A Day of Love ...

Our day of love started off with J. How's first ever Valentine delivery.
An early morning stroll to our neighbor's house ...

What more could you ask for than a LOVE day hug?
Then ... it was off to Dunkin Donuts. Or ... make that Einsteins. As we were loading into the mom mobile, our neighbors shouted out they were heading for bagels. So we switched plans and tagged along.
Strawberry cream cheese on a chocolate chip bagel. Somebody is very happy!
And Swiper ... was happy too. Eli could care less about the strawberry cream cheese on a chocolate chip bagel while it was on his own plate but move it over to J J's plate ... and E was all about consuming as much as he could.

And if the cream cheese and chocolate chips weren't enough sugar ... we went to Dunkin Donuts. J. How was promised a munchkin and yes, this meant enduring a fabulously long lasting sugar high ... but you can't have a Love Day where you go around crushing a 3 year old's dream for a little slice of donut heaven.
Then to the park to release some pent up sugar ...
And this ... just to document that Eli is still preferring the easy way out ... he's STILL not walking!
Back home to make more Valentines ...
And then a quick trip to the farm to meet some friends for lunch and think about the simple joys of having so many people in our lives to LOVE on ....

And in other news ... if you want to be our neighbor ... like live 10 feet from our front porch, this could be your lucky day! It's on the market ... we could have fun! Lots and lots of fun! Anyone??

Birds and B's ...

I admit.  I'm slightly competitive.  When I played high school tennis and a girl, playing the net, pelted me with the ball ... I spent the rest of the match using her as target practice.  I'd like to think I've grown since that time ... but I'm not so sure. 

 

You see.  The Cardinals lost in the Super Bowl.  And I'm okay with that but I'm married to someone who is still insisting that we display Steeler magnets on our fridge.  "Ben at Work" ... "#1 Steelers" ... etc, etc.  And that's cool ... they'll disappear someday :)  But the competitive me (in the name of decorating of course) figured if we're incorporating gold and black into the downstairs decor ... we might as well add a few feathered friends who will stick around a bit longer.  
They love their new home ... 

And speaking of new ... we have had a bit of painting going on around here ...

I DIG a blue ceiling.  And initials.  And a bunch of good looking, fake lemons (maybe they'd be more believable if I took the price tag off??).  And a new slipcover for my chair.  And silhouettes ...And my new "office" ... complete with unsharpened, yellow pencils.
And of course ... warmer temps mean it's time to plant a few spring goodies ... 
 

With our favorite Bella ... 
Lemons, anyone?  (I figured I should really try and grow some real ones ... )
And to finish things off ... a nap, some covers and a good book!

I LOVE spring!!! (And yes, I realize ... technically, it's still February ... but around these parts ... this is about as spring as it gets!!)

And You Thought I Was Kidding ...

Remember when I told you that the end of football season meant only one thing around this place? Well, it's happened ... THE ARRIVAL OF NASCAR!
I just want to take a moment to point out that when I fell in love with Ben, he did not love cars. He golfed ... a lot ... and he might have actually thought watching cars go around and around for four hours was pointless. A bit silly. Not worth his time. But oh, how life can change in just a few short years. Almost six to be exact.
In those six years, he has "expanded" his horizons. And being ever so thoughtful, has introduced our children the wonderful world of racing. You see that Daytona shirt How is wearing? Ben bought that for him on a trip to Florida. He just popped by the race track while he was in town. There weren't any cars there. No action. He just wanted to see it. I don't know about you but when one stops by a sporting facility, consisting of grandstands and a lot of cement ... when there isn't a race ... that screams the need for serious INTERVENTION.And what, might I add, comes over my children when they partake in viewing this sport? Hats go on backwards ... grunting begins to eek out of their souls ...
They rewind the crashes. Analyze the driver's skills. Take their own race cars and create mock crash scenes.
And when I found myself, last night, sitting next to Ben, watching the Speed Channel ... as a man in a horrible dirt colored shirt recapped the greatest moments in Daytona history ...
I quickly bolted for our bedroom. Turned on HGTV and cursed the power of the suped up car. It sucked me in for a moment ... but I promise ... I will prevail!!

Hair Today ... Buzzed Tomorrow!

Fifteen months can only mean one thing ... time for Eli to start walking!!!
People ... I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Walking? Really! He can't be rushed or bothered with such mundane tasks. Besides, he's been busy doing other things. Like growing his mullet. A mullet, might I add, that Billy Ray himself would find enviable.
Business in the front and PARTY in the back. A beautiful curly party in the back that looked just like my hair ... back in the day ... and perhaps was one of the only things that was a visible linkage between his DNA and mine ...
Well, now it's just all business.
Bye-bye party! Bye-bye curls!
It's HAIRCUT time!
Bye-bye baby! He looks like a little boy now! And I just have this hunch that with all that extra hair weight missing ... he'll be getting his balance in no time and walking in days!

SNEW-PHE

Last week, the MetLife blimp was in town for the FBR Open. And we ... just happened to be so lucky as to live in its flight path. It didn't take long for J. How to fall completely in love.
And even luckier for us ... Snoopy (nicknamed Snewphe the Blimp by How) ... was staying for the entire week!
Night one. How and Ben went for a Snoopy viewing. Checked out his digs. Looked at him from a distance. How got a bit freaked out. Snoopy is, after all, a bit on the large side.
But by night two ... J. How was telling us we needed to eat our dinner "faster, faster" so we could go ride on Snoopy before the sun went to sleep.
Joshua met the crew and put the charm on THICK. "Hi guys. Do you know Snewphe? He's a blimp. Can I ride on him?" And just like that ... he was in.
He thoroughly enjoyed himself! He looked, peered, examined, smiled, giggled, sighed, cheered, waved ... he took in EVERY detail!
And while he would have been quite content to travel off into the sunset with the Snoopy crew, we did manage to pry him out of the cockpit. Barely! We'll miss you Snoopy! See you next year!

A House Divided ... Makes for a VERY loud Superbowl!

Today was a big day in our house. Red versus Gold. Two parents. Two different teams. Two children. Who would wear what color? Easy. The child who looks most like the parent gets that parent's team. Joshua ... Gold. Eli ... Red. Kind of like forced team spirit. Love it.
Only .. we didn't factor in that one child would PROTEST wearing his jersey and decide to GO RED! (He's a smart one ... he knows who prepares the meals in this house!)
Before the game ... football and jersey cookies. In lovely pastel hues. Bummer. My plans always work out WAY better in my head than they do in real life. Joshua asked for blue cookies. Actually, he wanted blue caterpillar cookies. Yep ... he's the same kid that told me he learned about Jesus and the elephants at Sunday School today.
Eli didn't care what kind of cookie we made ... he just wanted ONE ... pronto!
Some of us were happy at the half.
Some were bored. Forget the game ... it's time for sand and scoopers.
A group shot ... 3 for the Cards ... 3 for the Steelers.
Fourth quarter. Looking a little concerned.
Last 35 seconds ... um ... YIKES!
Final score. Steelers ... 6 Championships ... Cardinals ... ZERO! And the worst part ... football is over and in our house that means only one thing ... NASCAR is right around the corner. August can't come soon enough!