Valentines Week

Sunday was Steven's actual birthday so he got to start out his day with opening presents and eating Lucky Charms. He got a lot of awesome things this year. Tyler and I got him a MP3 player (with some music loaded on it), a speaker for it and a book with 5000 Awesome Facts. His Brady Grandparents gave him $10 and the Oregon Trail electronic game which he immediately got to playing- I'm pretty sure he liked it more than the MP3 Player. And his Hatch Grandparents got him a Fitness Tracker watch. It's actually a pretty cool watch and I am thinking I might want to buy one for myself.

Since he had his birthday party the day before the rest of his birthday wasn't super exciting. He went to church, played with his gifts all afternoon and then I made his favorite "white noodles" for dinner.

Monday was not a great start to the week. First I broke a hand held mirror. Then I forgot my wallet when I took Tyler to work and the gas tank was almost on empty- luckily I made it back to the gas station later without running out. There was also a laundry mishap where one of Penny's red dresses turned all the boy's white shirts pink. I also started my period that morning. I haven't had a period for 4 years thanks to my IUD so that was not fun. That afternoon I had a sub job and somehow I got lost taking Penny to my friend's house. My friend lives super close and I've been to her house many times. My brain was a mess.

The sub job itself turned out ok- no major behavior problems or mishaps but it was for kindergarten so it was definitely exhausting. By the time I got home it was decided that we were going to go out to eat for dinner- try to end the day on a more positive note. That was a good choice. We went to Steak and Shake and it was a really nice outing. Everyone wolfed down their meals and drank up their shakes. Afterwards we hit Burlington Coat Factory so Tyler could replace his white shirt I ruined. While there I decided to get myself a new winter coat. I felt so guilty because there are other things that are more needed but I haven't got a new winter coat since moving here so it is nice to finally shake things up.

Tuesday school was cancelled yet again because of icy roads. Tyler was also told he should work from home because of the roads. Around lunchtime I needed to pick up groceries and thankfully the roads were alright by then. It was pretty fun trying to crack the shell of ice that our car was enclosed in before I headed out though- it literally felt like shattering glass. For being yet another day with all the kids at home, it actually went pretty well. That afternoon we watched "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" because the kids were intrigued by the puzzle of that movie I had done. They really seemed to enjoy it and are still singing that lovely "oompa loompa" song.

Tuesday night I had Bunco and did not win any prizes BUT I did laugh until I cried over some funny labeling of my flamboyant rolls. I mean if I am not going to win I might as well roll my dice with style right!? A less silly and more neat thing that happened is that someone was looking for a sub super last minute and I immediately thought of my friend Caroline. Afterwards she was so grateful and said it was exactly what she needed after a rough day- I know that was not my thought but inspiration and I am so grateful I listened.

Wednesday morning Penny finally had her new speech class- it kept getting cancelled from all these snow days. She was super nervous at first and even started crying when we got there but when I came back to get her she was super happy about it at all. She said she liked this class way better and had lots of fun. I feel like it's already helping too- I've seen a little progress with her saying the c/k sound. 

After her class I got busy preparing for her Valentine's Day Party. I had invited some friends over from church to celebrate Valentines Day. I had posted it on our FB site and thought maybe a few people would come but 13 kids RSVP'd to come. I was super anxious about having 13 kids plus their moms in our small home but it ended up not being too crazy and the kids had a lot of fun. I think the fact that 1 kid was a no show and then there were 2 moms that brought their kids as everyone else was leaving helped some- made it a little less crowded. So as annoying as it was to have these people come when I thought the party was done, it did alleviate the crazy. The kids all decorated Valentine's Bag, exchanged Valentines and decorated and ate heart cookies. I got lots of compliments on the heart cookies I had made so that was flattering- I'll definitely keep using that recipe.

Thursday was Valentine's Day. The night before I made the kids each a Valentine and though I rushed them a bit, I still feel like they turned out pretty cute. So in the morning I gave them each their Valentine and their "love" gift. The girls got fingerlings (which were on clearance but now I see why- they make some pretty annoying noises). The boys each got 3 Minecraft Minifigures.

After opening gifts I made the kids some heart pancakes which they gobbled down because this time I didn't make them pink. Last year they were so disgusted that they were pink so I knew better than to do that again.

That afternoon was Lucy's class party which I was once again in charge of. Coordinating with her teacher is so challenging that it is really making me not want to help with class parties EVER again. Plus this time she wanted to just get cash donations which meant I really had to do everything since I didn't have a sign up genius for help. I also got a super last minute email that one of my activities wasn't going to work because it involved taste testing Conversation Hearts which apparently have gluten. Because of one gluten free kid we had to do a last minute change to taste testing Skittles. Anyways in the end it all went really well and the kids had a lot of fun. And I am super relieved that it's over. The big bummer is that I didn't get any pictures this time because I was too busy running one of the stations. No proof of all my work.

Since I had made heart cookies for Penny and Lucy's party- I ended up with some leftovers so I let the kids all decorate one. But they were all so sugared out from the day that not one of them was able to eat their entire cookie after decorating it- it was a first!

Friday was a good day to recover from a busy week. I finally got a workout in and Penny finally was able to do a reading lesson. An added bonus was that I squeezed in a nap!

Saturday morning I went to visit the sister that I minister. She is a sweet lady and it was nice catching up with her. I am always impressed with how she was able to become a doctor while raising three children. She's amazing! 

Afterwards Tyler and I decided to take the kids on an impromptu trip to the zoo. The temps were only in the 20's so we just hit all the indoor exhibits but it was just nice to get out. The only stressful thing was that the kids kept insisting on "skating" on the ice that was all over the grassy areas- made me so nervous. They fell so many times but somehow no broken bones or bleeding.

This week my inability to say no has left us dog sitting for a friend. We were just going to leave the dog at the friend's house but when I realized we would have to go over 3 times a day to check in on the dog I decided we should just try bringing her over here. After a rough Friday night where Tyler ended up sleeping downstairs with her, we had a traumatic Saturday morning because she kept jumping up on the boys (and thrusting herself at them). Now that we've had her for about a day she has calmed down a bit and doesn't jump up awkwardly on the boys anymore. I am hoping things will continue to be better. But I am not a fan of the dog smell and I am definitely still not a dog person and have no plans of ever owning one.