A Little Catch Up

I might be in trouble. It is only February and I am already slacking on the blog. First, a Valentines Day Report. We went all out this year. The Friday before we had a group of Jens's friends over for a Valentine party. We had balloons, made lots of Valentines, decorated cookies, and had a lot of fun. For snacks we had apples and cheese (cut into heart shapes), sparkly juice, and crackers. They also got to sample one cookie. The rest they had to take home to their lucky families. I forgot to take pictures until the very end, sadly.

I was highly impressed with the amount of sprinkles they could pack onto one little cookie.

We all had a fine time on the day of love. Mike and I went out the weekend before, so that evening we did our Tuesday Spin class together, then came home for the family favorite dinner, "spadetti" with meatballs. I rushed home after to decorate the table, light candles, finish making dinner, and putting out the Valentines before Mike got home with the kids. Mike got me chocolate covered strawberries, which I always love. I got him some chocolates, and I got myself some Lindt truffles. Yum! The kids loved all of their cards and little Valentine surprises--a Mickey/Minnie puzzle for Sylvie, a light up bouncy ball for Jens. This year was definitely a record setting year for Valentines. Jens and Sylvie got very in to making them, which was cute. Shown below is a small sampling of the Valentines we have (still) floating around.

Sylvie continues to be delightful. For Valentines Day she got a night gown, which she called a "nightengale" for the first day, a "nightengown" for the second day, and sadly, now it is just a nightgown. It has Snow White on it and she likes to wear it all day. Sometimes it takes pretty smooth talking to get her into clothes! She is potty trained day and night, which makes us all very happy. Jens has been very encouraging through it all. It is cute to see her little panty bum instead of a stinky diaper bum. Her favorite game lately is hide and seek, and she has taken to singing "tricky" songs, which means she makes up the words and tune. One of Mike's favorites is "Black Cat loves Rudolph."

Jens has taken to climbing the fig tree in the back yard and swinging around like a monkey. He is reading everything that I type as we speak, and enjoyes reading to Sylvie on occasion.

He and I have been reading the Fudge books, which we both enjoy. It has, however, introduced the phrase "Bonjour, Stupid" into our family vocabulary, which I don't care for. Thanks a lot, Uncle Feather. We have 2 basketball games left to go and 2 Mad Science classes left, then Jens starts his spring swim clinic, which should be a great experience.

Jens gets President's Week off (of course! We need a whole week of for Presidents! I think it is also called ski break) and we decided, very spur of the moment, to head to Utah for some family time and a little real winter. Of course, the week we were gone, temperatures here soared into the mid-70s, but we had a lot of fun in Utah. More to come later.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We love you!

February 8th

Mom is hassling me about not updating on Monday. I am finally, FINALLY feeling better. I still have a little cough sometimes, but other than that I am feeling good. Which is a relief. Nothing makes you appreciate your health like being sick for a month. Now, unfortunately, Mike is sick with a stomach bug--the same one I had last week, I think. Hopefully no one else will get it.

In exciting events this week, we celebrated Mike's birthday on Friday. He is now middle aged at the ripe old age of 35. Doesn't he look it?

We had bacon, eggs, and orange julius for breakfast and steaks for dinner. The kids were excited to pick out gifts for Dad--Sylvie got him a red heart and some "skittles" for the inside (actually peanut butter M&Ms, which she can't have).

Jens got him Jenga, which we have already played and enjoyed several times.

I made chocolate cupcakes for the kids. Mike and I got to have Sophia's cheesecake, which is truly divine.

Also last week:

I taught FAME. I got to teach the whole lesson because the other mom had a sick kid, but I really like doing that, so it went great. The kids learned about Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington and the Star Spangled Banner, and the were very engaged the whole time. For the art project we did fireworks with oil pastels on black paper. I love seeing the fun things they come up with. I also fired their fish that we made in clay a couple of weeks ago, and I suffered my first kiln explosion. One of the fish totally blew up. Luckily I always make a few extras just in case, so hopefully the student won't be too upset.

This was one of Jens's previous FAME projects:

And his recent art works are clearly inspired by:

Yes, Mario. He seems to be following in Uncle Loren's footsteps with a Mario obsession. We are having to clamp down a little as he is sneaking Mario time. He has gotten very good in a few short months! He is much better than I am.

Also in Jens news, he decided to clean the fireplace for me this week. He spent at least an hour vacuuming, washing, spraying, sweeping, and wiping the bricks and fireplace surround. He also tried to clean the ashy interior, which didn't go so smoothly. The fireplace has never looked so clean. He was very sweet about it, and felt so happy to be doing such a helpful job.

Notice he is wearing a Kings shirt--that is new. He and Mike went to the King's game on Saturday night. They got to go early and sit down on the floor to watch the players warm up, which Mike reported was really fun. They also were fed dinner--hot dogs. Yum. Jens had a great time and shouted all the cheers. Mike says we should all go sometime. We'll see!

Sylvie and I got to Jens's basketball game on Saturday. He has really improved! He even took 2 shots. Now we just need to get one to go in. He enjoys bouncing the ball around and playing pass with me.

Sylvie is into dancing these days and makes many references a day to ballerinas. She likes swirly skirts and has quite a collection of dance moves. Potty training seems to be done--she is awesome and we haven't had any accidents in at least a week. She gave the scripture in primary on Sunday and did a great job. We managed to get there a few minutes early so she could practice with the microphone and no audience. During sharing time she was great--hopped up there and said it loud and clear. We were very proud of her. She also managed to put her face into the water at swimming lessons last Thursday, a big accomplishment.

I hope this makes you happy, Mom. Sorry I was running a little behind!