We painted

The kids woke up early from naps the other day and Richie had a meeting after work that would keep him later than normal. I was trying to resist that ever present temptation in my head just to turn on a movie, so I decided we'd just get good and dirty and paint. It would have lasted longer if the kids attention spans were longer, or if I could convince myself to really let loose and get paint every where. We could only accommodate this activity for about 30 minutes, and I had to give the kids a second bath, and clean the floor...but I think it was worth it. :)
We had tried this activity at joy school once. Miles could have cared less and I was a little disappointed. You just put masking tape on poster board in the shape or letter you want and then paint all over it. When you're done painting, you peel the tape off and Ta-Da! Miles really enjoyed it this time. Gwen couldn't get enough of the paint. She rubbed it all over her body, put her face right in it, licked it, Bleck! Nothing a little soap and water can't fix right?

A bit of everything

There is no real calendar milestone coming up for a while, so I knew I wouldn't have a good excuse to blog. The result is a post of pictures with no real connection to one another, but I figured I'd better document the little things we've been doing so that hundreds of years from now, our posterity will know that we did these things. (I'm only slightly sarcastic about that)
The weekend of Valentine's week, my niece Taysom insisted on babysitting for us while we went to go see a movie. She not only watched the kids, but she bought us movie snacks and gave us money to get a treat afterward. Not to mention that when we got home the kids were in bed and the house was clean. Best babysitting ever probably. The following night, we had been planning for weeks to go to a live band dance in Idaho Falls while some of our friends babysat. We rarely go out on "just for fun" dates, so to have 2 in one week was a real treat. We dressed old school, the floor was great for dancing, the band was legit, it was just awesome. Not to mention, we were totally the best dancers there. Not like it was a competition or anything. ;) Wish we would have gotten a picture before we were all sweaty and tired.


Richie got president's day off, so we had a really low-key, but fun family day on Monday. It finally snowed enough and stuck around long enough that we got to do some sledding. Can you believe it was mid-February before we got any sledding in??? I'm telling ya, this year has been so weird, weather wise. We have taken Miles sledding since he was 11 months old and every time, he's scared at first and then warms up to it. This time, we hopped out of the car, he grabbed his blue saucer, and was the first one down, all by himself! I about had a heart-attack when Richie laid Gwen down on the pink one and sent her down after him, all be herself!! No worries Grandmas, it was a small hill and no injuries were sustained. Both kids (and the parents) thoroughly enjoyed themselves, until Miles peed his snow suit and we had to go home. Not before grabbing a quick hot chocolate though, clearly a necessity.




We're getting so sick of having to use the laundromat on the premises to do our laundry. To be fair, we've been sick of it since day one. But we took getting sick of paying for our laundry to a whole new level last week. We noticed two hooks in the ceiling on either side of our bed, and naturally Richie thought..."Hey, I'll bet I could make a clothes line there." So he did, out of clothesline and a wooden dowel. It works surprisingly well, but we can't decide if we are hard-core-geniuses, or Nascar-white-trash. Jury is still out. I already make our own laundry detergent, which saves a lot, now we dry half of our loads above our bed. The only thing left for me to do is get a washboard and wash our clothes in the bathtub. I have seriously considered this. I might be going crazy, someone stop me!!!


I know I've said it before, but I LOVE having family here. Taysom came over the other night for a girls night. With her crazy roommates and my crazy kids, it was nice to forget about them for a little while and just enjoy some "Ever After" and oatmeal face masks. Don't we look so beautiful?

Love Day

I found this quote on a blog a while back and saved it in my file because I just loved it so much.

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
Louis De Bernieres

I recently finished reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and he talks along the same lines as Bernieres. He says that being in love is like the explosion that starts that love that 2 people share for the rest of their lives. If we were expected to be "in love" for the rest of our lives, we'd be exhausted! But when the explosion settles, what's left is a mature connection to someone that you intend to spend the rest eternity with.
I should have written down that quote and saved it as well. He explained it so nicely without making it sound as if once you get married the "magic" ends. In fact, it is just beginning. It is steady. It is deep. It is soul satisfying. So glad I have an eternal Valentine who treats me so well. I got another mani-pedi gift card to celebrate the occasion. Love those. He got his traditional gift of a clean car, with some goodies stashed inside.
The kids got a heart-attacked door and heart shaped food all day. (Pancakes, PB&J, and a heart shaped cake after dinner) We had our annual fancy dinner and even has guests! Taysom and her friend Brittany joined us for dinner at Hotel Garner. On the Menu: Eggplant Parmesan, salad, "Love Potion" and a heart cake. To make it fancy we used a tablecloth and lit candles. Yes sir we really pulled out the big stops.
Another successful Valentine's Day. Check. Richie and I even have plans for not 1, but TWO dates this weekend! To a movie on Friday and Dancing on Saturday. Can it be the weekend yet??