Making Valentines: The finished product

The boys and I made their class Valentines this year. I think I mentioned already I got our idea from Charlene over at CrazedParent. We melted down old crayons and made heart
shaped ones.

(We used the same Michael's mold that Charlene did... well, not THE SAME one, but the same kind.)

Here is Sam putting the crayons into the mold.

The finished product!

The boys also decorated little bags to put the hearts into. We used generic, plain red and white paper treat bags.

The kids decorated them with heart doilies, heart shaped stickers and buttons, stamps and some glitter glue.

We filled them with the crayons, little pads of paper and Hershey's Kisses. Mommy helped finishe them off with tags and bows.

It was a great project for the kids. It did take us several sessions to complete, but it was lots of fun. And I think they turned out really cute! Each one was unique!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Love Thursday: No Words Necessary

Love Thursday

It's Love Thursday over at Maya's Mom!

And just as I was wondering what to post about, I get an email from my dad. Here it is:

Hi Mimi,
I just have to tell you again how much I enjoy reading your
blog.
It makes me feel closer to you and the boys.
Mom gets back here tomorrow. Can't wait to see her and hear about her adventures.
Lots and lots of Love, Dad

How sweet is that?

I love you too Dad (and Mom)!

And I too can't wait to hear about your adventures Mom! (She's been in Iceland for a week or so riding Icelandic Ponies and sight seeing!)

Love Thursday: The Anniversary Edition

Yesterday was our anniversary.

And true to form, things did NOT go as planned... but at least Rich's work was not to blame this time!

My morning was great! At breakfast, before Josh went to school he whispered across the kitchen, "Hey Dad! After Danny Phantom, let's go get Mommy some flowers!!" Of course I heard. He "whispered" so long I think the guys in the space station heard him. But, Daddy told him to "shh!" and they put their heads together and came up with "a secret!"

Of course Josh had to tell Sam the "secret" and let's face it -- 2 year olds are not exactly Fort Knox when it comes to keeping "secrets!" Sam immediately ran to me and said, "Mommy! I have a secret to tell you!" I managed distract him long enough for him to forget... And that's not difficult either... "Hey, where's Thomas?" usually does the trick.

It was Sam's first day of school so I met a friend at a coffee shop and just gabbed the morning away until it was time to pick him up. It was refreshing to be without kids for a few hours. So that was nice.

We got a new HDTV last week and the satellite people were scheduled to come today between 1:00 - 5:00 to install the new HD equipment. They had a four hour window to get here. We made plans so we would be here for the four hour window. At 5:30 they called to say they were "on the way." Guess what time they showed up?

7:15!

We still had not eaten, we were waiting for them to leave so we could enjoy our evening. They left at 8:30 and not everything was done adequately, there was trash all over our drive this morning, the old dish was left on the drive, boxes all over, cigarette butts all over, the old dish bracket is still on the roof along with trash. Trash. On. The. Roof.! We were on the phone to the satellite company about 3 times last evening trying to get the stuff "set up." But we're good now and trying not to dwell on what idiots those guys were.

Anyway, I digress... Before the boys ate dinner, they ran out to Publix for "the surprise." When they came home, the boys were both holding on to some yellow roses for me -- they had to do it together! And according to Josh, they looked for tulips but couldn't find any! Awww... He knows they're my favorite! And, they bought a few slices of cheese cake (Publix has great cheese cake!).

And after they left, I made dinner and we had a nice evening -- on the phone to the satellite company for some of it -- we started watching a new DVD -- Hot Fuzz. Very funny, but it was getting late so we'll watch the rest on Friday or Saturday.

So, although the satellite ordeal put a bit of a damper on the evening, all three of the boys made it a great anniversary. The joy and wonder and excitement that Josh and Sam had were all I needed. The look on their faces when they gave me the flowers reflected all the love I have for them and their father, right back to me.

And I have a babysitter for Saturday so we can celebrate again!

Love Thursday: Brought to you today by Sam

Today is Love Thursday over at Maya's Mom. I thought I'd share some funny Sam-ism from just today...

While playing in the play room with the Shake & Go Racers and other toys, "No Doc! Be careful! There's an elephant on the track! AAAHHH! Crash!!!"

While in the car driving, he had his stuffed dog (named Tess after my parents' Gordon Setter), "Mom, is this Tess's butt? Yes? No... this is Tess's butt! Hahahahahaha"

Going upstairs to have a nap, "Mommy I have boogers. I need a tissue. Did you have boogers when you were a little boy?"

After his nap, cuddling me, "Mommy, I'm a picklepotamus." (yes he sure is!)

After he was put to bed for the night, "Mommy! You need to come quick! There are monsters in the room... They're over there.... no, over there... quick, they need to go home!"

Now, tell me, what's not to love about that little picklepotamus?

Love Thursday

Today was very exhausting!

Yesterday the boys and I went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. (There are pictures up on Flickr) It's a really cool place and even with the "New Georgia Aquarium" just down the road from us in Atlanta, we still opt for the one in Tennessee. It's got a nice flow, it's not crowded and we're members so we've already "paid" to get in! LOL!

