A Swinging Valentine's Day

 So Valentine's Day is not so much about romance when you have small children as it is about the love of family...Aaron and I are lucky that we have both sets of parents nearby who regularly babysit so we can go on dates, but for the past couple of years we've spent actual Valentine's with kids in tow. We had a great day this year though- a special Valentine breakfast before Aaron headed to work, and then after I picked up Rowan from school she and Retta and I played on the swings at the park and I had fun testing out my new camera. We then did something CAH-razy (by four year-old standards that is)...we met Aaron in town for dessert before supper because the ice cream shop closes at 6. We shared a banana split and then put the kids to bed and ate a gourmet meal made by Aaron at the late hour of 8:30 pm. Still enjoying a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my lovely husband and cute kid valentines scattered about the house. You just gotta love love, and Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays..yay for hearts and flowers and swings and ice cream!

Love Bug

Just reading her morning mail

Heart-shaped marshmallows courtesy of my mom

Hot chocolate for breakfast?!

My newest love

Scoping out the Valentine's packages

Oh, those cheeks...

Love, love, love

Since Retta's too little for Valentine candy I made her a new headband

Playing in the park

Halloween!

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, the best of friends (let's hope right?!)

I love Halloween so much more now that we have kids. I can't think of much in this world cuter than little kids in Halloween costumes, and getting to make parts of their costumes really appeals to my inner craft nerd. This year Halloween felt especially big because we had been cooped up fighting some nasty virus for nearly 2 weeks and we were all so cagey that getting out and about for trick or treating felt like a major social event. Also, when we woke up on Halloween morning, Retta was sitting up in our bed cheerfully babbling when we ALL heard her say, "Mama!" Music to my ears. Not that I'm jealous that she had already said "Dada" or anything, but it was definitely my most memorable Halloween treat this year.  Before getting costumed-up my mom and I also took Rowan to see Sesame Street Live for the first time, which was a banner experience for Rowan. It was really cool to see her even wider-eyed than usual trying to take it all in. She was super impressed by the cannons that shot streamers out into the crowd during the big finish. Then we got Rowan into her Winnie the Pooh costume (2 minutes) and Retta into her Piglet costume (20 minutes of squirmy rangling) and we were ready to go. We visited grandparents, great-grandparents, family friends, and our neighbors the next day for round two. Rowan got loads of candy and cool toys while Retta enjoyed baby food, a teddy bear, some money and glow-in-the-dark pacifiers. She also hauled in a lot of candy for her parents. Not bad for a baby's first try at this whole trick or treating gig. Here are the pictures...

Trying to figure out how to bust into her treat baby food at my grandfather's apartment

Attempts at taking a photo where both girls were looking at the camera were futile, but these are still cute

She barely fit in her car seat!

The little pig trying to crawl across the floor while also gumming a jar of baby food...

Feeling a little 11'oclockish!