Valentine's Day 2010!

Valentine's Day has changed for us over the years, as it has become slightly different after having kids... and by "different" I do not mean "worse". We love planning the holidays for the kids and always make sure to plan our own fun as well... this Hallmark Holiday was no exception!

We decided to celebrate the night before Valentine's Day by cuddling up for a romantic movie and exchanging cards at midnight. We always fill the cards up with handwritten messages that make them extra special to read. The cards normally don't mean much without the words Mike writes in them, but this year I was super thrilled with the card because Mike was so excited to share that he had found an Italian Valentine's card with a picture of Venice on the front... a fond memory from our honeymoon. I was touched by his thoughtfulness and even more moved by his words.

On Valentine's Day and every day, I am blessed to have Michael as my husband and as the father of my children. The level of respect I have for Michael is unwavering and it brings me great pride to know that my husband has his priorities straight... #1 - God, #2 - Wife, and #3 - Children... and he models his priorities with his actions on a daily basis... naturally, this melts my heart, as does his smile and warm embrace! May Blake follow in his Daddy's footsteps and may Addison snag a catch as swell as her father!

The kids were a lot of fun this Valentine's Day! They had a blast baking, decorating, and crafting! They sponge painted some cereal box dinosaurs to pass out as Valentine's... and they were pretty darned excited to give them away! I made them some heart-shaped pillows because they LOVE pillows and getting snugly! Mike surprised all of us by buying cards for Addie and Blake to exchange! He wrote a sweet messages inside the cards:

To Blake, From Addie (Silly Dog Card):

"Thank you for protecting me. I don't like it when you push me, but you always demand I get a snack at snack time. Thanks for always making Mass so exciting! Love you! ~ Addie"

To Addie, From Blake (Dora the Explorer Card):

"Because you are my sister, I love you. You always say you are sorry when you hit me and today you brought me agua; just because! I'll always protect you! ~ Big Bro Blake"

Then, Mike had bought the kids each a set of measuring cups and a package of peanut M&M's for them to fill their cups and exchange as gifts to each other! It was such a surprise to all of us and I'll be the first to admit that they were more excited about their cards and M&M exchange than the rest of the goodies laid out on the table! Daddy sure knows how to steal the thunder! ;)

We had a great day... even after the love wore off between Blake & Addie and the squabbling over toys continued! :)

Fun with Friends...

Our friend Kristie and her husband Mel were kind enough to have us over to their house for a fun trip to their nearby park and for some Valentine's fun that Kristie and I planned for the kids!

We had a great time! It's always an adventure with 5 kids under the age of 4! It's sure to get even crazier with our next venture... family bowling night... yikes! :)

Hiking fun with Auntie Jenny...

If it's never been mentioned before, let it be known that Blake and Addison adore Auntie Jenny... and for good reason... Auntie Jenny spoils the heck out of them and plans lots of fun things for them! This time was no exception!

Within walking distance to Jenny's new house is a beautiful hiking trail! She was kind enough to act as Ranger Rick and lead us over the meadow and through the woods! The kids had a great time checking it all out and chucking rocks into the growing stream... all the while, it was a heck of a workout for us grown girls getting these tiny tikes around the rugged terrain! That's not even recounting the story of our attempt to recover a squirrel that had been hit by a minivan on the main trail... we'll leave the rest to your imagination... the story will probably end better that way! ;)

Needless to say, we worked up a serious appetite (prior to encountering the squirrel), and Auntie Jenny did not disappoint! She had an awesome lunch prepared for us and we ate ourselves into a stooper!

Thanks Jen for always putting on a show for the kids and going the extra mile... they love you very much... and quite frankly, so do I! :)

Under the weather, with a chance of rain...

So, what's a Mom to do on a Thursday filled with runny noses and sore throats?

How about, load the kids up for a drive and take Daddy to lunch!?! They adore Daddy and we want to make sure that we pamper him appropriately so that he'll keep bringing home the bacon for our very grateful family! We decided to just drive through somewhere nearby so we could eat in the van and not worry about disturbing our sicklings!

After a nice lunch with Daddy we headed home for some serious napping!

Post-nap brought brighter faces and less snot, so we decided to head to the library... the kids LOVE the library... it's a pretty cool remodeled one, so we've got that in our favor! :) Anyhow, the kids grabbed their library cards, which they each got for their first birthday (per our tradition) and carry it around like a beloved stuffed animal! We normally don't use their cards because there's a 30 book limit on each card... in other words, my library card is plenty enough for all of us... we usually fill our backpack with about 20 or so books at a time... we're wild like that!

The kids usually pick out one book each and we sit together for both stories. Then, I let them go crazy and pick out as many books as their little hearts' desire! Blake has always loved the books on audio, so we get about 5 or 6 of the books with accompanying CD's. Addie has certainly grown to love them as well and is catching on to turning the pages when she hears the "chime"... her big brother is a pro and has been excited to show her lately!

And now, well now, it's Friday... and it's raining... but we're in good shape because we stockpiled some new books yesterday... and we've got bowling after nap with Blake's friend Kai and Addie's friends Reese & McKenzie! We're back in the game!

Happy Belated Birthday Noah!

We recently celebrated Cousin Noah's 4th Birthday, even though it was at the beginning of January! Better late than never... and we think the kids agree!

Grammie & Grandpa Blake took a small bunch of us to John's Incredible Pizza in Montclair... and let me tell you, that place really is nothing short of INCREDIBLE! Any Pizza joint that has full on rides,bowling, miniature golf, and MORE is definitely worthy of being called incredible! Can I
just add that the price is ridiculously reasonable for it being

"all you can eat" style!

Anyhow, the kids had a great time! Addie was definitely a lady and quite conservative in her ventures... she mostly clung to Mommy or Daddy with the exception of a few rides/games that tickled her fancy! Blake and Noah rip-roared through the place in a "boys will be boys" fashion and got the bang for Grammie & Grandpa's buck!