Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's festivities were kind of spread out this year, since the holiday fell on a Thursday (the day I go up to Salt Lake for TabChoir rehearsals).  Also, Ben was gone at the beginning of the week because his company was putting on a conference at Snowbird.  So we did our big family tradition on Sunday afternoon: fondue dinner (lunch) and dessert, followed by a dance party.  And this time we actually tried to do real dances: first we practiced the box step, then we did the Macarena, the Cha Cha Slide, and the Electric Slide.  It was so much fun - we really need to do more dancing in our family.

Once Ben left to drive up to Snowbird that afternoon, the kids and I got busy with Valentine's projects.  The younger ones wrote their names on their Valentines and made their boxes.  I particularly liked how Luke's box came together and his reference to this story by our favorite storyteller Bil Lepp (start at about 20:30 for the quote, but you'll have to listen to the whole thing to really understand it - but it's worth it).

The three older kids had Valentines. To be more specific, Cat and Jack had a Valentine each, and Eliza had three - which means she has had one more each year for three years.  I'm a bit nervous about her trajectory, but I don't know what to do about it.  Jack asked his friend Sydney to be his Valentine, back on December 6th.  When I asked him about this girl who was so special that he asked her two months in advance, he described her as blonde, with glasses and a jacket.  He wrote her a sweet note and they exchanged treats outside of the school that morning.  Cat made a fun candy-laden poster for her Valentine and received yummy treats in return.

 

Meanwhile, a girl in Luke's class made advances in the form of a purple heart and Post-It notes on his desk in the days leading up to Valentine's Day.  How did he feel about it?  He said it was "awkward" and "annoying."

The kids had been asking for our favorite sweet rolls from a bakery in Provo for a little while so Luke and I picked up a package the day before Valentine's Day so they'd be ready for breakfast.  And they even had pink frosting!

I spent most of the morning Luke was at school doing additional V-Day projects: getting the activities ready for the class parties and making heart-shaped pizza crust and heart-shaped cake for my family to enjoy that night while I was at choir.  (Turns out, neither was a hit.  Oh well.)

When I picked Luke up from school we went straight to Jack's class party, where I hosted a station to make an oversized Valentine for their teacher.  Luke had fun going to the different stations with Jack's group, and I snapped a picture of them singing the Pokemon theme song at the karaoke station.  Then Luke and I ran to the grocery store for a few supplies, went up to Ben's office to heart attack his car, then came back to help with Eliza's class party, making a second oversized Valentine for her teacher.

 All of that love was exhausting.  But I think everyone had a good day.

One More Thing About My Birthday

I should have included this postcard I received later in February from my sister's family, who'd been staying at an orangutan reserve in Malaysia.  I'm still laughing about it.

My Birthday

My birthday fell on a Sunday, which was a great excuse for a low-key day.  I went to choir as usual, and received a few Happy Birthdays and such while there.  My favorite greeting was when my sister texted me this meme though.  I used it as my wallpaper on my phone and it made me happy every time I saw it or thought about it.

As soon as we got home from church I was crowned with the Birthday Headband and Eliza led me on a Frozen Fever-style hunt for gifts throughout the house.  She'd tucked away sweet little trinkets along the line of blue wrapping-ribbon and she was so excited about it.  It was adorable and so sweet.

The kids were anxious to find out about my presents so I opened a few presents after Eliza's hunt.  This cool necklace from Mom was a hit.  I sure hope someone needs to dress up as Cleopatra soon!

A few days earlier, I'd driven from Orem to Heber and the drive and I was enamored witht he beautiful white scenery all around me.  So on the afternoon of my birthday I convinced everyone to go for a drive through Provo Canyon and up to Deer Creek.  We decided to get out at the reservoir and try to walk out on the icy surface (the people behind us in this picture are ice fishing) but the weather had been a little warmer the last couple of days and the edges of the lake were slushy and none of us were prepared with winter gear.   So we just took a couple of pictures and trekked back to the car.

That evening Ben made one of my most favoritest meals: curry chicken.  It did not disappoint.  We invited Ben's brother and his family to join us for dinner and cake and the kids loved hanging out and playing, as usual.  Cat made a delicious cake and I might have dropped my piece on my flowers when I was taking that last picture...

 

Happy Birthday to Me!

January 2019 Miscellaneous

One last evening with Ben, Suz, and Whit before they went back to

Asia was also an evening with Will and his cousin Jake.  It was great!

The family that makes pies together...

One evening when I was out Ben couldn't find Luke.
It turned out, he'd put himself to bed.

Luke got a free ride.  I got a cleaner floor (and, admittedly, a dirtier blanket).
I'll still take it.  Thanks, Cat.

Eliza is loving this gumball machine she got for Christmas,
especially on the rare occasion that it's full.
For some reason, it doesn't stay full for long.

Sunday Afternoon Potions

Sunday Afternoon Sorry Game

When Luke doesn't want anyone to come in the room.

Ben was having seafood withdrawals so we bought a few things at Costco and he
braved the cold weather so we could have a low country boil.  In Utah. In January.

 

Going to Costco during the lunch hour could arguably save me from having to feed Luke myself.
Another sample?  Yes please.  I'll give him both of ours.

"Okay, Luke.  If you really want to clean off the treadmill for me, I'll let you."

Cousin time is extra fun when they introduce you to a new toy.
Now both boys want Beyblades.

  

Cleaning the church in PJs.

Mopping was the favorite job - it might have even caused a few arguments.

When Cat makes cookies and doesn't want to share the dough with Dad,
he's glad for the long-arm advantage.

Why isn't anyone doing Luke's hair?

Fancy braid!

Luke showing off his first completed sticker chart of the year
and his slap bracelet prize.

Looking back at these pictures makes me so thankful for Sunday afternoons.  That's when I took the majority of these, since that's usually the part of our week when we're all home, just hanging out.  Cooking.  Playing games.  Relaxing.  Whatever.  I'm so glad we have that time!

Poetry Recitation

A few weeks ago the kids' school had a schoolwide poetry recitation contest.  The winner from each class performed for the whole school, and a few finalists were chosen to receive fun prizes.  The kids really enjoyed reading through our poetry books (we need to pull them out more often!) and deciding which poems to recite.  Eliza even memorized a few before deciding on the right one to perform.  None of them had trouble with the memorization process and even though I made a couple of these videos a while after the contest they still remembered the poems really well.  None of the kids were chosen to progress to the schoolwide competition, though Jack was one of the top 4 in his class, so that was cool.

Luke: Early Bird by Shel Silverstein

Eliza: Louder Than a Clap of Thunder! by Jack Prelutsky

Jack: The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky

OUTTAKES