Happy Valentine's Day

Tanner had his Valentine's party at school today and of course he had a blast! He wore red to be festive (so did Troy... or at least something with red, because that's all he had) and proudly brought his Valentine box to school for all of the kids to put their goodies that they got him in. I had the most adorable, cute, brilliant idea ever (or at least it's all this amazing in my head). I wanted to decorate a bird house and then the little hole that the birds would fly into would be where the kids would put the Valentines. Well, as we're shopping for the perfect bird house, Tanner sees these popsicle sticks and decides that building it would be much more neat. I am officially the WORST architect EVER! The house I built this poor child turned out like crap! And I mean that with all my heart. I was pretty embarrassed and disappointed by it and every time I looked at it, I felt myself throw up a little bit in my mouth (...ok, so maybe it's not THAT bad, but you're starting to get the idea...) Thankfully, Tanner did an amazing job at decorating to help take the focus OFF my craftiness.. or lack of.

Tanner was very stressed about writing his name 11 times! That's a lot for a five year old! So, I told him I would help by writing the kids' names so he wouldn't have to do those too. We also bought special Valentine pencils for each classmate. (I love those suppliers who put exactly 12 in a package.. perfect for Tanner's class!)

Our little model. He tells me to take a picture of him and his house while he's looking straight.

Troy entertained himself really well the whole time we were there! 

He rearranged the decorations....

Found some animals to play with....

His cheeks looked extra chunky....

Tanner must have washed his hands a dozen times while I was there. I think he likes showing me how cool his classroom is!

They played games and had to guess who was hiding the chocolate kiss....

Troy helped himself to whatever....

And made piles of toys...

Then it finally came time to show the class the goodie bag/box you made!

I think Tanner showed his box for the longest time and definitely spoke the most!

He was also the only one who walked around to each classmate so they could get a closer look!

The class is very busy. Poor little Halle had her hand raised for probably 5 minutes before the teacher got to her.... :)

Everyone sat on the floor to get ready for everyone to pass out their valentines!

Troy rested on the perfect sized chairs.

On top of all of this, I (yes, me, room mom of the year! just kidding.. not really) made strawberry cupcakes for his class! They looked so gorgeous in their Valentine cupcake liners and absolutely scrumptious with a strawberry on top! The kids LOVED them. I saw a couple kids throw their strawberries away, which of course stressed me out (note: I NEVER got a strawberry cupcake!!) because to me that’s the best part, but overall, it was a very yummy treat!

I was getting kind of bored... (look at that beautiful red belly and toes!)

I think Troy enjoyed the cupcakes the most! And little Arlee was impressed!

Troy made a beautiful Valentine that I plan to attach a ribbon to the back (or maybe a magnet) so I can hang it somewhere in the kitchen. Soooo cute.

Adam has been hard at work preparing his bullets to be reloaded!

Troy was having wicked bad bed head!

His masterpiece!

We spent our Valentine's dinner with Fred, Jan and Grandma Lorene, enjoying a delicious meal of steak and lobster! Oh Lordy BEE! It was amazing :) I haven't had a lobster in years.. and trust me, the baby LOVED it! I made a beautiful strawberry cake... this was my first cake ever to be frosted with Cool Whip. I now love using cool whip! It laid so nicely and I was able to shape it how I wanted. Compare my picture to the one I pulled off of Better Homes and Gardens (a.k.a. one of my favorite sites ever, right along with Martha Stewart!). Yeah, you can't decide which one is the "professional" one. Thanks.

The boys got to open their Valentine gifts today that Adam and I bought for them. Tanner finally got the Pillow Pet (actually it's the Snuggle Pet... those dang Pillow Pets are pricey!) he's been wanting and was so extremely happy to now have one like Troy! Troy got his very own Toy Story punching blow-up thingy. That boys loves to fight stuff! Once I take a few days to blow it up, I'll post a picture! The boys also got their gifts from Nana and Papa and Grandpa Kenny and Grandma Judy! Adam will get his gift once he gets home from work. I got him the movie Wall Street (I have no idea if he's been wanting it, but it looks good and I already know some of his first words will be "You just wanna see Shia!" ;) He knows me all too well!) He also got some candy. Funny story… (our parents might not think so, but Adam thought I needed to share this for a good laugh!) I had all three presents sitting on the kitchen table when Tanner and Troy woke. Tanner was very anxious to open his and since they didn’t have nametags, he started pointing at each bag asking if it was his. I kept telling him no to each bag. He pointed to the biggest bag and I said, “So, you think you got the biggest gift?!” He thought for a second and pointed to the second and I said, “Nope. That’s Troy’s.” So, he pointed to the last bag and I said, “No. That’s for Goose!” He got really confused so I finally told him that the biggest bag WAS his. So, he opened it and I gave Troy his bag. In the middle of Troy opening his bag Tanner ripped the tissue paper out of “Goose’s” bag and pulled out clothing… I, er, um bought a particular outfit to wear this evening that was not to be seen by anyone else…. “OHHHHH! GOOSE! You got a pretty new dress!” I heard Tanner shout! I was so embarrassed and yanked it from him and threw it back in the bag. In-between laughs, I told him that I was just kidding that the bag was for Goose. When he asked who the bag was really for I told him Daddy, not giving it a second thought and he replies with, “Ummm…. Oooooookay.” It was so funny and Adam sure got a kick out of it! I think this may be one of the first V-days that him and I haven't gone out, but it's been a busy, tiring weekend. Maybe sometime soon we'll have our date night!!!

Lookin' a lot like SpongeBob!

Don't those look pretty?!

Tanner got the "Pillow" Pet he's been wanting since Christmas!

Troy closing his eyes, getting ready for his surprise!

As you can tell, I'm Miss Chatty Kathy this evening. Adam has been in zombie mode all day today (he worked is first grave yard last night.. 10pm last night to 10:30am this morning and went to bed a couple hours ago) and I feel deprived of good conversation!

I'm hoping to get Troy's quilt DONE this week... ha! Yeah right, but it's wishful thinking. I still need to get all of the backing and batting and I guess there is ALL the sewing it together that still needs to be done. Yeesh, that little guy's birthday is fast approaching! Anyways, I will try to get better about posting... and taking pictures. The weather has been awesome the past couple of days so maybe the boys and I will get out for a little bit this week... we'll see though. We all know how exercising gets me feeling queasy....

HAPPY LOVER'S DAY

We all wore red for the special occasion, except for Dad.. that's not why he's not in the picture. He was still at work :( But I will for sure get a family picture of all of us in green for St. Patrick's Day... I KNOW we all have something green to wear!