All grown up

If her Daddy has any say about the matter (which actually he does) then Mya won't be getting her ears pierced for a long time; which is fine because these little stick on earrings just do the trick. The pictures aren't the greatest because I couldn't get her to turn her head the right way, but you get the idea. She thought they were very grown up and had to check them out in the mirror every few minutes to make sure they were still there.


Last Saturday, Nae was working and the weather was yucky outside so I pulled out the large roll of paper, gave everyone their own piece, and turned them loose to draw. It kept Alena busy for about as long as it took me to unroll her paper (and she got mad because I only let her use crayons), but Gabe and Mya kept at it for a while.
Mya's entire paper was drawn in one color. I'll let you guess what that color was.
Gabe did a scene of downtown Nashville which was pretty cute. Nae and I were both impressed with the details he remembered. He started it all out with NES (where Nae works) and then drew the library because whenever we got "downtown" it's usually to one of those two places. He added in some other buildings like a "skyscraper" asking me to spell out the words for him and then Nae took his drawing to work and hung it up (he actually took Mya's to work too).

Only a boy

Where does Gabriel come up with his ideas? I mean we have a swing set made for climbing on, but for some reason he finds it more fun or maybe more adventuresome to climb the fence and then walk around the entire thing like this. He'll start at one corner and walk all the way around to the other side then jump off. It's so funny to look out the window and see him scaling the fence.

Happy Valentine's Day

We've had a fun, low key Valentine's Day - just the way we like it around here. One of the highlights of my day was sweet Gabriel making this Valentine all by himself for Nae and me. At the top her wrote, "I love (as a heart) mom and dad" which is the first time he's ever written that on his own. I thought it was so sweet, and then the red buttons taped on the bottom just add to the cuteness. Definitely one I'll keep.

Last year we started the tradition of getting doughnuts on Valentine's Day instead of candy - we prefer that our kids get their sugar high all at one time. Actually, I just don't like having to portion out candy after every meal until it all runs out so this is easier. Nae got the kids each their own Valentine's balloon too which was a big hit especially with Alena.



The kids played outside most of the rest of the day and then went to bed early. (Mya was crying to go to bed at 5:30) Nae picked up our Olive Garden to go order (that we ordered at 2 - he said it was packed wall to wall when he went in there) and then we watched Sleepless in Seattle. On that note, I was listening to a radio station the other day and they were having people call in and tell their favorite romantic movie. Most people were saying The Notebook which I have actually seen, but I couldn't believe nobody said Sleepless in Seattle. It has my vote for sure.

Favorite thing

This is one of my favorite things about the unseasonably warm last few days we've had:

Lunch time outside is such a wonderful thing. It's a nice change of pace for them, and lots less mess for me. If you are wondering, yes, Alena is in her pajamas. She's had a fever all day and is feeling rather yucky so I just left her in her pjs. When the regular February weather returns, we're all going to be in for a huge shock. Gabe and Mya had on flip flops today and Gabe was in shorts.
When we made the decision to get Gabe Legos for his birthday (and Christmas) I already knew what a mess they were going to be but what I didn't know is how much he would enjoy them. He plays with his Legos everyday often just building things from his imagination (mostly Star Wars ships) but sometimes he uses ideas from the manual like this little hospital that he built and was very proud of. In fact, it's still sitting up on our mantle safe from Alena's little fingers.

Two little monkeys

jumping on the bed after nap time today. All the while singing this little "Jump, jump jump" song that they made up. They were all laughs and giggles as you can see from the pictures.

Winter flowers

In the spring and summer, this little candle holder is often sitting on our table full of tiny little "flowers" that my sweet children bring to me. However, in January, it is a very rare treat. "Mom, your not going to believe it, we found purple flowers in the winter!" I hope they never loose their wonder and excitement.
Here are the little scalawags who brought the flowers to me - all tired out (and very dirty) after an afternoon spent playing outside in the much warmer weather.

Here's the picture they wanted me to put on the blog - posing as Jedi with their "light saber" sticks.