Valentine Wrap-up

We ended up having Valentines all week long at our house.

These are our finished treats for friends at school.  We wrapped smooshed lots of frosting between two  mini-chocolate cakes then rolled them into some Valentine sprinkles.  Next we wrapped them in individual bags with a pink ribbon on top.  I stapled the boys card to each treat so they knew who it came from.

I think it turned out pretty good.  :)

We also gave goodie boxes to our family...we filled them with the mini-whoopie pie/cakes...and some chocolate pretzel treats.  the boys also made homemade Valentine cards for them.  So cute.

The other day, I had to vacate the house for a few hours while we got some work done to our kitchen.  Jackson and Connor were at school so I took Mitchell and Sawyer to the mall.  We had a blast.

Say cheese!

The boys road on the rides at the mall for about 20 minutes.  Best part, I didn't put a dime in...they had fun anyway!

Take a look at these....

Craig's sister Lori dropped these off.  Individual heart-shaped cakes for each of the boys...and one for us!  They looked just like conversation hearts...and tasted even better.  Yum.

Basketball Video

here's my little super star.  first game.  loved every minute.

Sweets for the Sweet

After church we got to work...

I baked 55 mini-whoopies pies...

They smelled sooooo good, but I felt so bad....I wouldn't let the boys snack on them.  I needed to make sure we had enough to give to our valentines.

After they cooled, I made buttercream frosting and rolled them in pink and red heart sprinkles.  Too bad I didn't think to take a picture of the finished product.

While I baked and decorated, Craig kept the boys occuppied.

They played board games...and had so much fun.  I see a future filled with fun times playing games.

Busy Saturday

The boys have been loving their Upward Basketball games.  Jackson has improved so much, but best of all he is having a great time.  I tried to grab a few shots of his latest game.

He is in the thick of the action here...which is saying a lot...though it would be nice if you could actually see him in my picture.

Here he is...blurry, yes...but he's out there.

Wanted to share this one too.

This little guy loves this chair in the play room.  He could seat there all afternoon and watch his very favority movie of all.

Toy Story 2

Heart Day Preps

We've been having a lot of fun getting ready for Valentine's Day.  While Connor was at school, Jackson went to town perfecting his hearts.  He did such a great job.  So cute. 

Jackson is also working on his writing.  I am amazed at how good he is getting.  The best part....he loves it!

After he finished his hearts...he wanted to write all of our names down.  He put his version of a smiley face next to everyone's name.

Next, he added a 100 for each of us.  I guess that means he likes us?

He was so proud he wanted me to take a picture of him when he finished.

After he looked at the first pictures, he made me take another.  He wanted to be able to see the entire board...and his smiling face.  :)

I LOVE this kid so much.  He is such a sweetheart.  I'm overjoyed that he is showing so much interest in writing and reading.  He loves to snuggle and is quick to ask for a hug or tell me he loves me.  He is also a nice kid.  Everyday at the end of pre-school he wants to say good bye to all of his friends.  It is precious.  He does get a little sad if he misses someone.  I pray that he never loses the sweet innocent and wonderful gentle heart.

This weekend we also worked on making valentines for school parties.

Jackson wrote out the name of every child in his class.  It took a little while, but he did a great job and enjoyed the finished product sooooo much.

Connor also made hand made Valentines for all his friends.

He addressed them too...though I wish he'd work a little on his hand writing.

Next up....Valentine treats.....

Making Progress

After what seems like forever, we're making some progress in the kitchen.  We hired a carpenter to come in and finish off the window opening that leads into the rec. room.

These are pictures from Day 1.

This is a view from the kitchen into the rec. room.  He framed it out and will put skill out the rest of the walls and replace a cabinet.

Below is the view from the rec room/laundry room.  You can see where we took out another row of bricks on each side to open up the space a little more.

Day 2

You can see he dry walled the opening and finished it off with a nice edge on the kitchen side.

Here's the rec room side.  He build in a little counter area at the base of the window so it matches up with the existing counter top.

I'm loving it.

In Door Camp Out

Connor came home from school one day and asked if we could have a camp out.  Not sure where he got the idea...but what the heck.  So what does an indoor camp out consists of?  For Connor...a roaring fire, Smores, sleeping bags, and playing the limbo.  Yeah, I'm not sure where that one came from either. :)

Craig got the fire roaring.  I got out the fondue sticks....much too short mind you...and some marshmallows.  I even made a trip to the grocery store to get Hershey bars and graham crackers. 

Craig was the designated marshmallow roaster.

The boys were super excited.  Mitchell opted to just eat the marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate separately.  The entire time Craig was asking me if I was sure I knew what I was getting into to.  The answer...of course, not.

The boys were really good...they stayed back from the fire and listened to our warnings about how hot the fire and the marshmallows were.

I did not get any pictures of the limbo.  It was cute...I was holding the pole so I didn't have my camera.  We had a great time though.  Great idea, Connor.  We wrapped up the night with a Scooby-Doo Thrillogy.