Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day 2012!

I made my boys toast with a fried egg in the middle. For the drink, I made a berry smoothie. They devoured it!

Gavin loves his smoothies so much. Can you tell?

Gavin loves playing in his food more than eating it. Usually half of it ends on him or the floor by the time a meal is over. Clean up is not my favorite part of meals. Gavin decided to put the rest of his egg on his head. That must be where the term "egghead" comes from! Ha Ha!

Thanks to Pinterest I made these superhero Valentine's for Xavier's class. Xavier wrote each one of his friends names on the back. (yeah, some hidden writing practice that was fun!)

I got to help out with their class party too. The above photo is Xavier and one of his best buds, Bradley.

I think I like Valentine's day because my favorite color is red and there is lots of it here.

We passed out our Valentine's to all the kids, played musical chairs, went on a bear hunt, made a heart mouse craft, and ate some yummy goodies.

It was so fun to see Xavier in a school setting. He is one spectacular kid.

Here he is bringing home his bag of treasures.

One thing I love about my husband is that after knowing him for 10 years he still surprises me with flowers! He sent a delivery of a beautiful bouquet of flowers and made these sweet orange peel flowers. Every time he eats an orange he does this and I love it!

At the end of the day we had our traditional Valentine dinner of Chicken Parmesan, noodles with red sauce, and a salad on the side. I sure feel like one lucky lady to have 3 handsome boys to love.

Push Pop Party

Having a husband that works at a candy company is quite a dangerous thing sometimes. I am always complaining to him that we need to keep the candy (mainly chocolate) out of the house. I don't want my kids thinking they can have candy every day. And I work so hard to teach them healthy eating. Plus, for me, if it's there I will eat it. I have never been one to have to have chocolate. Now that it's readily available it's a little harder to resist.

Tim and I both enjoy our share of treats, chocolate is not our first choice. It is the fruity or chewy stuff that we like best. Nonetheless, I try my hardest to keep the candy eating to a minimum as best I can with "the candyman" in the house.

But, like father like sons. When they look this cute, it's hard not to resist the simple pleasure of a push pop.

Apples and Affection

Winter is not my favorite season. The winter blues often set in if we are inside too much. We are usually inside because of sicknesses. February has been our month of sickness. But I'm trying to focus more on the positives. We have been pretty spoiled this winter. Only one major snow storm and that happened at the end of October. Temperatures have been averaging in the 40's. One thing I enjoy about having to stay home is staying in our pajamas all day. The second being snuggling on the couch together. I have always been a cuddle bunny and I'm glad that my boys (despite their immense levels of energy) love good cuddle time too.

Watching a show and munching on their apples.

Not sure what was happening when I snapped this one. Xavier and Gavin have quite the contrast of expressions on their faces. These two little munchkins make me smile!

Laurie Berkner Band

Xavier and I went on a mommy son date over the weekend. I surprised him with tickets to see the Laurie Berkner Band. If you haven't heard of her she is a fabulous children's musician and one of our favorites. We listen to her songs over and over and over. I was so excited for Xavier and I to see her perform in person. We were on the 10th row, so we had a great view of everything.

This is Xavier on our way to the Allentown Symphony Hall where her band was performing. He's just a little excited.

Me and my boy!

My camera's zoom is kind of lame, so this is the best shot I had. The theme of the concert was animal party. So they sang a lot of songs having to do with animals. Xavier was in awe for the first 15 minutes. He didn't want to sing along, he just sat, watched, and soaked it all in. By the end of the concert he was jumping up, dancing around, and singing along to the songs.

I love that he loves music as much as me. It's something I hope we can always enjoy together.

Xavier's First Talk

Sunday Xavier gave his first talk in Primary. I can't believe he has reached this milestone already. His talk was about how Noah was blessed for choosing the right. We took time the week before his talk to discuss the story of Noah and why he was blessed. Then we wrote out the story of Noah and the Ark in Xavier's words and how it related to the topic he was given. We practiced a few times during the week to make sure he was comfortable sharing his talk with others. Then on Sunday he got up and read his talk all by himself. (with the exception of a couple big words I had to help him with). It was funny because when he stood at the podium I could tell he was a little nervous. I moved the microphone down a little so it was right at his level and he wouldn't talk. Then he said, "Mom I don't want to talk into the microphone." I said we could move it out of the way if he could talk loud enough for all the children to hear. He was confident that he could do that so I moved it out of the way. I was so proud of him for his hard work and for the wonderful talk he shared with the primary.