Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day and I have sort of a love-hate relationship.  For anyone who knows my mom, you know that she always made (and still makes) every holiday special.  Once I was older and in relationships on Valentine's Day, it got a little less "special", I guess those guys just couldn't live up to my mom's exceptionally high holiday standards:)  The first year Dave and I were together on Valentine's Day, I remember not planning anything for dinner that night because, surely, we would be going out somewhere.  Well, he came home from work and there was obviously no intention of us going out for dinner, let alone to someplace that required reservations!  I was disappointed and may have pouted a little and we did indeed end up going out for dinner, to a Chinese buffet.  It wasn't exactly what I had hope for.  After that year, it kind of became our yearly tradition/standing joke though.  I think one year my brother even came with us, that's just how romantic we are.  Dave has done his best to redeem himself throughout the last 8 years of marriage but sometimes, we still get Chinese for dinner and that's ok with me:)  In fact, that's what we had tonight! Funny how your priorities change over the years. 

Having kids has made me love Valentine's Day again, I love making it special for them and seeing their excitement.  Grace has gotten out of bed every morning for the last week asking me if it is Valentine's Day yet:)  We make red, heart shaped, jello for lunches, heart shaped peanut butter and jelly, fun Valentine's for class treats, get heart shaped pizza for dinner, make heart braids in the hair, and dress in Valentine clothes for a week or two leading up to Valentine's Day.  They always get a little something for Valentine's Day and then we go do something fun, whatever they choose.  Today there was no school so they decided that they wanted to go to the Children's Museum in Green Bay.  They also chose lunch at McDonalds with a play land. We had a fun afternoon and Grace said she wished we could start the day all over again! Happy Valentine's Day!

Down...Set...Party!

We celebrated Grace's 4th birthday on January 18th with a football party, Packers vs Steelers.  Strange for a 4 year old girl, I know, but it's what Grace has wanted for MONTHS.  As usual, it was a great day and the kids had so much fun playing.  Here's a peek at the fun:)

 Kids table

My little crazies before the party

 Wy man sporting his Roethlisberger jersey

I was the referee:)  Not much different than every other day;)

 My jello football field

 Wyatt with Grandpa Reed

 The Reed men

 Grace's awesome birthday cake.  Grandma Hoverson never ceases to amaze us!

 She got all kinds of awesome Frozen stuff for her birthday!

 She was so excited to have her very own diary!

 Uncle Paul put Wyatt right to sleep.

 Granny with Hannie:)

 Papa and Hattie

 Grace with Grandma, the cake maker!

Beautiful Birthday Girl

Happy 4th Birthday Grace Lori

Happy Birthday to our most precious Gracie Lori!  Can it really be that 4 years have gone by since we first held you in our arms.  You are such a joy to have in our family and you bring sunshine to each and every day.  You may not always be graceful, but your heart is most definitely full of Grace.  I thought the quote under your picture was written just for you.  Every day with you is a new adventure and we look forward to seeing what you will come up with on each new day!  You have a heart of gold and a head full of mischief:)  It breaks my heart that you will be going to school soon; you just shouldn't be that old yet!  We love you with all our hearts Gracie bug.  Thanks for being you kiddo, happy birthday! 

This morning when Grace got up (at 5am!)  I told her happy birthday right away.  She cheerfully said, "I'm this many now (holding up 4 fingers).  Now I can go on Madi's top bunk cause I'm 4 now."  What a girl she is!  She chose to go out to McDonalds for a birthday breakfast and informed me that she'd like to go there for lunch too:) Here are her answers to this year's birthday questionnaire. 

What is your name?  Grace (she says "Dace")
How old are you?  Holds up 4 fingers
What is your favorite color?  Purple and blue
Who is your best friend?  Rachel (a girl in her Sunday school class)
What is your favorite animal?  Giraffe
What do you want to be when you grow up?  A doctor
What is your favorite TV show and/or movie?  Dora/Minions
What is your favorite book?  Dora book
What makes you happy?  Packers
What makes you sad?  Drams
What is your favorite food to eat?  Macaroni
What is your favorite song to sing?  Let it Go (song from the movie Frozen)
What games do you like to play?  Blockhead game (and other games on the iPad)

Sledding and 6 Month Little Man

 This little heartbreaker turned 6 months old today!  He seriously just melts my heart!

 Wy man's first sled ride!

 Faster Daddy:)

 Wyatt doing his first "jump."  It will be the first of many with this little guy I'm sure. 

 Gracie catching some air!

 Sledding sisters

 Gracie catching some big air!

 Madi's turn to do the jump

 Mommy and Wyatt even took a couple trips down the hill.  After we got to the bottom I turned him around to see his expression and he had a cute little grin on his face so I think he had fun. 

 Me and my kiddos

 Probably the best picture of the day, both girls coming off the jump!

 I went off the jump with the girls...we'll just say Mommy has a backache now...I'm getting old:)

 What a beautiful kid she is

 Silly (and cold) sisters

My happy Grace face

 

We had a really nice Sunday today.  We went to church and headed into Green Bay to make a couple returns and get a few groceries.  We had a very tasty lunch complements of my brother and his wife who gave us a gift certificate for Christmas to try Firehouse Subs.  It was SOOOO good and both kids ate like troopers which was an added bonus.  We had planned to take the kids sledding near our church but Dave remembered a good park not far from where he grew up and we decided to go there instead.  We had the whole hill to ourselves which was awesome.  The girls had a B.L.A.S.T.  I haven't laughed as hard as I did today in a long time, it was so much fun.  After sledding we came home and Doug, Sarah, and my adorable little nieces came over for a visit; they are such little peanuts:)  Then it was back to reality and doing laundry and all of my least favorite jobs...oh well!  Tomorrow is my last Monday of work and then Tuesday is my last official day!  It hasn't really sunk in yet that I am really done but I am getting so excited.  Have a good week and Happy New Year!

Christmas Craziness

It always makes me sad just how quickly Christmas goes by after all the preparation put into it.  We had a very nice Christmas this year though, as we always do.  We had our own little family Christmas on Christmas Eve morning; Santa came a little early because he knew we'd be at my parent's house on Christmas Eve night:)  We must have all been VERY good this year because Santa spoiled us!  We had close to 300 pictures on our camera from Christmas so I could post a TON, but here are a few of my favorites!

 Grace with her new bike from Santa!

 Do you think this girl is excited about her gift of what???

 She even got teary-eyed:)

 Trying out her new wheels...watch out for this kid!

 Wyatt's new gas station.

 There was another present...To: The Reed Family (mostly Mommy and Daddy) From:  Santa  The girls could hardly believe their eyes, a new iPad!

 Wy man cruising on his new motorcycle:)  It won't be long!

 I just loved the look on her face in this one:)

 Crazy Hoverson Christmas with "A Christmas Story" playing on the tv. 

 Cute cousins.  I love these kids so much!

 Wyatt and his twin, Charlie Brown.

 Wy man and his Great Uncle John having fun at the Welter Family Christmas. 

 Trying to sneak a drink of Dad's beer already...oh no!

Most of Dave's extended family celebrating Christmas.