Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day! It is a no-fuss, no-expectation holiday where I can show my family how much I love them. The boys loved the fancy table and could not believe it was for them. They expected guests.

Derrick and I gave the gift of food to each other this year. He gave me a steak, cooked to perfection and I gave him his favorite cheesecake. I loved our red meal: steak (mid-rare); strawberries; a green salad with craisins, red bell peppers and apples; sweet potatoes; and cheesecake.

We gave the boys a game of Twister and we had a great time playing it after dinner. I was so twisted up that I wasn't able to take pictures!




Look who Amanda loves...Daddy. She also loves posing for the camera (can you tell?)

Farley is Three!

Our season of birthdays started on Feb. 8 with Farley's third birthday. Callie, Reese & Charlie came over to play that afternoon, and it was hectic. We opted to give Farley his cake the following evening.





Derrick had to hold Farley back so we could sing him Happy Birthday. It wasn't as eventful as his first birthday "party." We used the same cake recipe. This time the boys did not take more than a sniff. Their pallets have matured from thinking that a peanut butter and carrot cake with little sugar is good. But, Farley sure did enjoy his treat.

Snow!

We had snow last week! The powdery, light snow was so beautiful. As the wind blew, big puffs would fall from the trees. As expected, Scott and Amanda loved playing in it, while Andrew was ready to go back inside after about 10 minutes.

Scott thought it was great fun to ride his bike while the snow fell.


Meanwhile, Amanda tried to catch some on her tongue.


On Saturday morning, we awoke to a winter wonderland. I love this picture because you can clearly see our Valentine's decorations and the snow outside. Snow in February is rare around here.


Here is everyone enjoying the snow!


Amanda, Miss Independent, wanted to walk by herself. She was wearing her new muck boots, which are size 7. She really wears a size 5, but the smallest size they sell is a 7.


And, this is what happened when she did not have a hand to hold onto. She was just like the kid in "A Christmas Story"...stuck on the ground. Yes, you can see her glove in the background. I took time to take a few pictures before helping her up.



The sun and the trees were beautiful.

I love...Derrick

At the beginning of February, I thought it would be fun to spend the month blogging about people that I love. After all, it is the month of love. Now March is looming around the corner, and I'm just starting. Of course I'll start with Derrick.

We recently celebrated our 10 year "dating" anniversary.
February 3, 2000 was a Thursday night. Derrick originally asked me to go out on Saturday night, but I was going to be out of town running a marathon (my first and only.) We switched to Thursday, not knowing it was a PTO night at his school. He was disappointed when he called to reschedule, but I thought it sounded like an adventure, so I went with him. It was a little like meeting someone's parents on the first date. Somehow I survived the evening, including a parent asking if I was his wife!

Not much has changed since that evening, but so much has changed since that evening. I still love going to dinner with Derrick, but the nice Italian restaurant where we ate is now a fast-food Japanese place. It just doesn't have the same romantic feel. I still love going to PTO meetings with Derrick, but I don't make it very often because of bedtime for the kids. I still laugh at his jokes and think he gives the best hugs in the world. But, I also know that he is an awesome cook and a great Dad.


Derrick specializes in bedtime stories. Here, Amanda is trying to catch a little extra attention before she heads to bed.


Finally, there is more space to actually read the story.

Car Conversations Today

Andrew: Why is it raining outside?

Leslie: Well, it's not raining yet. There are just lots of clouds.

A: Does that plastic keep the rain off of us?

L: What plastic?

A: Does the plastic keep the rain from hitting our roof?

L: What plastic?

A: The plastic above us.

L: Oh, you mean the clouds.

A: Yes, the clouds. Do the plastic clouds keep the rain from falling on us?


******************************************
L: Who do you want to invite to your birthday party?

A: McCance, John, Joshua...do you know that Joshua lives in Georgia?

L: Yes

A: Do we live in Georgia?

L: Yes

A: Is Georgia close to the United States of America? We live near the United States of America.

*******************************************

Meanwhile, Amanda, not to be outdone by her brother's verbosity, managed to put together three and four word sentences today. After dinner:

"Down, I need get down. Bath...Bath...I need bath"

a trip to Mexico?

I sometimes feel as if we take a trip to Mexico every time Amanda takes a bath because I say,"don't drink the water" at least 100 times while she is in the tub.




Here's proof of why she needed the bath in the first place. Beans and baby don't mix too well, but they sure are fun to eat.

sleep is precious

Here's proof that sleep really can be precious.

Completely worn out after a morning of playing, both kids passed out in the car. Amanda's hat fell over her eyes and Andrews goggles were askew.

Cora and Amanda

I stole this picture from my friend Alisa's blog. Amanda and Cora...reading...

Well, not really reading. I think Cora was eating the books and Amanda was pulling them off the shelves. Alisa caught a glance of the two of them "playing" together, with no brothers in sight and grabbed her camera. As soon as these two saw the camera aimed in their direction, they looked up and smiled....posed for the camera...ages 16 months and 8 months. I couldn't believe it. Then, they just went back to what they were doing.