Valentines Day, etc.

 Since William is an awful sleeper, I woke up to this sight and it was stinking adorable.  But William is welcome to stay in his own bed.

 We had a Valentine's party at our friend's house and William had a great time frosting cookies and playing.  We love our friends out here.

 William's Valentines.  He loved going through them all and eating the candy. He was so cute.

 Brooke's adorable kitty Valentine box.  She was so proud of it.

 Spencer doesn't love Valentines very much because it is a pink holiday.  But he did fine and loved getting a Valentine from a cute girl in his class.

 Hailey made her Valentine holder at school and did a great job.  She is really artistic.

 I thought Spencer was doing pretty ok with Uncle Ryan but he came home crying one day.  He was really upset and I think he is just late to grieve, similar to his mom.  So, we looked at some old pictures of Ryan on the blog and some from the funeral.  It was bittersweet.  It is so hard to try and help children grieve.  They don't understand their feelings and it is hard for me too.

 Spencer wrote a message on one of the blog posts. It was really sweet. I think journaling will be a really good thing for him to help him understand his emotions.

 Hailey was star of the week on her birthday week at school and made this cute poster.  She got to bring in some items about her.  She took in some sea shells, roller blades and the toolbox Blake gave her for her birthday. 

 Pens go missing around here like nobody's business. Luckily, Hailey had this great pen handy.

 We made Valentines cookies and took some to the kid's friends.  Spencer made some for a special girl in his class and was super cute giving them to her.

 Grandma Barb is the best.  She sent the kids Valentines cards and a dollar.  They were thrilled.

 Brooke and Dad playing Connect 4.  She wants to play every game in the game closet.  She has great goals.

 Blake got me these beautiful cala lilies, my favorite flower.  By chance, they were bulbs, so I can plant them in the Spring.  I love his sweet heart. 

 Hailey decided we needed a heart shaped cakes on Valentine's Day.  She is a genius.

 The running saga continues. I was having a long and cold run one morning and came to this snowy hill.  I almost went to the next one, but I had to defeat this thing.  I did it and was so excited! I was writing all kinds of motivational things in my head.  By the time I got home, I had forgotten them all but it was still fun!

 Brooke changed into these clothes after school one day and said she was going to wear this when she exercises in college.  Prepping for the future!

 Swimming lessons went great.  My phone died after this picture but William is swimming on his own.  Brooke and Spencer learned some new strokes.  Hailey learned to swim a lot of yards and to push herself. Overall, swimming lessons were a huge success!

 We were at the grocery store one day and William was dying for an ice cream bar even though it was 20 degrees.  It was a fun treat.

 Brooke is taking off in reading.  It is the most exciting thing for me when each kid starts to read.  There is something about the confidence that comes with reading and opening new doors and possibilities.  This is one of our favorite books "Spoon".

 I think this was after a snow day.  Snuggly!

 We made these lengthy smores cookies because they were supposed to be the best cookie ever.  They tasted like smores. ha

 We went to play at our new friends house and they are lucky enough to have all the snow pushed into the center of their street.  They built some awesome tunnels. It's amazing what eight kids can accomplish together!

 I'm pretty sure I will miss seeing Army toys in my bed someday.  I love their little imaginations.