Love



Evangeline the Love Bug has been excited for Valentine's Day ever since the day after Christmas.  Here is the box she decorated for her school Valentine's Day party.  

 

This sweet thing came home in her backpack one day last week..."Love is when my Papa brings to me Disney World!  Love is when my dad and mom kiss me!  Love is when my mom hugs me."

 

Evangeline likes to write messages on my white board after school for my class to see the next day.  This is one she wrote that I thought was particularly cute, "My heart is filled with joy.  I feel so good when Valentine's Day is here."  My kids always love to see the things Evangeline has drawn or wrote for them.

 

 

This is Evangeline's good friend, Avery Gard.  They play together almost every day after school.  Her aunt is a fellow first grade teacher.  

 

We had parent/teacher conferences this last week, which meant we had a half day on Friday.  I got a real surprise delivered to my work that day.  Not one, not two, but three flower arrangements.  Two of the arrangements were from Wayne and Karen.  One of the arrangements were for me and one was for Evangeline and Jed.  They were both so beautiful.  The other arrangement was to me from Kyle, Evangeline and Jed.  I was feeling the love!!

 

The arrangement for the kids had a heart-shaped flower made from twigs, which was very sweet.  It also had a big balloon attached.  I knew this would bring a smile to Evangeline's face.  She can entertain herself for hours with balloons.  At one point, while playing with her balloon she started off to her room and said, "I really want to take my new balloon with me so I can show him his new room."  She probably noticed I was looking at her like she was crazy...she giggled and said, "I like to be weird so don't question that."  

 

The flowers from Kyle and the kids were, of course, so very special to me.  

 

Evangeline took a nice little nap, diva-style, on Friday after having a grand old time with her new balloon.  

 

Evangeline:  "Mom, I really think you're the best person besides God."

 

Oh, oh, oh!!!  How I love my new little Valentine.  

 

Evangeline has been asking for a few weeks now if we could go to the store and get a heart shaped box of chocolate for Papa.  I thought this was a random request only since she was so adamant about it.  I told her we probably could.  Before I had a chance to take her, she spent the night with Peggy and convinced Peggy to take her.  When I saw Evangeline the day after her sleepover she proudly showed me the box of chocolate and a bear shaped balloon she got for Papa.  Ironically Papa called that evening to see about taking Evangeline to the movies the following day.  She talked to him on the phone and as she was on the phone Kyle and I tried to get her to mention to Papa that she had a special surprise for him.  She made it clear that she didn't want to tell him on the phone, so we let it go.  The next day we reminded her to get out her chocolate and balloon for Papa since he was coming to get her and she kind of shrugged it off.  Then told us that she wanted to give him the gifts on another day.  I thought this was a bit odd.  We explained to her that this would be the only time she would see him before Valentine's Day.  She reluctantly agreed to give them to him when he came to get her.  As the time was drawing near for them to pick her up from our house I noticed she had her purse with her.  I asked her what was in her purse and she told me she had the cards she made them and the chocolate.  I noticed that there was no way she had the chocolate in her purse and she told me to wait a minute as she disappeared into her bedroom.  She came back with the chocolates in her purse.  She kind of had a nervousness about her.  The next thing I knew she broke down into tears and told me that the chocolates and balloon were for me and Daddy and Jed.  She was just tricking us into thinking it for was Papa so she could surprise us on Valentine's Day.  Just by coincidence did Papa ask her to the movies the day before.  If it had been any other day her plan would have gone off without a hitch.  She was devastated that the surprise had been ruined.  She cried and cried.  I teared up too because of the thoughtfulness behind this gift and the big plan she hatched to try to get us a Valentine's Day surprise.  She has the biggest heart and her thoughtful gift means the world to me.  After she calmed down, I told her to hide it back in her room and give it to us on Valentine's Day and that we were so excited to receive our special gift.  My goodness, what a sweetheart.  There are absolutely no words to express the overwhelming joy the discovery of this gift meant to me.  On Valentine's Day she had envelopes for me, Kyle and Jed.  They all contained some coins and a dollar out of her piggy bank and a little card she had made.  She also picked out a few of her little knick-knacks to give each of us.  I'm telling you, she's just the sweetest.  

 

On Valentine's Day we went to church.  It snowed about 3 inches that afternoon.  We had fun playing in it and watching it as it fell.  It was a beautiful day. 

 

We made jam cookies.  I love these.  Way back when I lived on Beech Street a woman from my church, Alice Schroeder, used to give me some of her homemade strawberry jam.  I used to make shortbread and slather the jam on top.  It was divine.  These cookies remind me of that.  They are the perfect complement to the London Fog's I've been making lately (1/2 cup steamed milk, 1/2 cup water, contents of 2 Earl Grey teabags, 1 tsp. honey- strain before drinking).

