Cousins weekend

 We were so lucky to spend this past weekend with Matt's brother, Justin, and his family.  Kate and Ryan were SUPER excited to finally have a long awaited cousins slumber party.  The kids have been asking to have a sleep over forever, but the timing hasn't worked out until now.  Kenley came up to hang out for story time with the big kids, but then she headed down stairs for the night.  We made a big pallet on the floor for the 3 big kids to sleep on.  After I read to them and Matt told them to be quiet, and Aunt Jess went and laid down with them, 2 out of 3 were asleep.  Ryan was the last one to sleep by about 11:00! 

 On Saturday, Cori and Kate went with the mamas to do a little shopping and lunch in Miami.  Ryan and Kenley went with the daddies on a tour of the greater Miami area (which takes about 15 minutes) and then on to Grove for lunch.  The girls wanted to go to the KuKu for lunch because they wanted pink lemonade.  They even sat at their own little table (not too far from the adults) and they thought they were big stuff.

We finished up our afternoon with treats at Souper Sweets where a great time was had by all.  And yes, Kate ate EVERY bite of that giant peanut butter square! 

Celebrate good times...Come on!

 Happy is the February day when a girl can put on her flip flops and go on a walk with her kids!  I wasn't brave enough to wear shorts (although I did see a few college kids wearing them!) but I wasn't missing a chance to put on flip flops and celebrate the return of not frigid weather to our great state! 

 And in a true moment of childhood joy...the ducks are finally back in our neighborhood!  

I love this pic of Kate and Ryan - smiling at mama but keeping a very close eye on the ducks.  Ducks are notoriously sneaky, ya know? 

...and boy were the ducks happy to see us - they were HUNGRY!!!

Valentine's Party

 Today was our Valentine's party at school.  Since we don't have school on Fridays, we got to party today.  Ryan and Kate were VERY excited.  Everyday this week they've been asking, "Is today our party?"

 Ryan really loves cheese crackers, so we picked these valentines for him to give out.  Can I just take a moment to say how much I LOVE Pinterest???  It makes it so very easy to be a crafty mama!  That's where I got all of our Valentine's printables.

 Katie loves cuties (little seedless mandarins) so we picked this valentine for her to give out.  I knew they'd get plenty of candy, so I liked the idea of giving some non-candy treats.

 This was our teacher valentine last year, and this year as well.  Who doesn't love Burt's Bees Lip Balm, especially with this long winter we've been enjoying.

And a final picture of Ryan enjoying the party.  Such a party animal indeed!

Valentine's Family Movie Night #1

 We've been spending quite a few days indoors around here (I am SO over this winter weather - but that's enough information for a post all its own) so I thought it would be fun to have a few Valentine's Day movie nights.  Ryan and Kate found these foam heart invitations with their dinner plates.  Needless to say, they were pretty excited!

 Our treat for movie night were these cookies.  The pre-sliced, pre-decorated variety are perfect for cooking with two 4 year-olds.  These were red Mickey Mouses printed on pink hearts - too cute!

 While our cookies were baking, we made Valentine's Day cards with hearts on them.  The kids painted their thumbs with red and pink paint to make the hearts.  

 Then it was time for cookies and water in our special cups from Grammie.  For our movie, we watched Clifford the Big Red Dog's Valentines Movie.  The kids liked it pretty well, but the cookies were the hit of the evening, of course!