Valentine Fun

Although we spent Valentine's Day in the hospital with a sick little Char Char, we still managed to have some fun celebrating.  The weekend before Valentine's Day, Justin took the girls to a local Daddy/Daughter dance.  They met some neighbors for dinner beforehand and then hit the big par-tay.

Justin is always so thoughtful, even in the midst of craziness.  This was welcoming me home from the hospital on one of my breaks from staying with Charlie.

I took the girls to get donuts on Saturday morning and had a few little gifts for them, too.

Thankful we get to love these sweet kiddos...Valentine's Day or not!

Happy Valentine's Day!

                                   
                                                                                ...from our three little loves!

We got the girls do-a-dot markers and special do-a-dot coloring books.  They've been working on them all morning!

                                        Char Char has just been hanging out.  ;)

 

                                 Yummy red pancakes and pink lemonade for breakfast!

                I'm no chalkboard artist... but what a perfect day to reflect on Christ's love for us!

Disney bound

The secret is out.  We finally clued the girls in... we're going to Disney! 

For Valentine's Day we got the girls princesses and princess shirts.  They were thrilled opening those.








Then we told them to make sure they packed these things because we're going to Disney World!



Some serious celebrating took place!  We are super excited about this trip.  Justin is heading to Orlando for his national sales meeting so we were already toying with the idea of the girls and I going with him.  Then we got a random, out of the blue phone call inviting us to stay at a Disney property for 3 nights for $150!  We have to listen to a one hour time share presentation, but for that price - it's worth it!  We are pumped.  Disney, here.we.come.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a super, love-filled day today!  It started with little Valentine's gifts for our littlest loves.

Then I made pink chocolate chip pancakes for my favorite peeps!

My hubby surprised me with some gorgeous flowers.  Seriously, I love getting flowers!!  So pretty!

Sweet Valentine girls!

I was pretty proud of the gift I made for my hubby.  I will admit... I downright copied someone else's idea straight from Pinterest (have I mentioned how much I LOVE that website?!).  But, it was a super inexpensive gift that allowed me to get a lil crafty!

After baths and bedtime, Justin treated me to a delicious meal.  I love this tradition we have had going for several years.  He does the planning, shopping, and cooking.. and it is always delicious!

Started with a little Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, warm brie with garlic, almonds, and cherries on a baguette (inspired by an appetizer we had on vacation in Arizona). 

Next up:  Mediterranean stuffed chicken, steamed green beans, and roasted red potatoes.

And finished with molten chocolate cakes with espresso cream sauce.

What a fun day!  Spent with the ones I love... and reminded especially of God's love that trumps all!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a fun Valentine's day at our house!  It started with a special breakfast and some gifts for the girls.  My mom always got us a little something on Valentine's Day and that always has stuck with me.  Even if it was something small, I used to love coming downstairs on Valentine's Day and seeing a pretty present waiting for me.  That's something I want to continue with our girls because it always made me feel so loved! :) 

Even though Justin took me on a surprise date night out (complete with sending me for a manicure beforehand!) on Friday night, he cooked us a delicious dinner of scallops, gourmet veggies, and wine for dinner.  Gotta love a man who can cook! 

What a perfect day with the people I love!

Our day started with pink heart-shaped pancakes and strawberry milk... super healthy, I  know! :)

Claire showing off her new glasses from Mommy and chocolates from Daddy

Emma got a new sippy cup!

Doesn't this look like a paparazzi photo??

Thanks for our matching Valentine's outfits, Grammy!

Sisterly love

Valentine's Day mishap

Justin and I have a little Valentine's Day tradition that he started the 2nd year we were married -- he makes me a super fancy and delicious dinner! He always takes lots of time to plan the menu - including an appetizer and a dessert. (what a catch, huh?) We thought about maybe doing something different this year - going out instead of staying in - but we couldn't find a babysitter so we just decided to continue our normal tradition. This year's menu included spinach/artichoke dip, garlic merlot steak, roasted asparagus, sage new potatoes, and molten chocolate cake.. yum!

Looks delicious, doesn't it?!

So, Claire was in bed and dinner was ready! We enjoyed a delicious feast and did our best to take the advice of many seasoned parents we know - not spend the whole time talking about Claire! :) When dinner was finished, we had a kitchen full of dishes. We decided to wait to clean the kitchen until we were finished eating, so we began the task of cleanup by draining the sink full of water that some dishes were soaking in. After a few seconds, Justin noticed a slight problem beginning to develop.....

Yep - that's right... as the sink was draining on one side, it was filling up on the other. We removed the dish drainer full of formerly-clean-but-now-nasty dishes on the right side and Justin began to investigate. He found that if he used the stopper to plug the sink on the right side, he could run the garbage disposal and the water seemed to drain. He would do just a little bit at a time and it seemed to be working... simple fix! Each time he stopped, though, I would hear the sound of water dripping coming from the other side of the house - near the bathroom and Claire's bedroom. Now, as a side note, the oxygen that Claire was on runs through sterile water so there is the constant sound of water dripping/bubbling coming from the oxygen tank. At first, I thought that was the sound I was hearing, but after a few times, I wasn't so sure. I said to Justin, "Is that Claire's oxygen?" He went to investigate the situation and found our bathroom in this state....

That's right - nasty, disgusting water and gunk ALL over! At this point we realized this problem was bigger than we knew how to fix. We cleaned up the water on the floor and went to bed with three sinks full of nasty water! We spent the whole day on Sunday with a kitchen full of dirty dishes and an unusable bathroom. Thankfully, our friends came to our rescue on Sunday afternoon and completely fixed the problem! Apparently there was just something clogging the pipe that all 3 sinks drain into. Luckily we still enjoyed our night and found the whole situation pretty entertaining.

Happy Valentine's Day...

From our little lovebug :)