HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

We started our Valentine's day with a few little gifts in the morning. Jeff got a box of candy and some beef jerky......

I got some great cards, candy and little stuffed animals -- picked out by and from the kids......

And the kids got -- you guessed it -- sunglasses!!! :) They got some candy also, but everyone was in need of sunglasses so I decided it was as good as time as any to get them. The girls also got cute little carrying cases for their glasses.......

And since Cameron didn't need a "purse" for his glasses he got a Bionicle......

Happy Valentine's Day!

FINALLY!

We were beginning to wonder if it would ever happen, but finally, Tuesday afternoon Maleah lost her first tooth! It came out while she was eating an ABC cookie in our friends car and she was so excited! When I picked the kids up Maleah came running to me (before I ever even made it in the door) with her tooth in a little tupperware container.

Here she is posing for the camera with her new look......

Here she is just being silly with her tooth......

Luckily the tooth fairy remembered to stop at our house Tuesday night and Maleah got some money for her tooth.

That darn tooth fairy has been missing our house a lot lately, but apparently she's better at remembering when it's a first tooth. Cameron was preparing Maleah Tuesday night for the disappointment you have when you wake up and your tooth is still there under your pillow - with NO money. He also, however, pointed out that it's actually better if she does forget you because then you get double the money the next night. Then, Rena pointed out that it's actually even better if the tooth fairy misses you two nights in a row because that means you get triple the money. Unfortunately, Cameron and Rena were telling Maleah the truth and both know all about this because it has happened to both of them. I sure hope our tooth fairy starts paying more attention to our house! :)

DAISY DAY

Last Saturday Maleah and one of her friends from her Daisy troop attended "Daisy Days". It was a fun couple of hours where the girls got to make some crafts, play some games, eat some snacks and just have some fun with lots of other Daisy troops.

Ashley and Maleah.....

Hard at work making a mini pinata'......

The older girl scout troops helped out with some of the activities. Maleah, Ashley and their helper......

The girls played Twister outside.....

They decorated and ate some cupcakes......

Face painting......Daisies, of course!......

Ashley had to leave a little bit early, but Maleah and I stayed until the end. I was really proud of Maleah at the end when all of troops got together to say good-bye -- Maleah didn't know anyone, but she jumped right in there and joined hands with a couple of other little girls......

Here she is with all of her goodies from the day.....

A fun time for Maleah.....and I enjoyed being there with her! :)

COOKIES FOR SALE!

It seems like we just got done doing this, but here we are again -- selling Girl Scout Cookies!

The sales officially started at 9am Sunday morning and we were out there knocking on doors at 9:01. The cookies are loaded in the wagon and the girls are ready to go.....

Cameron went along and helped with the wagon......

Well, he sorta helped with the wagon.....

Back at home -- Rena's troop has a Daisy troop back East that they are pen pals with so we took a few pictures of Rena to include with her letter. Rena the Brownie...... :)

Luckily we sold most of the cookies so that I didn't have to have them around the house calling my name to eat them -- I did buy the last two boxes, though, so I do HAVE to eat a few! :)

SUNDAY MORNING BREAKFAST

Sunday morning Maleah was a big helper for breakfast. She made everyone a pancake -- the rest of us got Mickey Mouse pancakes, but she made herself this huge flower pancake. I just thought it was cute and funny......and very creative......that I had to take a picture! :).....

The pancakes tasted as good as they looked -- good cookin' Maleah!

MADE BY STACY

The past couple of holidays have brought me some pretty cool presents made by Stacy.

The first one started on mine and Jeff's anniversary. When we got married in Hawaii the hotel that we got married at created stepping stones that were suppose to line the path to the gazebo FOREVER. Ok, maybe the contract didn't say "forever", but when we went back to Hawaii this past summer and it wasn't there we were pretty disappointed. So, Stacy made us one!

This was the original one in Hawaii 11 years ago......

