At the top, looking down

On Friday the 13th, Jason turned 39! He's at the top of the hill, looking down. Next year, he'll be over the hill ...or should I say, over the next hill. Aren't there so many hills and valley's in our lives?

He requested a meatloaf and mashed potato dinner, cuz he's a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy.

Next, we went into the livingroom, to have him open his gifts. Treyson and the girls (with the help of Grandpa Waite) had a little surprise up their sleeves. As Jason sat down and we sang him Happy Birthday, Treyson showered him with balloons, over the top of his head. (Treyson thought he was so clever.)

Jason received some pants and a video game from me; "Lego Batman".

And as is tradition in our house, he received LOTS of homemade (or atleast home gathered)gifts from the kids. Rylee made a card. Taylee painted a picture for him (of Mario from Nintendo) and also did her first cross-stitch project..a little doggy. Treyson gave him some of his old toys. And Abree gave him one of TAYLEE's stuffed animals. :o) When Taylee saw it she said, "Hey, that's mine. Oh well." ---What's a 4 year old to do? Abree doesn't have that much income coming in..and with the economic state we're in, I guess she's resorted to stealing. Just kidding.
Instead of cake and ice cream, Jason prefers banana cream pie. In all my rushing around, I ran our of time for making him one. Marie Callender came to my rescue! We had the choice of banana cream or chocolate satin pie. Yum!

Happy Birthday Honey!

FHE

Last Monday, Taylee was in charge of the lesson for Family Home Evening. I usually like to help or assist my kids in planning and executing the lesson. This time, Taylee said she wanted to do it all on her own.

First, she talked about how Valentine's Day was coming up. She asked us what Valentine's Day meant to us. Some of the answers were; candy, cards, parties, etc. We eventually got around to love and service. Then we did a little activity she had planned. She had written down things for us to talk about or do, on little hearts. We each took turns drawing a heart out and doing what it said. Some of them were;
"Think of why you love somebody. Think of a family memory. Tell why you like Valentine's Day. Talk about somebody. Say the 11th Article of Faith. Why did Taylee do this lesson? Hug someone. Think of someone you love. Act like someone and let the rest try to guess. Think of a memory with Rylee. Think of a memory with mom and dad. What day is coming up? Happy Valentine's Day!"
The activity went over well. I felt the spirit as we expressed our love for one another and as we talked about each other and our good memories. One thing that I thought was so cute was that before we started the activity she reminded us that what we said HAD to be positive and nice. She also made it a point to write it on the activity envelope; "Remember only tell positive things about each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (There were 19 exclamation points after the phrase.)

Next, we brainstormed different things we could do, as service, for our family members.

Then, she handed out little hearts that said, "Happy Valentine's Day!" and challenged us to do acts of service for our family, in the upcoming week. As we did our act of service, we were to leave our heart behind. Then we were to write our service down and put it in the nicely decorated box she had provided. She also let us know that we could do more than ONE service.

Last night, we opened the service box and read all the things we had done for each other. It was fun to see that we ALL participated and even did more than just ONE. Whew!

I'm so proud of Taylee. She did such a wonderful job with the lesson. Maybe I need to back off more often and just let things go.

Valentine Surprise

It's finally safe to post, now that Valentine's Day has passed...

A group of us got together and decided to create Valentines for our husbands. We were each supposed to do 7 Valentines, of 2 different types. That way we would have 14 different Valentines, 1 for each day leading up to Valentine's Day. After creating them, we got together for a little potluck brunch and exchanged our sweet sentiments.

Marianne was our idea originator and super hostess.
Jaime, Kim, Karen, Amber, Bethany and I participated too.

We had a yummy selection of brunch food;
sausage biscuits, quiche, muffins, sweet breads, croissants, fruit, juice and more.

All the Valentines turned out so cute and all so different. Here's what we each went home with:

Large paper fortune cookie with Hershey hugs/kisses inside.
"Your future will be filled with sweet hugs and kisses."









Car air freshener
"Every moment with you, is like a breath of fresh air!"











Hand warmer packet
"Within the touch of your hand lies the power to warm my heart."











BBQ Sauce
"Baby, your love is soooo.... Rich & Sassy."









