Valentine's Love

Saturday night Prince was visibly upset and I asked him what was wrong.  He said that he was afraid that he is growing up and that there might come a day when I won't sing his special song to him anymore because he would be too big for it.  As I tried to reassure him that this would never happen and that I will always sing his song, I remembered the book "Love You Forever."  I have had this book for quite some time and I tried to read it to the twins when they were younger.  There's one problem.  I can't get through this book without boo-hooing.  It is not a pretty sight.  Anywho, Prince asked if I would find the book when we got home from the in-law's on Sunday and read it to him.  Of course I said I would.  From the time we pulled into town on Sunday afternoon Prince kept asking me about the book.  I went right to the bookshelf where I knew the book would be and it wasn't there.  I searched every place I could think of and could not find this book.  So on our date last night I told Prince we would go to Wal-Mart and buy another copy of the book.  Wal-Mart did not have the book.  Prince was very upset about this.  How could they not have the book?!  They used to have it!  This afternoon Target saved the day.  Even though I think I used to have 2 copies of this book, I can't find any so I bought 2 more books, one for each of the kids.

Tonight after a marvelous Valentine's dinner, gifts, and homework, Prince and Princess were crawling into bed and as promised I read "Love You Forever" to them.  Yes, I boo-hooed.  My children were laughing at me, not understanding why I would cry at this book.  After I finished the story, I hugged them each a little tighter and said in their ears, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as you're living, My baby you'll be."  Prince then looked up at me and said, "Mom, I'll love you forever.  Will you sing my song?"  So with that, I sang to each of them and tucked them into bed.  What a fantastically sweet way to end our familyValentine's celebration.
Hubby and I have always chosen a family dinner and gathering for Valentine's Day as we all celebrate the love we have for each other.  During our blessing tonight, Hubby read my mind as he prayed that God would help us to love others as He is the ultimate example of what that love should be.  This day is much more than a card holiday, although the cards and flowers are certainly nice.  It is a day that reminds us of how we should feel and act every day, in a spirit of love toward those special people in our lives.  We should never take for granted the opportunity to say "I love you," for we never know what the future holds.  I was also reminded today that we are supposed to love even those people in our lives that are difficult to love.  That's a tough one, but, "we love because God first loved us." 

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm off to spend what's left of it with my Valentine, who is NOT difficult to love at all.

Date Night

Tonight was a Father Daughter Valentine's Dance at Princess' school.  She and her Daddy were quite excited about going.  Hubby decided he would wear his tux and he ordered Princess a sweet little wrist corsage. 

Princess and her Daddy practiced dancing before the dance.  It was so sweet and she was so excited.

They had a fantastic time.  Hubby said that Princess was out in the middle of the dance floor shakin' what her mama gave her.  I think we are gonna have our hands full with this little girlie if she's this much of a party girl at age 6.  She's got the moves!

Prince and I had a date tonight too.  We ate dinner at his favorite pizza place and then took a trip to the store to buy him a treat.  It was great quality time.  As we were sitting at the table waiting for our food to come, Prince told me that he loved me and that I'm beautiful, giving me all of these compliments.  He then launched into a poem of his very own that went something like this:
"Mom, you are as beautiful as a flower."  So far this was good.  Then it got kind of strange.
"Your eyes are like pizzas.  Your lips are like hearts.  Your legs are like pickles."  I can't even remember the rest of what he said.  It was quite cute though, that he thought he was being sweet and reciting an original poem especially for me.  It was original alright! 

Over all, Date Night with the kiddos was a huge success and we are thinking of doing this once a month, trading off kids every other time. 

And now, I must get my "pickle legs" to bed as my "pizza eyes" are about to close.
Good Night!

Ice Ice Baby in the Wednesday Hodgepodge

Happy Wednesday Everybody!  It's that time again ~ time for Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Although it is warming up a bit in the Sunshine State, it's pretty cold where Joyce is, thus the name for this week's hodgepodge. Joyce is the hodgepodge guru so click here and visit Joyce to read about her adventures with the snowblower and her answers to the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Do you like your name? Were you named after someone? If you have children how did you settle on their names?
Yes, I like my name.  My first name wasn't after anyone, but my middle name is the same as my mother's.  Also, I have the same initials as my dad ~ or at least I did before I got married. 
My children: Princess was named after my great-granny.  My great-granny went by her middle name.  Princess uses first and middle ~ the nurses in the NICU insisted on it and it has stuck.
When we were picking out names for Prince, we knew his middle name would be Hubby's first name.  It's a tradition in Hubby's family.  We wanted the first name to be Biblical (Princess' name is also from the Bible) and we kept trying different names.  When I found the one I liked, Hubby at first wasn't crazy about it...that is, until I point out that Prince would have the same initials as Hubby's grandfather. 

2. How do you define success?
I think a person is successful if they can find happiness in life while sticking to their principles and living by their beliefs and values.

3. Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy?
I like word games, but for some reason Wheel of Fortune gets on my nerves.  I'm more of a Jeopary person.

4. If you could own any single object that you don't have now, what would that object be?
I don't know what that would be.  Right now I feel like I have too much of everything and need to go on a massive cleaning spree in my house.

5. What is something that inspires you?
I find inspiration in many forms.  I am inspired through music, the lyrics, the tunes, how they move me.  I am also inspired by books, things I read.  Conversations with friends and others I meet can inspire me.  I have also found inspiration with a beautiful sunset, a walk on the beach, watching children laugh and play.  God can use anything or anyone and I never know when or how it will happen.

6. Meatloaf-yea or nay? If it's a yay how do you make yours?
Yay for meatloaf!  It has to be served with real mashed potatoes, though.  We don't do that instant stuff at my house.  My meatloaf is made with ground beef, egg, diced bell pepper and onion, a handful of bread crumbs, salt, pepper and ketchup.  It's not an exact recipe and sometimes I toss in other things.  Combine, shape into a loaf and bake.  Then add more ketchup on top a few minutes before it comes out of the oven.  One Valentine's Day I made the meatloaf into a heart shape in a pie plate before baking.  Then I used food coloring to make the mashed potatoes pink. 

7. Which is more admirable-the ability to organize and be methodical or the ability to adapt and make do?
I can usually adapt and make do pretty well.  I really admire people who can stay organized and be methodical.  I try to be organzied and methodical, but there are times when I am flying by the seat of my pants and that's not comfortable for a control freak like myself.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I had forgotten about the heart-shaped meatloaf until today.  This made me think to go back and look at the pictures from that day.  My babies were still babies at a 19 months old and it was a great Valentine's Day.  Here are some pictures:


Pink Mashed Potatoes

X and O Brownies for Dessert

Sweet Prince with his Valentine

Cutie Patootie Princess

People ask me what my favorite age or stage has been with my kids and this is such a hard question to answer, but here goes...
As I look back at pictures of my kids when they were younger I have such fond memories.  I loved those times and sometimes I want them back.  However, I also enjoy the right now.  So my answer has always been that my favorite age or stage is now, whatever that age or stage is.