Happy HEART Day!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Valentine's Day! Many people feel that it is a "made-up" holiday by the card companies and florists and chocolate folks. Well, even if it is "made-up," I cannot think of a better reason than LOVE to make up a holiday, know what I mean??

And I do not think it is always about your significant other. My Momma and Daddy always used Valentine's Day to make us feel special and LOVED. I can remember going to breakfast and finding heart covered gifts at our spots at the table from Momma. So we headed off to school with warm fuzzies thanks to our Mom. And Daddy always came home from work with flowers for Mom and he also had one flower for me (I think he brought a balloon or candy for Lucas, but I am not sure). He always said me and Momma were both his valentine's! No wonder little girls are in love with their Daddies!!

David and I have always celebrated Valentine's Day, too. In college, he bought me goldfish named Romeo and Juliet. One year, he was headed to an army school in Kansas. When I opened my card, there was a plane ticket for him to come home and tickets to see Mama Mia. He is good at coming up with cool surprises. Plus, we have been able to take some trips since the army always has a holiday for President's Day which usually falls near Valentine's Day. A perk when he is not deployed. . .

BUT now that we have the babies, it is even more FUN! I love planning and finding gifts and wrapping gifts and coming up with surprises. Jessa has become quite good at cutting out hearts to help me decorate, so now they are even involved in decorating and preparing. What could be more fun? All week, when they share or are really sweet to each other, I would smile and say, "Y'all have the Valentine's Day Spirit!"

Jessa cut out all these hearts!

Jessa was an excellent baker's helper making our red heart cake.

One afternoon this week in the car, they were riding along watching "Thomas" on DVD. And Spencer said, "You know who I love?" And Jessa said, "No, who?" And Spencer said, "I love Thomas." Jessa then said, "You know who I love?" (I was fully expecting her to say "Emily" her favorite girl train.) And Spencer said, "No, who?" And Jessa said, "You!" I melted! Valentine's spirit!

I knew all of our planning and preparation would be worth it this morning when Jessa hopped out of her bed and came running in, bouncing up and down hollering "It's Valentine's Day!"

So here is a quick run-down (with corresponding photos, of course, this is my blog, after all!) of our special love filled, heart covered, day of LOVE!

We woke up to a decorated table and dining room (they helped some!)

Getting ready to start our LOVE day!

I made delicious heart shaped chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Although we all ended up tasting the heart shaped cake, too!

Our heart muffins and our awesome cake!

The kiddos opened their cards from us. David opened his gift from all of us:

Our Gator fan with his Tim Tebow BCS jersey!

Then we got all ready for the great Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt! They waited on the porch with Daddy while I put up photo clues that would lead them to their "Valentine's Treasure."

The photo clues were shaped like hearts.

One of the clues placed in various places all over the house and yard.

What fun!!!

The "treasure" was a box with some small wrapped gifts AND a basketball goal just their size.

The treasure box and the basketball goal. We disguised it well, huh? HA!

We found it! Let's check it out!

They have been obsessed with basketball lately since David has been watching his Gators. Spencer even requested to watch basketball the other afternoon. (David beamed!) And I was tired of having a daily argument with Jessa when she begged me to cut the bottoms out of all my baskets in the house for her to use. I truly wish I could have captured Jessa's face when we got the sheet off. David and I thought the goal was not very well disguised, but I guess it was! They were shocked and excited! Spencer was, too, but Jessa's face was priceless.

My little basketball team!

We then had heart shaped sandwiches for lunch. Mmmm!

Just after lunch, the doorbell rang. And it was some gorgeous tulips for me!! David and the kids brought them in to me. So sweet!

Look at those faces. . .

For supper we had a fancy table with candles to eat out heart shaped homemade pizza.

We finished the day with a family movie night.

A day of family fun and togetherness. . .

All in all, it was a perfect day. So whether it is a "real" holiday or not, I enjoy any excuse to spend the day doing fun and special things to show my family how much I love them - which is a TON!

I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!

As seen on TV. . .

**David asked me what was the purpose of this post. I told him that I found it funny and I LOVE MY CRAZY FAMILY! So if you are reading along thinking it is pointless, I wanted to tell you my intended point up front. . .

A few years ago, my Daddy got a job that required him to move to Scott AFB, Illinois. Since their house in Morrow was paid for and Mom was situated, it was decided that she would just split her time between Daddy's house at Scott and their house in Georgia. Lucas's Lymphoma prevented her from being there as much as they had planned. All of this means that my sweet, precious Daddy has been "bachin' it" a lot.

Since he has been "on his own" for the first time in more than 30 years, he has had some fun figuring things out. He has been doing laundry and cleaning (a little) and grocery shopping. And he has been able to indulge his inner desire to order things that you see on TV. We have all wanted to, right? And I have realized that my Daddy's desire to order things may be genetic. I, too, have ordered things from the television.

Daddy is convinced that anything Billy Mays sells is GOLD! I am not sure what he ordered first, but it may have been mighty putty. We love some Mighty Putty! My Daddy is so nice, he even split his order with me.

You cannot see it "in action" because

it blends so seamlessly into the item you have used it on.