Jed tried out his highchair for the first time.  I think he liked it. 

Since we all had Monday off Evangeline helped me make a festive breakfast.  We called it, "the feast of love"....heart-shaped bacon, heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes and strawberry love bugs (a strawberry with a chocolate chip on the tip- Evangeline's creation). 

Faith, hope and love abide; and the greatest of these is love.  -1 Corinthians 13:13
I sure do have a lot of love in my life. 





Bookish

We had another book inspired lost tooth on Friday, February 5th.  The evening before, Evangeline got the book, Berenstain Bears Meet the Tooth Fairy, which was a book she picked out from the Scholastic Book Club for doing so well on her report card.  We sat down to read it before bed. As we read she discovered that she had another adult tooth growing in behind the other bottom incisor.  She started wiggling the baby tooth in front of it (which wasn't very wiggly yet) and had that sucker out by the next morning.  She came to my classroom to show me her second little tooth treasure box from the school nurse, proud as could be.  She told me she lost this one at recess.   

 

She loves reading her homework stories to Jed.  She holds her books like a teacher.  She has a captive audience.  

 

Wow, and another thing about books.....(this is a very bookish entry, I think I will make that the title of this post).....Evangeline likes to pretend that she works at a library.  She has us check out books and makes receipts for them, just like they do when she checks out books at the real library.  Here are a few Kyle checked out.

Jed likes to grab, hold and shake his little toys.  The other day Evangeline and I got quite a giggle out of this sight...Jed had picked up Douglas, his horse, and placed him on top of his face. 

He's a ham already.

 

More listening to that big girl reading.  It's a sight that makes a mama's heart full, that's for sure.  

 

February Fiber Display



I was asked several months ago by the director of our local library if I would fill the large display case in with my knitted items for the month of February.  When I brought everything over to set things up I just stared at the case totally overwhelmed.  Good thing I have a mother-in-law that is very, very good at this kind of thing to come to my rescue.  I think she did a great job.  It was fun to see some of my creations all spread out and set up like that.  After I got home I kept thinking of things I forgot to put in.  I have so much!  It also makes me kind of sad to think about how I don't make much time for knitting anymore.  There were so many years of my life where you would seldom see me without knitting needles in hand.  Maybe I'll get back to that again someday.  

 

My Guy

Jed is the sweetest baby.  He has the most precious smile and uses it often.  His sense of humor is really developing.  He cracks up when I say things like, "I'm going to get your belly" and then give him kisses or blow raspberries.  He is a slobbery little chatterbox.  His noises are just adorable.  He says, "mama mama" all the time.  Of course, not yet in context, but they are at least some of his first sounds.  Evangeline started with, "dada", so it makes me smile that he's starting with the sounds to make my name.  He's my sandy-haired, brown eyed snuggle puppy.  He's growing too fast.  Here are some pictures of this little guy I just can't get enough of.  

 

Evangeline and I like to sing:

"He's our precious little guy,

with a dimple in his chin

and a sparkle in his eye." 

 

Here are a few pictures Danielle sent me on my lunch break last week.  I always look forward to getting pictures and videos of him on my lunch break. 

 

Notice Anything New??

This brave little girl decided it was time to get her ears pierced yesterday.  I really didn't think she'd go through with it.  I made sure she knew it was ok to change her mind.  I've heard the story a million times of how I got in that chair and chickened out 3 or so times before I finally went through with it.  Nope.  Not this one.  She just needed a little peep talk from her mamma and she was good to go.  

 

Here she is bracing herself...

 

When it was over she sat there like a deer in headlights for a moment.  This is her "disbelief in the fact that her ears are now pierced" face.  I don't think she thought the piercing process was already over with.  I told her with tear-filled eyes that she had pierced ears.  That bewildered face slowly melted into a super excited face.  

 

After the piercing we perused the earring displays imagining all the possibilities in store for her cute little ears after 6 weeks of wearing her starter studs.  

 

She immediately called her daddy and Ammie (Grandma was with us).  Ammie was with her cousins and Evangeline couldn't wait for them to find out.  She kept saying, "I can't believe I have pierced ears!"

 

She was so excited about the "Notice Anything New" sticker they gave her at the earring place that I was instructed to put it in a safe spot so she can wear it to school on Monday.  

 

As we were getting ready for church this morning she said to me, "Mom, now I've done all the things big kids do...I've lost a tooth and got my ears pierced."  Sniffle sniffle...

 

I also want to note that when they gave her the choice of earrings to use for her first pair she picked out little gold crosses.  However, they were a little too big and the lady recommended smaller ones for her first pair.  She went with the blue rhinestone daisies.  Blue is currently her favorite color.  Mom and I were touched by the fact that out of all the options her first choice were the gold crosses.  She's precious.