But, it is about 90 miles away so that's about an hour and a half in the car each way. It's not a bad drive, but still, it's a full day! (And for once, Sam did NOT fall asleep in the car! Pooh!)

Anyway, this post isn't about that! So, we had a full day yesterday and this morning we had to get up nice and early (ish) to go meet Josh's First Grade Teacher! EEEE!!! How Exciting!!!

The meet and greet is from 8:30 - 10:00 and you can take the bus or drive. We opted for the bus since parking is a pain. But with the bus you have to wait and stay for the whole thing and really, meeting the teachers and whatnot takes about 45 minutes (by the time you add in catching up with people, joining PTSA, getting your gear, etc...). So that left us 45 minutes to kill.

Then after we got home we had a quick bite and ran out to Target to pick up the extra bits on Josh's supply list that we just found out about today! So everyone was at Target picking up the "extra teacher requested bits..." Fun. But, no Nap for Sam... Two days running!

And did I mention Rich's got a deadline tomorrow so I'm a work widow this week? He's a zombie living in the basement barely showing his face for meals.

So it's all me with the kids this week. So today I was spent. Absolutely Exhausted.

All I wanted to do was order Pizza and open a bottle of Red -- but I have that silly "trying to loose weight thing" going so Monday - Thursday I try not to drink. Thankfully, tomorrow is Friday! I was able to think to myself, "I'll wait until tomorrow and feel like I've earned my glass of vino!"

Okay, I digress... Anyway, as I was putting a very, very tired Sam to bed, I just kept thinking about all the stuff I needed to do still. My Maya's Mom inbox was full and I hadn't even checked my Google Reader to see what blogs I needed to catch up on... after being "out" for 2 days, there were a few! Plus, I was so tired but knew I had to do a run because I don't want to have to do one tomorrow. I want to enjoy Friday evening without that hanging over my head.

So, I'm putting Sam to bed, thinking about all this stuff I want to do and for goodness sake, he's tired why is he being like this? Oh, yeah, he's tired and 2. And he wanted long cuddles.

Then, I remembered it was Love Thursday.

Then, I remembered he's only 2.5 and he won't be this way for long.

Then, I asked him if he wanted tummy cuddles (he likes to lay on my tummy and it usually really relaxes him and if he's being difficult it makes it easier to get him to calm down).

And I lay there on my back with my sweet little angel laying on my tummy completely content and relaxed and I enjoyed the cuddle. Knowing days like this and moments like this are far too few to be rushed and savored.

Happy Love Thursday Everyone!

Love Thursday

I've been putting off my Love Thursday post. I was just not feeling the love and needed some time to think.

It's been a difficult week. Sam's had a bit of a cold that he was oh so kind enough to share with everyone else in the house! That coupled with a few "Book Club" issues have had me not sleeping much.

Sam had school today and I had some errands to run. It is so heavenly to be able to run errands without a toddler! Not that Sam's bad, but when we go to Cost Plus World Market, he wants to touch everything. I'm afraid something will break! So, I enjoyed my morning running errands.

When I got to Costco, I took my time looking through the books. Something I love doing but usually Sam doesn't want to. Or rather, he just wants me to give him all the books, get a muffin, get some pizza, buy toys, get-this-get-that. It was nice to be able to browse!

When I was growing up, my mom (ever the teacher) gave us little bits of homework to do. Not every day, but on occasion. And not much, just a few math problems here, write a small story there, and always, we had books to read. I have to say, I didn't like it much, but it was a very good idea. I've been milling the idea over myself. The Costco books section was full of all sorts of "skills" books like "Get Ready for the First Grade" and "100 Words Your First Grader should know..." and that type of thing. I looked them over and thought about getting them, but honestly, I just thought that my little genius Josh would be bored. They did not look very interesting or challenging. I moved on to other kids books.

Josh has been doing really well on his Accelerated Reading (AR) books and tests. But he's been a bit reluctant to read a Chapter Book. He says there are too many words! I found the first four books of the Magic Treehouse series and thought that Josh may like to read them over the summer at Grandmother and Grampa's. My motivation for getting the books was to give him some "work" over the summer, but not make it seem like work. A book that is a bit more challenging than, "The Life Cycle of a Frog."

Hey, wait, this is a Love Thursday post! When is she getting to the Love! Show me the LOVE!

When I buy something for my kids, I'm just like a kid myself. I can't wait to give it to them! So, instead of waiting until July when we go to Grandmother & Grampa's, I gave Josh his books today. I was just too excited!

I am here to tell you, that boy LOVES them! As soon as I gave him them he opened one up and just started reading! He has started with Book #2 because the first one is "too boring" for him to read by himself! So, I'm reading Book #1 to him for his bedtime stories and he's reading Book #2 all by himself!

He brought the book to the playground and read at the playground instead of playing with his friends; he read it before dinner instead of watching TV; and (here's the real proof...) he read it before bed instead of playing PlayStation2!

So, my Love Thursday is about Josh! When I saw how happy and excited he was about getting these books ("Thank you Mommy! You sure do know how to pick out good books for me!") and how well he read them, my heart just swelled with love and joy!

I love reading and I'm so glad to see that my kids do too!

Josh reading his book on the way to the playground!