Pen
"We're simply 'write' for each other!"









Ladybug card
"I'll keep bugging you 'til you say you'll be mine."











Chinese takeout box with "fortune cookie"
"It's my good fortune to have you Valentine!"










Bliss chocolates
"You bring me pure bliss."









Snickerdoodle cookies
"You are my snickerdoodle sweetheart."











M&Ms
"You melt my heart, just by holding my hand."












Can of nuts
"I'm nuts about U!"









Paper cell phone with candy buttons
"You really push my buttons Valentine!"







Crunch candy
"You always help out when I'm in a crunch, that's one of the reasons I love you a bunch."







Heart card
"My heart is yours, now and always!"

This was such a fun idea. I loved making my Valentines, getting together for brunch and most of all being able to leave a little sweet note for my husband, each day, on his pillow.
I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate him.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Tagged

I've been tagged by Brittany.

Here are the rules:
1.Post rules on blog
2.Answer the six 8 items
3.Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. 17 Kids and Counting
2. Little People Big World
3. Biggest Loser (this season)
4. Lost
5. John and Kate Plus 8
6. E.R.
7. Top Chef
8. The Office

8 Things I did Yesterday:
1. Watched my nephew Kyrick.
2. Layed in bed, off and on, feeling sick.
3. Sent my daughter Rylee, to my brother/sis-in-law's house to watch their 2 girls, while their mom went to the hospital to deliver their baby sister.
4. Talked to Rylee on the phone several times, suggesting what do to with the girls; play outside, what to fix for dinner, etc.
5. Watched my 2 neices Audrey and Katelyn, in the evening, while still waiting for their baby sister to be born.
6. Bathed Abree, Audrey and Katelyn together.
7. Watched old cartoons, while trying to settle down kids for bedtime.
8. Watched t.v. a program on HGTV, until I fell asleep.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Feeling better, not sick.
2. Our 13th Anniversary, on Feb 17th.
3. Settling into my warm bed, for the night.
4. Throwing a baby shower for my sister's and sister-in-law.
5. Jason's day off.
6. Holding my new baby niece.
7. Using my service coupon from Jason.
8. Decorating some areas in my house.

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. IHOP
3. Souper Salad
4. Cafe Ole
5. Panda Express
6. Applebees
7. Chapalas
8. Wendy's

8 Things I Wish For:
1. My kids to make good choices.
2. For me to be a good mom & wife.
3. The determination and desire to make healthier choices for myself.
4. An armoire for my bedroom.
5. All my "honey-dos" to be done.
6. To live to be a "ripe old age".
7. More money.
8. A second car.

8 People I Tag:
1. You
2. Someone who needs something to post on their blog.
3. Someone who is bored.
4. Someone who has never been tagged.
5. Someone who gets tagged all the time.
6. Someone who is related to me.
7. Someone who is my friend.
8. Someone who is on FaceBook.

Holiday Inn Tradition

Since my early childhood, the "Holiday Inn" has been a part of my life. I've been there on a "family vacation" when my mom was too close to her due date (Tawnya), to go very far from home. I've been there for birthday parities. I once went there for some type of conference. And again to some type of toy or book sale. When my parents separated, my brothers and sisters and I would go there to celebrate Christmas with my dad.

It's become an annual tradition to go to the "Holiday Inn". We mostly go at Christmas time, but there has been an occassion or two, when we've been there for New Year's Eve. This year, with finances being tight, we didn't make it there for Christmas OR New Years.

Luckily, Josh & Tawnya got a great deal from Craigslist. They purchased a room, for one night, for $25. They invited all of us to come have pizza, hang out and swim. Our kids were so excited. This annual trip to the "Holiday Inn" now includes them and they look forward to it every year.







Katelyn giving Kyrick a ride.










Abree








Pizza and goodies shared by all.







Treyson shows me how he can jump off grandpa's shoulders and dive in.








Rylee







Micalea









Audrey








Taylee

Everyone had a great time... the "Holiday Inn" tradition lives on!

Thanks Josh and Tawnya!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Did he see his shadow? I don't know... I was too busy making these silly cupcakes. Ingredients; Almond Joy (mini), marshmallows and mini M&Ms.