I love hearts

For some reason, Valentine's Day is one of my favorites. I think it's all the excuses to use red and white, eat chocolate, have a party, find something to do with strawberries, and think up a heart-shaped treat. My girls think it's fun too. Kalai made French toast for breakfast and surprised us all with this Valentine twist.

For lunch, we were invited to a friend's house for a party. She appropriately ordered these pizzas!
Our life group met that night so Kalai and Malia set our dining room table to fit the occasion.
Heart-shaped jello jigglers joined us at lunch. They always look so pretty on a plate.
My clever and thoughtful husband thought up one of his trademark scavenger hunts for me. It started with an e-card, led me to my camera which showed four clues, and I finally came across a special surprise hidden away. What fun.

Snow Days at camp

We just arrived home from a weekend up at camp. We enjoyed games, fellowship, and lots of fun winter activities including snowshoeing (my first time ever!!) and sledding. Levi's "first" was a short sled ride, during which he remained expressionless! DJ enjoyed a snowmobile ride from a friend. Personally, I think snowmobiles ruin the winter scene. They're noisy, smelly, and allow the rider to "sit around." I think I'm a minority though, because everyone, my kids included, thought they were pretty cool! Alyssa, Kalai, and Malia watch something...
Levi wasn't especially thrilled with his first time "in the snow."
He thinks this is much, much better!

Energy: the ability to do work..no...no...destroy!

Levi has taken on the job of pulling everything out of my cupboards so I see how badly I need to scrub them out. You should have seen how bouncy and happy he was after achieving this!

On TV (at the Science Museum)!

We're spending our weekend a little differently since Kent and the three older girls are gone to a youth retreat. I didn't exactly plan to stay up so late but last night a friend was over, and it was close to 1 a.m. before we quit talking. Then today we decided to head to the Science Museum. That's how we got these pictures and I got to kiss my baby on "TV". (It's a fun little center that simulates the whole thing)

One main reason I wanted to get to the Science Museum was their featured IMAX about the Alps and one man's climb. If you get a chance to see it, it's amazing...breathtaking...and as much as the idea of taking on mountain climbing appeals to my adventurous side, I don't think I'd ever be found on those vertical mile-high walls! Malia and Margaret both proclaimed quite confidently that they'd never take on mountain climbing when they grew up! :)

Bread making

Homemade bread reminds me of being a kid. When I was about seven years old, I vividly remember my parents buying a Bosch mixer (basically a super duper mixer) and that was when homemade bread became a daily thing. We ate so much of it, my mom needed me to lighten the load...so she taught me not long after. It has only been the past couple years I've started making it again, and I haven't found a 100% whole wheat recipe that really works for me. If anyone knows of one that'd be great. I use about two parts wheat to one part white. It's actually pretty easy once you do it a few times. I just have to stay close to home for a few hours. Levi was utterly fascinated by the whole process. I managed to dump in a few cups of flour while I was holding him, but for the most part he was by my feet.


I almost always give a hunk of dough to DJ to do with as he likes. Several times he has recreated the "five loaves and two fish" (We use a raisin or peanut for the fish eyes). Today he made a "waffle" with a little help from a meat tenderizer tool! Then he spread honey and cinnamon over the top, garnished it with a few craisins and this was his pride and joy...as you can tell. What a goofy boy!

Fire-fighting airplane

Kent and DJ created yet another masterpiece a couple weekends ago. You can only imagine our LEGO supply. Needless to say, they mostly stay in the basement away from Levi's little hands. He's picking up everything and chewing on it! I've confiscated fuzz, wood, plastic, and a plastic hedgehog head in his mouth. I'm going to have to start vaccuuming every day!

Teacups

Blue and white. It's a duo that I can't resist! I've been buying a piece here and there...usually at a garage sale or thrift store. This teacup, however, was given to me by my great aunt from her collection of teacups bought as a military wife. I also got one in the same color theme on each of our anniversary trips. Now I just need to plan a tea party! My aunt had a proper tea party a couple years ago for all the girl cousins/sisters, using our teacups from our great aunt (we each got a couple). We enjoyed cucumber and chicken salad sandwiches, chocolates, scones, and, of course, tea!