Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day gets a lot of attention around our house.  And why shouldn't it?  It's a holiday about love.  And cute decorations.  And good treats.  Here's what's going on around our house today:

I made this pom pom banner for Valentine's Day.  I also got this cute heart wreath.  Love it!

I helped the kids make these cute Valentine's crayon hearts.  Then I took a picture because I will NEVER do that again!  3 kids in school= 90 valentines.  I had to unwrap 400 crayons, spend 4 hours baking the heart crayons, cut out 180 heart or circle shapes, glue, tape and write on each of the valentines.  Super Cute.  Lesson Learned.

I also took darling pictures of my children as usual.  I usually devote a blog post to each child in the days leading up to Valentine's day.  Sorry.  I still love them as much, just don't have the energy.  So, as a lame replacement, I will tell you one of my favorite things about each child.

Norah Rae:  Seriously, I can't get enough of her.  She is so sweet and fun.  Everything that comes out of her mouth is hilarious and darling.  She's a little mimick, always picking things up from who knows where.  For a long time, everytime I said anything to her, she would say in her sweetest voice, "You mean you're not mad at me?"  How could anyone be mad at that darling face?

Jack:  He really is the sweetest kid in the world.  He is obedient and kind and good.  He also tends to find his way into our bed in the middle of the night.  In the morning, I always give him a stern lecture about how he's crowding me.  So, every night he prays that he won't go into our bed.  (Secretly, I love that he still gets in our bed)

Joel:  He wins the award for the most melt downs, the most freak outs, the most rude comments.  He also wins hands down at the most sincere apologies and the most sweet notes.  I can't think of another person I know who has such a strong conscience.  The other day Joel asked me if I could read his scriptures to him and would he still go to heaven if he didn't read them himself?  He turned 8 on Sunday and he kept saying, "I'm 8 now, my whole life just changed."  I adore him for his strong desire to choose the right.  I think I adore him even more because I know he's the one who struggles the most with it.

Merrody:  If there was ever a case for nature over nurture, it's Merrody.  She is constantly demonstrating qualities that I KNOW I didn't teach her!  It must come from some really good genes far back in the family tree somewhere, because Merrody is truly amazing.  The other day, Norah started wandering around the house blowing on Merr's harmonica.  Any of my other children would've freaked out and ripped it out of her hands.  I, myself, probably would've said something like "No, baby, you can't play with that".  Merrody didn't say a word.  She just took Norah by the hand and said, "Hey, I know where we can find you a harmonica your size!"  She is such a tender, patient soul.  I love my Merrody.

Happy Valentine's Day!