What's Red and White and Pink All Over?

      Valentine's Day at our house!



As most of you already know...I will find any excuse to celebrate!  What's that quote?  Life is a gift so go ahead and celebrate.....or something like that!   And, being the only female member in this house...it's not too often I can get away with all the pink stuff without any complaints! 

It was a "lovely" day.  Brady got in bed with me early in the morning to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day.  He rubbed my back and told me how much he loves me.  (Not that this is different from any other morning...but he was excited for the day.)  Eric left me a card on the counter that made me cry.  We had a chinese lunch date...Eric told me he and Brady were taking care of dinner.  We had dinner by candlelight that was so good.  They made grilled chicken with cheese and salsa...and Eric made me a sweet potato with this carmel, marshmallow, brown sugar, buttery goodness on top.  Heavenly.

(or maybe he's trying to kill me?!) 

I am loved...I feel it everday.  I certainly don't need all that hype of Valentine's day.  But celebrating, and going out of your way for someone is fun and feels good.  I think my husband does a much better job of doing this for me than I do for him.  I'm going to work on that.  Dr. Phil often says that you should wake up in the morning and say, "what can I do today to make my spouses life better?"  I love that thinking.

~Kerri

A Love Story

That's my Grandma and Grandpa...Lee and Mary Ellen Smith.   I never met my Grandpa...he died of a heart attack when he was 41 years old.  I know from stories I have heard, that he and I would have gotten along well.  My Grandma died when I was 9 years old.  She was the kind of grandma you hope your children are lucky enough to have.  How I wish she was still here on earth.  I wish she could meet my husband and son.  She only knew me as a little girl, never as a wife and a mother.  Do you ever try and think who you are most like in your family?  I do, and I think I am most like both of my grandmothers.

My Grandma liked to scrapbook....way back before there was even such a thing.    Boy would she be suprised today!  She kept little momentos and pictures and compiled them into a book.  About ten years ago I found out that the scrapbook my aunt kept in her attic had some water damage.  I am working on redoing that scrapbook now and came across a few things that I thought were fitting for Valentine's Day. 

This was an anniversary card.





A football game they attended together.

This one made me a little teary....

Lee and Mary Ellen had two daughters...Marilee (my mom) and Bonnie.



 

Their life was short, but their love lives on everyday.

Lee and Mary Ellen have 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Happy Valentine's Day!

~Kerri

Last Minute Teacher Valentine Idea



It does not get any easier than this...I promise!

Only 2 ingredients.

I can of frosting.  I bag of white chocolate chips.

I used cherry frosting because it's pink.

Melt chips in microwave until completely melted.

Mix frosting in with the melted chocolate...(do this everyday and

you will have some nice arms!)

Spread mixture into greased 9 x 13 pan.  Refridgerate for 30 minutes.

Done!  Cut into squares or hearts.

Can you imagine the possibilities with all the different kinds of frosting flavors and the different varieties of chocolate chips?!

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift itself.

~Pierre Corneille



Down Under

Good day.  That's what they say in Australia. :) 

 I've kind of been m.i.a. lately over here on my blog.  We've been busy.  Brady has basketball now twice a week and of course tennis is three days a week.  Our evenings are always busy running around. 



I 'm dragging.    We've been staying up way too late.  The Australian Open is going on right now and the matches don't even start until  9pm...and the last one starts at 5am.   We let Brady stay up half the night all weekend.  Good thing he had Monday off from school!  We dvr'd last night's matches and he watched parts of both of them this morning.  I'm ready for it to be done.  The final will be played on Sunday at 5am.  We are planning to get up early, have  breakfast and watch the big match.  Brady doesn't know we're planning this....so he will be suprised when his alarm goes off bright and early!  These are the moments I hope he remembers someday when he's older.  

 I walked into the livingroom Friday night and Brady was taking pictures of the t.v.  He said he was pretending he was there...in Australia.  He took all kinds of pictures.

We woke up Saturday morning to our first snowfall.  (Unless we count that one day of snow we had in October!)  Brady woke up and said, " UGH...snow!"  My thoughts exactly.  He never asked once to go outside and play in it.  When Eric went out to shovel later in the afternoon Brady went out to help and then got his sled out for about 5 minutes.  I think he slid down the hill 3 times.

 That was his extent of playing in the snow!

Brady asked if he could make us lunch on Saturday.  I was planning to try Genn's spaghetti recipe.... so I got everything out and told him what to do.  The only thing I did for him was cut the onions that he sauteed.  He did such a good job.  He's really taken an interest lately in helping out in the kitchen....and I LOVE it.  The spaghetti was fantastic...a huge hit with all of us.  When Brady was mixing the tomato soup with the cream of mushroom soup...I wasn't quite sure how it would taste.  But, I might actually prefer this spaghetti to the regular old spaghetti.   If you want to see a picture...you'll have to check out Genn's because mine didn't turn out so well.  I did get a picture of the salad Brady made for me.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and gave it a try.

Cool whip hearts for hot chocolate.

So quick and easy.  Spread cool whip onto a cookie sheet.

Put tray back into the freezer until frozen.

Then, cut into hearts!

I layered the hearts between wax paper and put them

in a container and back in the freezer to get out when we

have hot chocolate.  I love quick and easy.

Is anyone still there?  I kind of rambled and my thoughts are all over the place.  Sorry. Told you I was tired.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

No Valentine Party For Us



Brady's Valentine's Day party for his classroom was this morning.

I was in charge of planning it.





The kids made these heart bird feeders.

{source}

The kids wrote down what they love

about Mrs. Everly...and put the notes in

this box.  I found the fortunate teacher label here.

Brady was going to pass these treats out to his class.





I can't remember where I saw this shovel idea...but I know it wasn't on a blog.



Brady was really sick all night and has been sick all day.

He is such a trooper.  He never complains...he just wants me by his side.

He has told me about twenty times that I am the best mom a sick boy could ever have.

I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better.

We were really disappointed about having to miss his Valentine Party.

I was disappointed for him.  I always worry that the class parties will soon stop.

Eric took all the goodies into Brady's classroom this morning.

Two other room moms came through big time with cupcakes and the

things needed to make the bird feeders.

Brady hasn't left the couch all day...but he is starting

to get some of his color back...and just decided he

might like to watch a little t.v.  Yay!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of YOU!

Hope your is day filled with love...not just today, but everyday.

~Kerri