threw some shrimp tails in the garbage.  It was pretty full and I later noticed that Truman was chewing on something.  I fished around in his mouth and pulled out a couple of shrimp tails.  Luckily they were cooked, but still.  I would typically wait until he was quite a bit older to feed him shellfish.  Also, just so you aren't too grossed out, I had thrown away a clean piece of plastic wrap and the tails were on that.

Back to the Valentine's Eve story, we had a nice dinner without too much whining so Matt and I were able to relax a bit.

 Then we gave the kids their gifts.  Truman got a new foam board book.  Audrey got a workbook, Barbie, and box of chocolates.

 She was pretty excited about her gifts.  This year the holidays have been a bit different.  It's really the first time Audrey knows what's going on and can anticipate them.  She has very definite ideas about how things should be.  She specifically told me that she wanted a heart box with chocolates and flowers.  She also told me that she would tell Pops to give me a heart box with chocolates and flowers too.  She got half of her wish but didn't seem to notice her flowers were missing.  Never fear.  Sometimes moms are better at anticipating what little girls will want than they may think.

 Truman really seems to enjoy his new book.  He carries it around and looks at it all the time.  He likes books but he doesn't like us to read to him.

 After the gift giving we put Truman to bed and the three of us went back downstairs for dessert.  While I baked, Audrey and Matt started on her new workbook.  Audrey really loves that thing, which is good, but sometimes less so because she is constantly bugging me to work in it and I don't always have time to sit down and read her the directions and supervise.  But it's mostly a good thing.

 She especially likes the cutting and glueing portions.  This was her first experience with a glue stick so Matt had to show her how.  She picked it up pretty quickly after that.

 Dessert!

 Looks pretty yummy, right?

And when you cut into it it's even better!  Heart shaped molten chocolate cakes with ice cream.  The three of us shared one.  Now we have five more in the fridge waiting to be eaten.

Finally it was bedtime for Audrey.  We wished her a Happy Valentine's Day and kissed her goodnight.  I am one lucky mom.