And this is the new one made by Stacy in our backyard today.....

Didn't she do a great job? It's actually been sitting in our living room for the past few months waiting for our backyard project to get done. Now that it's done the stepping stone has been moved right outside the back door. It is a "stepping" stone, but I really don't want anyone to step on it so it's where we can see it, but not hurt it! :) There it is -- right there to the right of the door.......

The next cool gift made by Stacy was for Christmas. She made this magnetic board with a "family" saying and pictures on it. I love the saying and I love the pictures that she picked to put on it.....

I had a hard time deciding where to hang this one because it's the same color as most of our walls and just kind of blended right in. For now it's in the guest room downstairs -- where I have a lot of family pictures. We are actually in this room quite often because it has a desk in it that we use and it also provides a second bathroom downstairs. So, I do get to really enjoy it there -- every time I go to use that bathroom I stop and look!

I love my gifts by Stacy and am happy to finally have them out and up and be able to enjoy them! Thanks Stacy.......keep 'em coming! :)

PINCH ME!

This is a silly story that actually happened a couple of months ago, but every time I look at this note I get a good little laugh so I decided to share......

One morning we were all getting ready to go and Jeff had a new shirt that he took a sticker tag off of and stuck to my back (which he thought was so funny). When I walked downstairs I took it off and told Rena that "dad stuck this to me and thinks he's funny". So Rena decided to make a note to stick to Jeff. When he came downstairs she stuck this note on his back......

He knew it was there and we all got a good little laugh while we were pinching him at home. BUT then we left the house and Jeff still had the note on his back!

We stopped at Starbucks for coffee to go and Jeff ran in by himself to get it. We were parked right outside the door and when he got in line I started laughing so hard that I could hardly tell the kids what I was laughing about. When I finally got it out we were all laughing so hard that we were crying.

No one pinched him, but a couple of people did get in line behind him and we did see a couple of other people looking at it. When he came back out of the store we all tried to be serious and one of the kids asked "dad, did anyone pinch you?" and we all broke out laughing! It took him a minute, but then he realized what we were talking and laughing about.

So, yes -- it is a silly story, but I have the note on the counter by my computer and I laugh every time I see it!

(Really -- can't you just picture Jeff in line at Starbucks trying to look all cool with a neon pink note on his back saying "pinch me"?!!?) :)

80's DAY

Friday was 80's day at the kids school. The girls had fun dressing up. Cameron decided to skip this one - said there was nothing to dress up as!

Rena, Gabby and Maleah.....

Rena and her friend Ashlyn.....


Don't they look "totally awesome"?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday and we had a full day of decorating and celebrating. Luckily the kids did not have school because they spent A LOT of time decorating and planning.

Here's what Jeff saw on the garage door before walking in to the house.....

Once inside he saw this sign made by Cameron and these streamers.....

LOTS of decorations on the stairs.....


The kids created a little scavenger hunt for Jeff to go on to find his gifts. They each had 5 different clues with 2 gifts hidden somewhere within the clues.

Rena's first clue -- "go where you sleep".....

One by Maleah - "go where I keep my dirty clothes".....

Another one by Maleah - "go where you get clean"......

The last one, by Cameron - "go where you cook - hint: the short word is b_q"......

Happy 39th Birthday Jeff!

ICE SKATING

It doesn't feel much like winter around here outside so we decided that we needed an indoor cold activity! The kids and I went with our neighbors - Jason, Hale, Greyson and Decklen - and Jacinda for some ice-skating!

Greyson, Jacinda, Maleah, Cameron & Rena.....

Some "action" shots.....

All of the kids liked using these things to help you learn . They didn't need them to stand up, they just wanted them so that they could go faster without falling......it worked!.....

Uh-0h.....Cameron had a wipeout!.....

I just loved this -- Jacinda helping Maleah figure it all out.....

It was a fun couple of hours and when we walked outside we were back in the sun with 70 degree weather!