Madeline Pictures

 Me and Ethan with Mommy and her BIG tummy:

 Us with our new baby (notice how Madeline drew the baby as a girl!)  If you ask, Dad is at work!

 Yep, I'm cute!

February's Ten Things

In a month where morning sickness has seemed to be the overarching theme, it's good to take a few minutes and think about what has made me smile this month.  In reality, I've had a much better time with it than I had anticipated and the month has gone surprisingly fast.  And in a few more weeks, I should feel good as new!  Here are my:

1.  We celebrated Todd's birthday.  Which was most fun because of how excited it makes the kids whenever it is anyone's birthday. 
2.  Valentine's Day was especially nice.  Not only the yummy chocolate and fun decorations, but we told the kids the news and they responded with more enthusiasm than I could have ever hoped for!
3.  Madeline did a fabulous artistic rendition of me with a big tummy and then me with the baby.  If I manage, I'll get it posted here soon.
4.  Naps!  At this point, I might not be able to smile without them.
5.  I have such wonderful friends who have taken my kids and also just spent time with me.
6.  My flowers from Valentine's Day are still blooming on my kitchen counter!
7.  My kids were THRILLED to have at least one day this year to play in snow.
8.  Family parties always make me smile. 
9.  Visiting Teaching!  This always makes me smile.  I love making connections and friendships with women I wouldn't have otherwise.
10.  I woke up feeling better today than yesterday, which was unexpected and wonderful.

Excitement

Their eyes blinked and they sat their with their mouths open.  Madeline spoke first and was less impressed with the exciting news than her brother.  She was hoping for news that we were going to paint or do stickers.  But her excitement grew as the reality set in for her brother and she watched him explode with enthusiasm.

"I thought you were joking at first Mom.  I didn't think it was real.  I thought this would never be real.  THIS IS SO TOTALLY EXCITING!!!!"  They then jumped around the house for a solid hour shouting exclamations of excitement.

I'm really excited too.  This is something I've wanted for almost two and a half years.  And I'm with Ethan, there was a LONG time that I thought it would never be real either.  But now it IS real and my stomach feels like a rotten egg.  And I couldn't be happier. 

I'll never forget Madeline's thoughtful expression that night when she finally spoke up, "Well . . . we would need to buy a binkie!"

Indeed we will.  But not until September.

Parent Teacher Conferences

It's been a long time since I linked up with Proud Mommy Moments.  But after yesterday, I knew it would be an easy week to link up.  Turns out EmmyMom had a similar proud moment.  I guess it's that time of year.

Yesterday, I went with Ethan and had a visit with his teacher for Parent Teacher Conferences.  This is only the second one I've ever had, but I've found already that I like these things.  Ethan's teacher had nothing but marvelous things to say about Ethan.  His report card was a high as you could get in every category.  She went on and on at how amazed she was at his reading abilities and his fluency.  His accuracy at understanding the underlying meanings and his expression when reading out loud.  "His first grade teacher won't believe the high scores I've given him.  She will be skeptical.  I just want to warn you."  His comprehension is at a third grade level, his reading ability goes higher but then he loses some of the meanings of the books at that point.  He is only six after all.  But, wow!  She was impressed!

But this isn't what I'm proud about.  That moment came when his teacher said this:  "The best thing about Ethan is that he just LOVES school.  He never complains that the work is too easy and he never acts higher or better than the other kids because he already knows how to do the work.  He just happily does all the work and is kind to the other students."

Yes, that made me proud!  It's great to be smart.  And wonderful to get good grades.  But I like that he's nice even better!

No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes

A few days ago, Todd and I hosted a dinner party.  We had such a wonderful time and everything turned out lovely!  Usually, I have a hard time trying to decide what to make for such events.  But this time, choosing the dessert was a cinche.  A couple of weeks prior to our dinner party, I stumbled upon this recipe for No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes.  They looked really really good and so I pinned the recipe on pinterest.

Little did I know that the rest of the world would also think they looked really really good.  Within 24 hours, my pin had gotten over 1400 repins.  1400 people!  Now it's over 1500.  Seriously?!?!  The most repins I've ever had is 18 and I thought that was a lot.  Who ARE all these people looking at my pin board?  Strange.  I've never really been the type to want lots of followers.  I just pinned it because I thought it looked yummy.  But after the craziness, I decided I had better really try them:

They really were delicious.  And easy to make too.  I would definitely make them again.  But 1500 repins good?  I'm not sure about that. 

Our Valentine's Day

We like being festive

 even the walls were decorated!

 And the red sparkles around the rims of the glasses added a nice touch to the dinner.

