wake up. make pancakes (with chocolate chips, please.) go to church. eat lunch. fly kites. read go, dog, go. get the kids down for a nap. make a fresh pot of coffee. work.

Chrissie and the girls are visiting and we had a sweet morning at the beach. The air was cool but the sun felt so good. The kids are having a blast together and I am soaking up every minute with my sis.

this evening I was sitting on the floor working on my laptop and david came up behind me, put his arm over my shoulder and leaned in to give me a few wet kisses. It was the MOST precious and INTENTIONAL show of affection i have ever seen him display. and it made my heart overflow with happiness and love.

happy valentine’s day.

the master at work.

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Winners for the “you melt my heart’ necklaces are…

Judy who loves a pink afghan

Gen who loes a little girl’s tutu

and Sara Gibson who loves ‘double bubble’ bubble gum

Email me your mailing addresses ladies! Thanks everyone for your fun, inspiring comments!

to stay inside.

the weather has been unseasonable warm. we took advantage and had mcdonald’s for luch and rode bikes at the park.

this picture was taken before i tried to put david in the swing and he got VERY upset with me. oops!

i am trying to take a fresh look at my parenting. i want to think of new, creative activities to do with the boys (cooking, art projects, outside play) and tighten up in some areas (sweets, being consistent with following directions). any creative parenting ideas to share??

My college girls are coming over for a valentine exchange this evening after the boys are tucked into bed.

I used construction paper hearts, double-sided tape and fishing line to decorate the table. simple and sweet. Thanks for the inspiration, Lindsey!

Matty helped me ‘cook’ pretzels drizzled with white choclate and sprinkles. (just microwave the white chocolate in a freezer bag, snip the corner and drizzle over pretzels. They take about 2-3 hours to re-harden. Thanks for the recipe Ashlynn!

And we’ll watch ‘Be my Valentine, Charlie Brown’. You might wonder if we are going to decorate brown paper bags to put our valentines in…we just might!

this weekend steve had a retreat with the college group so the boys and i tagged along. we drove up to lake lopez (only about half an hour from our home) and felt like we were far away. it was great to…
-take a break from my computer
-build a fort with the boys
-read chicka chicka 123, thomas, and does a kangaroo have a mother?
-build block towers and demolish them
-give the boys long baths and then snuggle
-not cook (ha! because i usually cook such elaborate meals…)
-read mr. darcy’s diary (so fun! next is mr. knightly’s diary)
-go to bed at 10 and wake up at 7, nice!
-drink lots of camp coffee, with flavored cream
-get to know some new students and hang out with some very sweet girls

We had our own bedroom, bathroom and living area so we weren’t roughing it at all. Both boys had so much fun and loved all the attention. My camera died the first day, but I managed to get a couple pics of David. I think the second pic looks like a men’s perfume ad. just casually lounging in an adirondack chair…

Lately I am all about pink! Must be Valentine’s Day… So in honor of love and the color pink, I am giving away THREE, yes three of these sweet necklaces. Leave a comment and tell us what you favorite pink thing is.

Tiny disc on pink cotton cord with handmade heart charm. So cute, I can’t stand it!! $40

Yesterday, while David was in school, a sweet friend offered to let Matty and Max have a playdate at her house so Jen and I could have coffee and hang out together. It was so nice to have an uninterrupted conversation!

Gosh, I wonder if the boys had fun??