Happy Valentine's Day

Jenevive had her class Valentine party on Thursday and came home with a ton of cards and candy from her friends. We tried to make fortune cookies to pass out in class -which looked like nothing more than a pancake that was horribly folded, so Jen and I finally ended up dipping pretzel rods into white chocolate and added red and pink sprinkles.

We started off the day with pink pancakes decorated with more sprinkles YUMMY!

And we ended the night (minus Jimmy who refused to eat dinner and ended up falling asleep in his bed within 2 minutes) with our favorite ...chocolate fondue.

THE COOKIES HAVE ARRIVED !!!

This year Jenevive sold 204 boxes Girl Scout cookies down from the 326 last year. Our house has been overtaken by bundles of boxes to be delivered.

We spent a little over 3 hours separating and bundling up everyone's order. Jim was not happy , don't let this insincere smile fool you. We still have a couple of cookie booths to try to meet her goal of selling 400 boxes. So, if you want to buy a box or 20 let me know !:)

SNOW MUCH FUN!!!!!

Finally a good amount of snow here! On Wednesday I took the kids to the hill at Huron Park to go sledding - the same hill my mom used to take Julie and I when we were little. The kids have asked every time it has snowed to go, but we really haven't had enough to go. Since school was cancelled, they needed to burn some energy.

Here are the two cutest snow babies ever!!!!

Jen has wanted a snow board for almost two years now. The last time we went to Target, we spotted one with the most beautiful bright red clearence sticker on it for $4.99. SOLD!!!! It didn't take her long to get the hang of it. She was so proud of herself when she finally made it all the way down the hill.

Jimmy saw how much fun Jen was having and decided to use his sled as a snow board. My children have absolutely no fear what soever.

This is the sign that is hanging in my kitchen. My kids must have very many happy memories with the looks of my house lately! I feel like I'm on a never ending clean up crew - picking up toy cars, barbie shoes, puzzle pieces and pieces of snacks throughout the day.



To appreciate the mess,I need to remember the time when Jim and I didn't think we were going to be able to have children. We were told that it may not be possible to become pregnant with his condition, and if we could get pregnant, I my not able to keep the pregnancy with my conditions. I remember telling a co-worker "All I want is a car seat with smashed Oreo's in it and fingerprints on my walls". If I had only known then that our baby dreams would come true, I would have asked for a short labor and a baby that sleeps through the night.



I need to realize more often that I am very lucky for the following:

1)My kids have enough to eat- so much so that they don't realize when the crumbs hit the floor. Many kids without food would scrap those crumbs from the floor.

2) My kids have been blessed many times over with too many toys and clothes. They may not always have the newest gadget or fancy label on their outfits- but they are clean, without holes and fit.

3) We live in a house that is considered small to most, but we have a house with enough room, working heat and running water. Now a days that is not so easy to say.



So, I am very thankful for my messy house with all of it's crumbs, piles of toys, dirty dishes and laundry. If I didn't have these things, I wouldn't feel half as blessed as I am.

Our entertainment center which at one time was filled with movies and cd's is now holding puzzles and games.

Jimmy's bed tent which has made its way into our living room.