Valentine’s 2008

A busy week is over! Yay. Some highlights:
*Well, NOT a highlight, but Jaden had to go out of town for work for 3 days. We’re glad he’s home!
*Lunch at Grandma’s with my cousins
*BIG CONGRATS to Ash, who had her baby on Mon. Feb. 11th!
*Crazy playdate with Brandon’s friends–5 year old boys (plus a 2 year old girl) decorating cupcakes equals MESS. And a short-lived nap for Annie. But they had fun.
*”Craft Night” with Julie, Kecia and Mary. We made hair clippies for our girls. I can make fun stuff on my computer but when it comes to doing “hand-made” things, my fingers get all tangled up. It was slow going but lots of fun getting together and laughing. I hope Annie won’t be too embarrassed wearing any of the stuff I made!!!
*Wednesday was cleaning day! My mom and grandma spent the day with me deep cleaning and finally hanging some frames on the wall. Felt really good. I’m trying to do this once a month. Haven’t done it since Nov. THANKS to them for their expertise!!!
*Brandon had his preschool Valentine party and he loved it. He was so excited to take his treats and thoroughly enjoyed the “very delicious red punch with pink ice cream inside!!”
*Valentine’s Day–I’ll chat about it later in this post.
*Friday was so fun because a whole bunch of my friends from my old neighborhood came and we had a lunch here–8 adults plus their kids. It was surprisingly not too chaotic and so fun to chat and catch up. We really do need to get back on our “once a month” schedule.
*Friday night we had dinner with Jaden’s cousin and his cute family, we really have fun with them.
*Saturday I did my last sort of official photo session with a 4 week old baby boy who was darling. Got me all excited for when our baby comes March 31st!!!

Phew!

Valentine Photoshoot

I did some little Valentine-ish photoshoots with my kids. They are looking way too grown-up and old to me, I can’t believe it. Especially with a new baby coming soon.

{Brandon}

{Annie}

I’m trying to learn how to take pictures with glasses better. I like how these all turned out, without too much glare in the lenses.

I’ve been having a hard time getting Annie to even look at me when I have the camera in my hands, but I’m happy with the shots I got of her with her “pop”.

Valentine Festivities ’08

During the day Brandon and I made some cookies (those easy prepackaged ones, Betty Crocker I am not). Look closely and you can see Brandon and Annie’s reflections as they beg for more cookies….

We had a fun night together as a family. I made dinner with mostly a red/pinkish theme: basil buttered salmon, pink mashed potatoes, raspberry jello, strawberries, and strawberry kiwi punch. Afterwards we played the Bingo game I made last week and tried to keep Annie from taking her slobbery candies from her mouth to cover up the numbers. It was a lot of fun! We all actually had a turn winning a game. And eating good candy. I LOVE those juju gummy hearts.

Victorious!

Even though this isn’t the best picture, I still love it. Annie with her wild hair trying to escape, Brandon not looking…I love it.

After the game we did a little scavenger hunt–I made clues on hearts and hid them with small surprises around the house. The kids LOVED this and were so excited. Brandon was awesome at figuring out the clues. Now he wants to do a scavenger hunt every day.

All in all, a good week and a fun Valentine’s Day for us. I was completely exhausted by the end of the day so it was fun to curl up and watch LOST with Jaden.

So there it is. Happy President’s Day. And the baby countdown–6 weeks from today.