He is also a huge fan of the Swivel Sweeper. I have even accused him of collecting some sort of royalty every time he mentions the name. He gives a testimonial every time he uses it!! He ordered one for his house and for Mom's. Then, Lucas and David and I were so convinced by his ringing endorsement that Mom sent one to each of our houses. We are a 4 Swivel Sweeper family!

The best part is that the kids can use it -

I am all about child labor!

I am also the proud owner of a Ped Egg!! See, it is a genetic compulsion!

My feet are smooth when I use it, but the foot skin dust is gross.

The kids and I also ordered the Bugville Butterfly kit. LOVED IT! We are so doing it again when it gets warmer.

Those are the little caterpillars and a real butterfly that we raised! Aren't we amazing?

Daddy and I also enjoy the "As Seen on TV" section at drug stores or Wal-Mart. I have had 4 "Gophers" to help me reach things the kids drop while I am driving. (I have had 4 because they are not sturdy enough for me, but I love them to death :-)

I cannot show you mine as I am between Gophers at the moment.

But I can tell you that I always name them Gary.

Poor Daddy has been accused of only shopping for mom for Christmas on such a row at the drug store. Last year, he got her "Tater Mitts." I am not kidding!

Peel a potato in seconds (not hardly), but they did come with this handy french fry cutter for FREE!

This year, I gave everyone Debbie Meyer's Green Bags for Christmas. I love those things and they work SO well! Oh, and Jessa was the one who convinced me to buy them because she could quote the commercial. She was so happy when I finally bought them (am I raising a third generation "As seen on TV" addict??).

Daddy opened his last. He was so funny while we were opening presents.

He kept saying, "I cannot wait to open mine. I have some bananas that are going bad as we sit here!"

This year, (a few days after Christmas) Daddy and I were at Wal-Mart. We bought Aqua Globes

These are amazing! They can even handle finicky tropical plants!

and those detoxifying foot pads. And Mom, Dad, and I all tried the pads on our feet.

The first picture is the box with model feet.

The second is my foot and mom's foot on the right. We could be foot models, don't you think?

These are the results. They are gross, but we were not convinced they were toxins.
But if not toxins, what is that crud??

So in closing, the point of this post is threefold

(1) buying things that you see on TV can be fun

(2) sometimes they even work and

(3) my awesome family can make anything FUN,

from peeling potatoes to detoxifying your feet to vacuuming the floor!!

Whatever the case, I think our next purchase may be a Snuggie:

Learning to walk

What? My children are 5 and 3, so surely everyone in my house knows how to walk, right? Well, sort of. Our newest furry Key is not sure how to walk. Yes, he walks. I mean, he can get from point A to point B, but we recently discovered that he does not know how to go on a walk. Bless his sweet furry little heart, I do not think anyone has ever taken him. Sure, he has been out on a leash to go potty but not just for fun. Plus, when I rescued him, he has some issues. He had been cooped up, unable to walk around for Lord only knows how long. The vet said it was not a joint problem, but he just did not have any muscle tone. He has already made great improvements in that area just from having free access to a backyard. But it was obvious to us immediately that exercising in any way was never a part of his life before.

We LOVE to go for long walks. We love it the best when Dunken can be free with no leash (as does he). That was one of our favorite things about Germany. Everywhere you look there is another awesome trail through the woods or to a castle or along a river. And Dunken loved every step we took. He loved exploring and sniffing and just being a dog. And we loved watching him. We were obnoxious first time parents giggling at every cute thing he did or pointing out every weird thing he sniffed.

In Louisiana, we did not have a convenient place to take "off leash" walks. We are so happy to be back here with places to go. Last Sunday afternoon, the weather was beautiful. After lots of cold and rainy days cooped up in the house, I decided it was time to get the kids out and about. David was instantly on board, as was Dunken.

We were ready to go. Dunken was immediately excited because he knew he was going with us. He knew because he saw the leash (I am anal and always take it just in case; David makes fun of me.). This is also a sign to him that we are not just letting him ride, but he is getting to do something FUN. Max was oblivious. We get in the car. Dunken is fired up. Max is nervous - he still does not trust us completely. I think that every time we get in the car, a part of him is afraid that we are taking him back. David parks off the side of a tank trail (gotta love living on post!), and we let the dogs out first. Dunken is running around, sniffing, leaving his mark, scratching off. Max just stood there.

We get the kiddos out and everyone is headed down the trail. Dunken in the lead; he is always the leader. I look back and Max was sort of milling around. We called him. He was still not sure what to do! Bless his heart! I spent the bulk of our walk hanging back to keep him focused. Dunken still runs full speed from spot to spot. Max never ran at all! I finally had to hook the leash on his collar to sort of show him the point.

I'm walking, but I have no idea why!

I think he enjoyed himself, but I also think that he was never clear on what we were doing. Like he did not get the point - he was thinking, "I already went potty, why are we still out here?" Poor Max.

Am I supposed to be with them?

