Happy Valentine's Day 2013

It was a fun Valentine's Day this year at our house as we had 2 little girls who finally understood the fun of holidays! Ben took the day off and we made an extra special breakfast.  I had woken up early to make muffins and eggs...but little did I know that was Ben's plan too.  He had bought some heart shaped molds so we made heart shaped eggs and banana-blueberry muffins--yummy! 

 Jade is growing up and turning into quite the thinker and sweetheart.  She is realizing the consequences of her choices and can usually think something through before she does it to see if it would be a good choice or not.  Just look at her sweet smile...it melts my heart.  Everyday we hear her sweet voice tell us "I love you" many, many times! I do not ever want those days to end.

 

Kiera is our rambunctious, fun-loving free spirit.  She runs from morning until night non-stop and is so full of life and energy.  She is learning to say all kinds of words and phrases and has to do everything her big sister does.  We sure love our Kiera Bear!

Ben got me some roses this year...the girls and I sure enjoyed them while they bloomed.  He also got the girls some rose shaped suckers...

Boy were they big....

and sticky, but they were well loved!

The girls got to try their first ever chocolate dipped strawberries because my VT companion and I made them for our ladies we visit.  Jade could not wait to take that first bite...

Kiera forgot which part to eat first...she sure enjoyed the green stuff!

YUM!

 Later in the day we also had play group at our house and decorated sugar cookies with lots of friends!

 Jade had way too much fun with the sprinkles!

What a fun day we had!  Later that night Ben's Mom even volunteered to watch the girls for a few hours so Ben and I could go out.  Since we don't like the crowds on Valentine's or really any holiday down here...we went to the Rec center and played raquetball and sat in the hot tub.  It was a nice quiet date and we even got some needed exercise. 

Now I know my ABC's...

Jade has been very interested in her ABC's for a while now and we have been working on memorizing the song with her.  We gave her a challenge that if she could sing her ABC's all by herself, then she would a get a surprise.  She worked so hard for a few weeks and then she finally earned this...

The girls have had so much fun with this mat.  And it has been fun to have something to do inside when it is so cold outside! :)

One more step in growing up...

Jade has recently really taken to drawing and coloring.  Just a few months ago she would draw one crayon stroke on the page and be done.  Now, she can fill an entire page and actually asks to draw.  Here she is with her most recent drawing...

As she was telling me what she drew, I saw this stick figure---this was a first for her!  I had no idea she could draw that detail.  From college in one of my child development classes, I learned that being able to draw stick figures symbolized another step in their development.  She is really paying attention to the work around her.  She told me this stick figure was herself.  Love it--especially her hair!

Visiting Great Grandpa

We went to visit my Grandpa to finally give them their Christmas gift.  Jade enjoyed giving and then "sharing" Great Grandpa's caramel popcorn.  Kiera also kept stealing little pieces of it and then running away to eat it. I love these kind of visits...I think it is so important to keep in touch with family. I know I loved it as a kid when we would visit everyone or get all together--I love being with my family and creating those relationships that will last forever. I want the girls to remember their family too--and how lucky they are to still have 3 pair of Great Grandparents alive. 

Yummy!

I have been trying to have the girls help with as many of the chores around the house as I can--I think it teaches responsibility and helpfulness.  Plus, at this age they love to help with everything so I have to take advantage of these teaching moments.  Today when I asked Jade what she wanted to make for a snack, she responded enthusiastically--"blue cookies!"  We have never made blue cookies before so it was a fun experiment and the girls sure enjoyed the end result!

Jade is quite the character these days...we had small grape tomatoes with our dinner and Jade kept turning to us and saying, "Look at my cheeks, they're big!"  

I kept calling her a chipmunk and she kept insisting that was not a chipmunk, she was Jade!

Enjoying new toys...

The girls are really enjoying their new toys they got for Christmas. It is always fun to capture moments like this...

 Happy Kiera

Jade has named the giraffe, Gerald--We have a book called Giraffes can't Dance and that is the name of the giraffe in the book. :)   She spends hours combing his hair and both girls love to "ride" on him.