Celebrating ♥ Day!

Valentine's Day, is one of those days that I know was created by the marketing team from Hallmark, but you know, ever since I can remember it was a day that I loved!  I love all the hearts, the candy, the chocolate, the colors, and most of all the break up of winter.  It's a fresh feeling I get, immediately after Christmas, because I know once we get to Valentine's Day....Spring is not too far away!  Anyway, I'm a person who loves to celebrate everything....before kids, every time I got the chance to do something for Brenton I did and every holiday (a Hallmark one or not) we celebrated; however, now that we have our boys....Holy Cow, I'm into it even more!  I love making memories and having days like February 14th to make more is great and my boys love it!  This year was no exception!  We had fun all week making boxes, doing cards for their classmates, their teachers, and preparing for class parties.  I love being a room mom, so when I got the form for Ethan's, I did everything I needed so I could be there....Colin, didn't have an open party, so he got to celebrate with his teachers & classmates, but I didn't get to experience his w/ him.  From what I hear though, he had fun! =)  Ethan and I had a great time at his and I'm so glad to be able to do things like that, because he really enjoys that I'm a part of his functions.  

1st grade party fun

Brenton and I started last month buying our "valentine's" here and there for them, so last week I worked on getting all of that done, too.  We also added a new tradition and that was leaving "love note" hearts for them every morning starting February 1st through the 14th and that was a hit.  Ethan, loved everything about that!  Every morning he would wake up and run to their "mailbox" which was a made up one using one of my Longaberger heart baskets....but, hey it worked and like I said they enjoyed it.  Of course, Colin couldn't read his or seemed all that interested, but as soon as Ethan started reading his, he stopped dead in his tracks and listened!  Being able to do little things like that and expressing our love in various ways to our boys, is something I tend to do until they are old enough to tell me to stop....Oh wait, I take that back, I'll do it forever....even when they think they are too big.  LOL!  Anyway, we had a fun Valentine's Day; even though Ethan came down with yet another bug, we were able to enjoy a quiet time here at home (thanks to meds).....here are a few pics!!! =)

enjoying their Valentine's from us (thank God for medicine)

he tried hard to enjoy the day, regardless that he felt crummy

our "love note" heart door

Mr. Independent getting his Vday treat all by himself ;)

"Mommy, I think a fort will help me feel better" ;)

Crazy Weekend!!!

This past weekend was quite a weekend...started out ordinary, but that all changed Saturday evening while I was scrapbooking!  I was having a great day creating pages for the scrapbooks that I like to do for my boys, but at 7pm my phone started ringing off the hook.  By the time I got to the phone and saw who it was, I realized very quickly that something was wrong w/ my family.  You see, when your dad, mom, and 2 sisters call you within a minute of each other....something is wrong!  As I started to make calls back, I finally got a hold of my mom and she told me that my oldest sister's house was on fire.  I dropped everything I was doing and off I went.....by the time I got there, I saw nothing but smoke and lights.  Weeding my way through the crowd of people, I found my sister and nephew!  What a sad, sad thing as we stood there, able to do nothing, but watch the fire destroy everything they worked so hard for.  Within minutes, it was gone!  Later in the evening it rekindled, destroying absolutely everything!  Needless to say, no one was hurt and mostly everything can be replaced!  I felt/feel so bad for my sister and her family, but I know once all the pieces are put back together, they will love their new home they get to rebuild!  Someone was watching out for them, because it could of been much worse!  I know for sure they had bigger eyes over their house on Saturday, because their bedroom was destroyed, I mean we could see through watching the firefighters because the walls were down and everything was gone. After we got a few things out, out walks a fireman with a book and handed it to my brother-in-law.  As I watched the exchange, I heard him say hey this came from your bedroom.....so, I chimed in and said, is that a Bible?  Sure enough, it was....NOTHING was wrong w/ it!!! WOW is all I can say......Thank the good Lord for his many blessings!  My sister and her family will rebuild and grow from this and the best thing, we still have everyone in tact...including my sister's small farm of animals =)  I love my family very much....We might fight and not talk for awhile, but when things like this happen we are all there for each other!!!!  Needless to say, I didn't get many pages done at the crop, but I sure did have an interesting day on Saturday...LOL!!

Sunday, we had planned to do Valentine boxes for the kids.  My sister Clorissa was coming down and my sister Amanda was coming over w/ her girls.  Well, Clorissa came down with the flu, so she couldn't make it and we decided to not do boxes.  However, last night around 6ish, I got a burr up my butt and decided to get the boy's done!  I knew this week is going to be crazy and I didn't want to rush knowing Wednesday will be here before I know it.  Anyway, long story short, we got them accomplished and the boys loved them.  I really enjoyed watching Colin with his bag.  He took that thing by the handles and was putting it on his head, reaching inside it, and just giggling at it.  I was glad to see it, too...only because I struggled w/ the idea of a box vs a bag for him and for some reason, I kept coming back to a Valentine bag with handles.  Anyway, it worked out perfect and turned out better than I had planned!!!  Ethan, he absolutely loved his and was playing Batman for hours after we got his completed.  As a matter of fact, he loved it so much that I wasn't allowed to cut the card opening on the chest side, like I had planned, so a great alternative was the backside under the cape!  LOL!!  It did my heart good watching them, but the best part they are DONE and I don't have to worry about them anymore...bring on the Valentine parties!!

just getting started

he requested Batman =) 

Colin and his McQueen Bag

he loved it!!!  YAY!!

our creations

You know, I tried my best with their Valentine stuff this year, but I wasn't 100% with Colin's!  Eventhough, his McQueen bag was cute and people knew who it was supposed to be, I knew I could make it better for him....thank God for the internet, because I found the "proper" decals and now, I feel it's complete!!!  LOL!!!  We are having so much fun with the preparation for his first go around with Valentine parties at school.....last night Colin and Daddy worked on signing all his cards.... :)