LOVE!

It felt like Valentine's Day all week!  On Monday we got a package from Aunt Jenny!  It was full of fun Valentine surprises including lips, candy, decorations, and socks!  It was such a fun surprise!  On Tuesday after school the kids decided they couldn't wait another day to do their school valentines - so we put together a lot of valentines cards and candy.  When the day finally came on Thursday everyone was ready!  After the kids went off to school I scrambled around trying to put together little goody bags from me to the kids and then we were off to play group.  When we got home I found red tulips, a bag of chocolate truffles and the best Valentine's card EVER.  I was laughing out loud.  When the kids got home from school, loaded down with cards and treats they laughed at my card too!  We had a great time looking at everyone's cards, the kids did a great job of sharing their candy with their little sisters, and we enjoyed our afternoon.  Mike finally came home and we fed the kids their dinner and put them to bed.  Then Mike went and picked up our dinner and a redbox movie while I set our little table upstairs - we had our own little Valentine's Date but without the hassle of dinner reservations and a babysitter!   It was a great day!  On Friday we got Grandma's  valentine gift and had to rush straight out to the dollar store so everyone could spend their dollar - Anna Elise got some markers, Calvin a Chess game, Madeline got play-dough, Lilah some coloring pages, and Celeste got a 'Barbie' (not really, it is a little fairy doll, but any kind of doll is a barbie).

Calvin has been playing Chess since he bought his game - he has played with anyone he can talk into it, Anna Elise, Madeline, Mom and Dad have all been involved.  It's been amazing to me how much he loves it and how quickly my kids picked up on the rules, I didn't know if they'd be able to do it.

Our Family Spotlight this week is me!  I'm the only one left.  I got a new calling at church today.  I was called as a nursery helper.  I've been helping in nursery for the past three months.  The week that Celeste started nursery they split it into two classes and released the nursery workers - so they have been very slowly staffing the nursery and I have been doing a lot of substituting.  I am helping in Celeste's class - which I was worried wouldn't be good for her, but honestly, I don't care anymore, I love being with her and I love the nursery leader, she is so much fun to serve with - so I'm loving it!  I also negotiated with the bishop's counselor that called me to do it - is that bad?  I have been a RS teacher for the past year and I LOVE that calling.  So I talked him into letting me keep my current calling and doing both!  I've got a permanent sub for that 1 hour a month I'll be teaching.  I couldn't be happier!  In other news, work has been good, but a bit slow, which means I've been going into the office even less - which is good =).
I have to share my Valentine's Card from Mike:  "For my Wife   You're not just CUTE, you're HOT!  And you're not just HOT you're SIZZLING HOT!  Any you're not just SIZZLING HOT, you're... (inside the card)  " SMOKIN'!".  When you open the card there is a loud annoying beeping sound, like a smoke detector then eventually a siren is added.  It's extremely loud and very annoying.  Mike wrote "It's really hard to write a long thoughtful note with this beeping sound..." (but he did write a very short thoughtful note).  It just made us all laugh!

 Valentine's Bingo from Aunt Jenny

 Cute decorations from Aunt Jenny and tulips from Mike

Dinner upstairs with our sparkling grape juice

 Intense chess game on Saturday morning