Valentines Dinner

Valentine's Day usually isn't that big of a deal in the price household, but this year I thought we were in need of a little something special. So I put together this little dinner for our family;

The table was set

Dinner was made, simple yet delicious! The place mats are pieces of card stock that I wrote "I love you" on with a metallic sharpie.

Extra special items as a centerpiece, the cross has the Corinthians love verses on it. The willow tree figures represent our kids.

 

Close up of our table cloth. It's a plastic one from Fred Meyer. I don't really like the traditional Vday colors, but this one fit my style perfectly!

The best part (IMO). A simple yet special dessert, boxed brownie mix, whipped cream & chocolate sauce.

I have a real problem with over planning things and not being able to execute all the great ideas I have thought of. Which leads to the end result of me being frustrated and no one enjoying the evening, because mommy is grumpy. So this year I was purposeful to plan a simple menu and simple decorations that 1. didn't cost a ton of money and 2. were easy to execute even with being gone most the afternoon at my book study class. Josh commented that it was probably his best Valentine's Day ever. This comment did come after he took a nap (while the kids were outside and I was making dinner) and after he had a few glasses of wine with his steak dinner. But, I'm taking it as a complement regardless and think I was successful in my simple attempt! =)

Did you do anything for Valentine's Day?

January 2012

Not a lot of time for blogging lately. Seems when we've been staying home we've had one sickness or another and I don't really feel like blogging at those times. Other times we're constantly going-going-going and I'm exhausted at the end of the day and don't feel like even thinking, let alone blogging. LOL

Below is a picture recap of the month of January...

Josh and I went shooting with some of the guys from Conoco Phillips (his new job). I shot his Glock and his AR and was getting pretty good with the Glock, but at one point I had my hand in the wrong spot and the slide part came back and took a small chunk out of my knuckle on my thumb. Josh got to shoot the other guys' guns like the dessert eagle pictured above.

I signed up online to get a unit study from Panda Express about the Chinese New Year and it came with a DVD, craft papers (making lanterns above), worksheets and 32 coupons for free kids meals! Seriously we still have like 15 of those coupons left, I've been giving them out to anyone I know. If you would like some, let me know and I'll give you some. (It does require the purchase of an adult meal for each free kids meal.) 

On the 14th  Joshua turned 11! Seriously, I have an 11 year old people! I can't believe it! He's showing of his new winter coat we got him in the picture above.
Some stats on Joshua...
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 115 lbs
Shoe Size: Men's 10
What he want to be when he's grown: Chef

I find it hard to plan birthday parties for Joshua. Being just after the holidays and the cold unpredictable weather at that time of year, seems to ruin any plans I make. So this year we just took him down to Burlington to Chuck E Cheese (where the pic of Eli and my dad was taken), played a ton of games and ate pizza (salad and knitting for me!), then we headed back to Bellingham and took him out for a game of bowling. While Josh and the boys were bowling I went to Dairy Queen and picked up an ice cream cake, per his request and took it back home to thaw. We came home, had cake and if I remember correctly played more video games. 

 The day of Joshua's birthday was the start of our big snow storm of the year. Some places closed during the storm and schools were cancelled, so we stayed home and played outside with the neighbor kids. 

The boys built a snow fort wall for snow ball fights and Eli kept filling her bucket and adding to their wall. 

After the cold winds came in we decided it was too cold and stayed inside and admired the snow from the warmth of the apartment.

We finished off the month with the snow melting away just in time for my sister to fly in from Texas. We had just over a week to visit with her and my nephew Tristan. I didn't take a single pic while they were up. We were having too much fun playing with Tristan and catching up. =)

Stay tuned if I find a few more minutes this week, I'll get some posts up here of what has been happening this month.