Sunday, February 21, 2016

Love the Weekend...the Weekend of Love

Valentine's Day -- such a strange holiday. I admit that I am awfully wishy-washy about it. I don't really care if Tyler gets me something. (After all, he loves me year round, not just on a couple days a year.) BUT, I sometimes care if Tyler gets me something. I do want him to acknowledge that there is a silly holiday based on love and that I happen to be the one he is smitten with. I certainly don't want to punish him for neglecting the holiday. (That seems counter productive.) BUT I would like to encourage him to do something thoughtful.

This year, I organized a date for us. I planned the event to the ice castles and got tickets and all that jazz. We had a really good time and I need to put up some still photos, even though Tyler did a great job with the video. (Sometimes I like videos more, but they don't translate so well when I print out a blog book.)

Sunday was the actual day of love. I had purchased some chocolate roses for the children, but at the last moment, I realized they should be from Tyler. So, all the kids thought he was a super hero when he gave them each a rose and asked if they would be his valentine. (I don't mind giving him the credit, because one of my many jobs is to make him look good. Although I did want to smack him at one point. I said something about getting treats for some ladies in the neighborhood and he mentioned that he didn't think of friends...but at least he got something for the girls. Nice.)

To be clear, Tyler doesn't like to buy overpriced stuff right before Valentine's Day. He often will get me something a few days after. And then again, sometimes he forgets and it is all swept under the carpet until the following year. But this time he pulled through. On the following Thursday, he arrived with flowers and jewelry. I love me some daisies and roses.


And I'm a sucker for earrings. There little roses are very cute.


Along with matching necklace.


I never got pictures of the kids' valentines. Pearl, Daisy, and Ivory gave out some small candies. Robyn's class made boxes for the homeless, so we supplied some candy and soap. June has, gratefully, reached the age of NO VALENTINES. She doesn't give them out in class, and she is still too young to attend dances, so I figured I actually saved money on her this year. (What a special - albeit small - window that is.)

Ivory did bring home a cookie she decorated in school. She likes to borrow my phone to take pictures of her creations. She took 13 pictures! Since she still gets blurry shots, I think she is trying to cover her bases. She is convinced that one of those 13 will turn out.


On President's Day, the kids were out of school and Tyler was off from work. Normally, I would use a day like that and put everyone to work. But sometimes I cave under pressure and allow people to play. Or even better, I organize a day of fun.

Monday started with an orthodontist appointment, which isn't necessarily fun, but Ivory was very happy to hear that she only has one more month of braces. Woot!

From there, we picked up the crew and went to the Museum of Curiosity. (Our membership expires next month, so I feel pressure to get a few more uses out of it.) The sloth challenge is still popular. Tyler and I stayed on for at least 30 seconds. That is almost a second for each year we have been around. I think that counts as an accomplishment.




Finding kids and getting them to hold still for photos is a real trick at the Museum. I caught these three together.


And I adore the picture of these two. I actually didn't know that alcove was there.


I saw this floating head in Kidopolis. (It looks so much like Ivory.)


From there, we took off to eat lunch and go shopping. (Just for groceries. It is so fast when I have the whole crew with me.) We also went to a movie in the afternoon. We saw The Good Dinosaur. It was okay. It wasn't a favorite of mine. It was frankly, a little weird. And I can't even remember how many times that dinosaur fell off a cliff or high wall. (I'm thinking at least six. Ouch!) Also, we got some of the last tickets, so we had to sit in the very front row. My motion sickness kicked in halfway through and I finally stood on the side for the rest of the movie.

All in all, it was a great weekend, and a nice Valentine's Day. Just being with family is the best I could ask for.

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