FAST FORWARD to this Sunday afternoon. We went to another tank trail to try another walk. The weather was even warmer today. We parked the car, the dogs got out. After I unhooked the kids, I was afraid we were in for another day of Max being out of it. He was walking slowly in the wrong direction for a ways, but then it happened. He saw where we were all headed. He picked up the pace and actually ran toward us! We were all so excited!

We would stop, the dogs ran ahead. BOTH dogs. The dogs would be off sniffing something, we would walk ahead. BOTH dogs would hurry behind us to catch up!! I could have cried! He gets it!

The wesite boys - BOTH enjoying their romp.

It was so rewarding. It was a great walk for many reasons. The kids had fun and explored many cool things.

Sitting on an old army vehicle wheel they discovered.

Following deer tracks we saw all over the place

Spencer gets so tired of my taking pictures all the time. . .

We all enjoyed being together.

After a while, they both "hitched rides" because their feet were so tired.

Our westies, both Dunken AND Max ran and sniffed and played.

And a few times, Dunken even let Max be the leader. . .

Max, in the lead, if but for a moment.

We all had a great time, and the westie boys were tired out afterward,

Dunk, relaxing on the ride home.

Especially our Maxers:

Learning to take walks in hard work!

Who is old?

I made a noise the other day and Jessa said, "Mommy, don't make that noise. You sound like an old person." Now, I have NO IDEA what noise I made. Frankly, I wish I did because I do not want to make "old people noises," you know??

So this prompted me to ask her, in her opinion, who was old?

Before I tell you her answers, I must say that I always call myself "old" to them. Like, "Be easy with your old Momma," when they are jumping on me and hanging on me. Or, "Give your old Momma a minute," when they are shouting orders at me for hot chocolate or sandwiches or meatballs or a movie. So I was fully prepared for Jessa to start her list of "old" people with me.

Much to my surprise, she does not consider me old! So for any of you keeping track here is the list of people I asked her about with her answers:

Mommy, not old
Daddy, not old
Mimi, OLD
Poppy, OLD
May, old
Bay, not old (what, he is older than May!?)
Grandpa Harold, old
Joyce, not old (Harold's wife, and the same age as Harold)
Gramma with no glasses, old (that is what she calls Bay's mom because you guessed it, no glasses)
Uncle Danny, old
Aunt Karen, not old (she is older than Danny!)
Roy, old (Our dear friend, I think it is because of his hair. Although she keeps telling him if he'll just use more shampoo, his hair will grow back.)
Peggy, not old (Roy's wife, and our dear friend)
Lucas, not old

I cannot figure what criteria she used to determine these classifications. I guess I am just glad to be "not old," except that may get me out of doing things. Maybe if she saw me as old she would be more patient?? I am not sure.

But whatever the case, Jessa has spoken.

Visitors in the house

We are all so happy because my Mimi and Poppy have been visiting with us since Sunday afternoon. They were here for the Superbowl, and we are so happy that they are here with us for a short time.

When you have been married for almost 59 years, you do not have to sit together all the time.

My woodworking genius, Poppy built me a cool corner cabinet to make the most out of my kitchen. I looked for one to buy, but I did not have any luck. I do not have enough counter space or cabinets. I am so excited about my new kitchen. Plus, now that the cabinet is here, I was able to unpack the last 3 boxes in the kitchen! Whew!

New one on the left - doesn't it look great??

And the old ones are on the right,; they match pretty well, huh??

Anyway. We have been busy visiting with them. But I wanted to get a few things typed before I forgot them.

Jessa needed to go to the bathroom while we were out to eat. She tickled me because while we were in the bathroom, she explained how things work.

"Mommy, when I am at the table, my tee-tee has a stop sign. Then I go to the bathroom and my tee-tee gets a go sign." Very simple, don't you think??

At supper tonight, Spencer was singing a funny song. See, David makes up nicknames constantly. He and I call each other "D." (We have tried to trace its origin back through notes and cards, but we cannot figure out when or why it started. He even stumbled over my name at our wedding because when the preacher told him to say "I, David, take you, Dana," he almost said "D.") And he has a thousand nicknames for the dogs, the cat, the kids, and me. One of Jessa's nicknames is "Jessa juice." And he sings it sometimes to the tune of "Gin and Juice" by Snoop. So I thought I would lose it when my sweet baby boy starts singing, "Sippin' on Jessa juice" in perfect tune!! He proceeded to sing "Sippin' on Mommy juice and Daddy juice" throughout our dinner.

THEN, he totally cracked us all up in the car. We were all getting in and getting situated, seat belts hooked, car seats hooked, etc. And Spencer says, "Please keep your hands, arms, and feet in the tram at all times, and watch your children." JUST LIKE every tram ride or any ride at Disney. We all died laughing!! Then I said, "Spencer, can we eat or drink?" And he grinned and said, "No eating, drinking, or smoking while on the tram." I guess the safety instructions made an impression. Mom thinks he may have a career as the tram announcer at Disney. Not a bad gig, I guess. . .

We have been having lots of fun, and the kids have kept us all laughing!! The kids LOVE when they can "hang" with Mimi and Poppy. We are SO glad to be back in GA where we can see them more often. We hope they come again SOON!