Valentine's Day 2020

I think I made it a few weeks in to January before I was decorating my house for Valentine's Day. Everything felt so bare after Christmas came down and red and pink are my kind of holiday colors. This ombre collection of bowls makes me smile!

This holiday was the start of the best thing about a leap year, so many holidays on Fridays! I made Liam and Lyla chocolate chip heart shaped waffles before preschool ...

And Liam came home with a bag filled with Valentines from all of his friends! He got to decorate his own bag and it could not fit him more perfectly, my little pirate who is obsessed with treasure and gems!

My happiest and spunkiest little Valentine ... we spent the morning playing together while Liam was away at preschool.

The kids were totally spoiled for Valentine's Day this year!! Not pictured ... a mug filled with candy and treats from Grams and Pa and gift bags with Valentine books, more candy, and a small toy for each from Sita!

Then when Liam got home from preschool, I let them open their Valentine boxes from their Papa and Grandma Dee in Pocatello. They just got home from a cruise and sent them outfits from their trip, along with enough candy and treats after their last surprises to last a lifetime. Liam kept calling that hat his cowboy hat and pretending to lasso a horse while running around the living room shouting "yee ha!". haha

He was absolutely blown away that his dinosaur card from them had his middle name in it and I turned my back for two second and Lyla had taken the liberty to rip open a fun dip all over my freshly mopped kitchen floor and lick it with her fingers from the bench. Face palm.

We watched Frozen 2 in the afternoon (a Valentine gift we downloaded earlier in the week) and waited for Nic to come home from work. He knows my love language well and got home at 2 in the afternoon. We were all so excited to see him home early! We let the kids open their Valentine surprises from us and both of their reactions were the cutest!

A dragon/scorpion lego ... 

He was not expecting it and so dang excited!!

Lyla girl opened a set of the Frozen 2 characters as new dolls for her dollhouse. 

But she was REALLY excited about the m&m's she found in her Valentine mailbox! haha

Lip suckers!

Nic got me those beautiful flowers to go with his early arrival ... best Valentine's Day! 

We had pizza for dinner, brownies for dessert, and after tucking our littlest Valentines into bed for the night, we stayed up and watched a new movie called Isn't it Romantic. Partly cheesy, partly sweet, mostly hysterical.

I love spending Valentine's Day with these 3 forever Valentines that I love so dang much! Happy Valentine's Day!!

the MK Nature Center in the winter time

When daddy hasn't been to one of our favorite places, we bundle up on a Saturday morning and take him there. The MK Nature Center in the winter time feels like you are transported straight to some hiking trails in Washington post rainy day and it does the soul some major good. The best part about going during the winter time is that there is hardly anyone there. We felt like we had the whole path to ourselves.  

We watched several fish swimming by and an entertaining crawdad mosey around the rocks behind these windows ...

They added on a giant bird's nest you can climb inside of.

We played the part well ... ;)

Liam spotting the giant sturgeon and Lyla looking for the "quack quacks" ...

A favorite moment from that morning ... this duck tipping over into the water to find food. Liam and Lyla thought it was hysterical!

Love this place so much! Before we know it, everything will be in bloom there again and covered in butterflies!

likely our last snow day

We've had the most mild winter this year that when the kids woke up to snow the first week of February, they were squealing with joy! I couldn't get their snow clothes on fast enough and they were out the door by 7 AM to play in it. Lyla hates her gloves but thankfully still fits in this fleece onesie that has mittens. They worked together building a mini snowman on the patio before I made it outside with them. We had our lawn aerated in the fall so now that the snow is melted, my patio is covered in what looks like massive amounts of dog poop thanks to that snowman. haha 

Liam has become quite the snowman builder! Most of these balls he rolled entirely by himself and just asked for helping lifting them on top of one another. I love that every time it snows, he doesn't just want to build one snowman but our whole family. It's the cutest! Even Lyla was walking back and forth pointing at each one and saying "dada noman, n nowman, momma noman, lala noman". I only had one hat and scarf to use and asked Liam which snowman should wear it ... he picked the dad. haha

Catching melting snow drips in a paint pail ... multi purpose! Those things make a genius outside toy for kids. ;)

Trying to catch snow on her mittens to eat!

I hate when Nic has to commute to work in the snow because I worry about him running with the crazy bulls on the interstate. I almost rejoice these days waking up to dry streets but I sure love how much it entertains these two. It's a toss up! Likely our last snow day of the season. 

11 things

A little glimpse at January with these two ...

1. Uncle Brendan got them passes to the Childrens' Museum for Christmas and we've had several fun mornings there since! It is no surprise that Lyla's favorite spot is the vet clinic with the "PUPPIES!".

I love that they add new things frequently ... their recent focus being animals. They got two guinea pigs (with petting hours haha) and are working on hatching fish eggs right now! Last spring they hatched baby chicks ... hoping they do that again this year.

It's fun to go on mommy daughter dates there while Liam is at preschool sometimes. She's the best salad maker and adds allllll the extra parmesan cheese from a shaker that any girl could ever dream of.

The cave is also a big hit for the headlamps and creepy bugs to spot. Liam loves going to see this preserved bat. It's so fun to go with friends (when we can keep them all together in one place!).

2. Spending Christmas money at Target for new legos and a cash register!

She played with this toy all day after she got it. Now she just likes to scream into that screechy microphone. Who let her pick this toy again?! haha

3. We spent an afternoon working on Christmas thank you cards for family that live far away. Liam drew a picture for each one and I was secretly sad I couldn't keep them because look at how great they all are!!!

4. Had a good hair day and it needed to be documented. :)

5. I have gathered quite the collection of pictures to embarrass Liam with when he brings girlfriends over someday. ;)

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

6. When you find a matching sweater to wear with your best girlfriend!!

7. Ever since January 1st Lyla has officially dropped her nap. It was really hard at first and sometimes still is but we are finding a groove. Being that she is only 2 1/2 and younger than Liam ever was for this phase, her lack of attention span during quiet time is new territory for me. She lasts maybe 20 minutes of a movie while I sneak away (usually to my room to have my own alone time from them) and then like clock work, comes and finds me. To stretch it out a little longer I'll let her choose a different show to watch on a phone beside me.

She's darn cute though and tries to use her looks to get away with anything she wants. haha She knocked over that nightstand this day and bent the lamp on top of it pretty bad. While I was working on fixing it she stole the light bulb and gave me this face when I noticed it was missing. haha Little stinker!

Cutest little thing ever!

Hope we always look at each other this way ... love her so much!

 8. About 4 to dinner time is the hardest time of day for me during the winter. In the summer we just head outside but I've had to get more creative and making forts with our new entryway chairs has been a total hit. They each choose a few books for me to read to them and bring their own flashlights under there. It gets claustrophobic after about 2 minutes.

9. One of our lasts dinners together at our old table. Just like an old house, we have a lot of memories wrapped around that piece of furniture. Can't wait to share the new one too!

10. Free day at the Boise Zoo! The line was many blocks long but luckily moved quickly. We bundled up and made a few quick stops at our favorite animals. No prairie dogs that day though ...

11. When Sita has a day off work and lives by the best playground!