 I even made heart truffles.  Oh man, these babies are GOOD.  And quite possibly the fastest way to add calories to your day.

 Ethan gave Madeline these flowers.  She happy screamed for an extended amount of time upon receiving them.

 And I had a large bouquet for me delivered right to the door.  More flowers in the bouquet bloom each day, making it seem larger by the day.  And adding to the length of time I will enjoy these beauties.

I had planned on getting a family picture, but forgot.  And I should have taken a picture of the kids with their obscene amounts of candy from their school parties.  But . . . such is life.

We ended the day with something exciting.  But that's for another days post.

Sending the Love

Madeline would like to wish you all a very:

Happy Valentime's Day!!!

(yep, you heard her right!)

Some Bits about Ethan

Ethan told Madeline today he has a girlfriend.  I about choked on my lunch.  When I said, "Oh really, K is your girlfriend hu?"  He said, "Mom, I was talking to Madeline."  I then said, "Well, I like K, she is cute."

I know all the kids in his class because I volunteer.  And she is cute.  But then he looked at me very intently and said, "Mom.  She's funny too."

Oh man.  This is almost too much.  Lol!  I asked him what it meant that she was his girlfriend and he said it just means he likes her.  And she likes him.  "I know because she told me."

I'm not too concerned though, he told me they didn't play at recess today.  He only plays with boys.  Sounds serious.  :)

In other news, I stumbled upon this in his room the other day:

My goodness . . . at least the "ideits" are smiling . . . heh heh.

Birthday Snapshots

Todd spent his birthday morning snowshoeing!  So the kids and I spent the morning decorating.  They couldn't fathom not putting balloons and birthday banners up.  As soon as we were done, they were anxious for Todd to get home.  Ethan kept saying, "Well a birthday isn't nearly as fun without the birthday boy here!"  lol.  They were glad when he got home!

 We also decorated the presents too.  This is Madeline's latest artwork, she's getting pretty good!

 We stuck little banners in the cupcakes too, and of course, the Cherry Chip Cake.  It wouldn't seem like Todd's birthday without it!

 Our little party was just fun.

 And I even made it into a picture.

What for Breakfast?

My kids were really excited last week when they both got cards in the mail.  And they were even more excited when they opened them and found this:

 It's a good thing my kids have Nana!  Mom is not nearly as fun.  But I certainly would never say no after getting such a card in the mail.  Soooooo, on Dad's birthday, we started the day with a mighty fine treat:

Ice Cream for Breakfast!!! 

The rest of Todd's birthday was just as sweet, but the pictures are still not edited.  I just haven't been in the mood to sit at the computer lately.  I'm getting behind.  That's okay though, because the computer doesn't care.  And besides, eating ice cream is more fun anyway.

The Big Move Downstairs

The kids have been wanting to move downstairs for a while now.  And we've wanted them to too.  Bigger rooms with more space to play.  And toys farther removed from the main living area of the house.  But it took a lot longer to get the rooms ready than the kids expected.  There was a lot of work to be done first!  For example, every wall in Madeline's room looked like this:

 dents, dings, scratches, and scuffs!  Lots of patching work to be done.  And the green wall had to go:

 The closet was also useless as a big open space, so Todd built these awesome shelves!

 The green and off-white walls changed to pink and white.  Bright and clean!!  Then the rooms were finally ready.  The day of the big move came and the kids were SO EXCITED.  They spent the morning carrying toys from the upstairs closet to the downstairs one.  But after an hour or so, they could see this wasn't going to be done soon and decided to leave it up to us.  But after moving Madeline down, the computer room up and then Ethan down, we finally finished!!  Whew! 

Miss Madeline could not be happier!

 She lives in a perfect little girl room.  Pink and cutsie and full of her favorite things.

 Ethan's room was already ready for moving in, phew!  And what a great move it was for him!  His room size more than doubled!  Look at all that floor space!!!

 He even has room for his "reading tent". 

Man, they're living the high life now!  Todd laughed after the move saying how our master bedroom was the worst one in the house now. 

They've been down for a little over a week now and seem to really love it!  Their rooms seem cleaner than ever before too, because they are bigger so the same mess doesn't seem to cover the whole room like it used to.  I'm really happy they can have such nice rooms.  And I like having the computer room upstairs too.  It's a nice change that we all enjoy!

Happy Birthday to my Husband

Today is Todd's birthday!  Happy Birthday to you, my dear hubby!

He turns 31 today.  I met him when he was 21.  Woah.

Life is good.  And I'm so glad I've spent this last decade with the greatest man I know.  Full of faith and patience.  And smarter than the best of them.

I love you!