Our Week In Pictures

Arnold took Brooke to the Girlscout Father/Daughter dance. They went last year too, and had a blast. Well at least Brooke did ;) I found Brooke a new dress and used the curling iron on her hair, and she wore a new, glittery pink headband. She looked so pretty! She came home and told me all about the different songs that played while they were there, that she danced, ate some icecream, and all sorts of things. She is very detail-oriented. They took some professional-type pics that we should be getting back soon :)

Brooke looked so incredibly grown-up that day. I still can't get over it. When I look as pictures like this I try to remember the little baby girl who use to crawl around, drool, put everything in her mouth, and make a crazy mess. She is now a sweet, helpful little person, who likes to read, ride her bike, and go on "girls' day" trips with me. I wonder how long she will tell me secrets. How long she will let me put bows in her hair. How long until she gets embarrassed of me. I just want her to stay little as long as possible!!!

While they went to the dance, the little kids and I hung out at home. I let them eat special things for dinner, and let Caleb be lazy and play his DS, because after all, it is his favorite thing right now. Rachel was already cozy in her PJs and snuggled in beside him to watch him play. When he is not around, she sometimes steals his DS and tries to play it herself :)

Michael's had their Valentines' Day crafts on sale for 50% off so I got this cute kit for the kids to make some things. I had actually wandered in there for something else, and saw these. The kids absolutely love doing crafts. I thought I was going to get away easy with these, but I still had to help glue things on and cut a few things with the scissors. Oh well, they had a good time! :)

Our finished product-- don't know why it went sideways! Of course I had to get the kit with the owl, so cute :) I think the kids did pretty good on their little critters :)

Rachel got tired of waiting on me to help, and to read the instructions, so she took a plate and plastered hearts all over it. So this became her craft.. no animal for her! Love how she does her own thing. And she is just a little impatient..... like her Mama... :)

We haven't been out to eat somewhere relatively nice in a long time, because it is stressful with 3 kids, crowded, and expensive with 5 people. But since our tax money had come in recently, and we wanted to get out that night, we decided to go as a family to Fatz. We said it was to celebrate the kids' good report cards and awards they got :) Plus, Fatz has the BEST buttery rolls ever. I could eat those alone for a meal. We got there really early and got a table right away, I was surprised. The kids were pretty well-behaved. They even sat on one side of the booth and Arnold and I sat on the other side alone, so it was almost like a date... almost... :)

Rachel had the mac & cheese kids' meal. She loved it. To be truthful, I love it too. They use 3 kinds of cheese on their's and it tastes amazing! So I stole a few bites ;) don't want to know how many calories I consumed that night. But we had fun! :)

We went as a family to walmart, to get some things we needed. That also never happens. I despise Walmart as it is, but especially with kids. But I had Arnold's help, and it went ok I guess. We needed several things for around the house.. some new sheets for our bed, a new shower head (our's broke the other day) and other random things. Thank goodness for tax money. We bought way too much, but we needed it all!

I started a new tradition this year. I found little tin Vday mailboxes in the Target dollar spot. I got the kids all one, in different colors. Every night when they go to sleep i leave a little something in their mailbox. Either a piece of candy, a little toy or treat, or just a simple note. We call it the "Countdown to Valentine's Day" and are doing in the 2 weeks leading up to the day. The kids ask about their mailboxes first thing, they get so excited. And if they don't "show love" one day, they don't get anything in their box. Caleb got in trouble yesterday at school, and he didn't get anything. It hurt me to leave him out, but he has to learn. If you think I over-do holidays, that's ok. They are only little once and I enjoy doing things for my kids! My parents made a big deal over things when I was little, so It's all I know :) By the way, Party City has some great little trinkets and candy to buy for stuff like this.. they had little candies 15 for a dollar, and little toys 2/1 and stickers and all sorts of stuff. So you can still get out cheap ;)

We went out and bought the kids some new spring clothes. Before you know it, Spring will be here! I am so excited, Spring is my favorite season. After all those months of cold weather, being stuck inside and grumpy, it turns warm and you get to go outside alot! We ended up finding some cute things... I can't wait to see them in some of their new outfits. We didn't get these hats they tried on, but they were cute! :)

Did you know Sonic sells their ice by the bag? I am a weirdo, I am an ice freak. I have always eaten my ice, probably due to the fact that I have always had low iron, and they say it makes you crave ice (why, I don't know??) But anyway, Sonic has the "soft pellet ice" and it is the best!! So Arnold stopped by the drive-thru and got me a bag. That is ALL we bought. The guy probably thought we were crazy. But then Arnold made sure to tell him "my wife loves yall's ice!" So.. now I look like the weird one. Oh well, I don't care! Now at night I can have my drinks with my special ice, and I am happy :)




The kids and I made these pretzel bites for their teachers, as a Vday treat. I saw this idea on pinterest, and loved it. It is super easy. You take the square pretzels, put them on a baking pan, place striped hershey kisses on top of each one. Then cook in the oven at 200 degrees for about 3-4 minutes, so the kisses are starting to get soft but are still holding their shape somewhat. Then you take them out, press an M&M on each one and press down softly. Then you put them in the fridge for awhile and they harden up. Then enjoy! We ate the broken ones (and they are yummy!) and packed the rest up in these little heart-shaped boxes I found, and sent them off to school today. You can mix up the colors of the M&M's for any holiday. Cute idea for anybody. Tips- be sure to use some sort of wax paper, etc under them because they end up sticking to the pan! Also-- put the M&M face down so you don't see the "M"-- doesn't matter but it's cuter that way ;)