Happy Valentine's Extraveganza

Hoped I spelled extraveganza correctly. Anyway, we had a great Valentine's celebration, which lasted three days! We don't normally make a big deal out of the holiday, but we were in the mood this year, so we "partied". On Thursday, we took the kids to Applebees (their choice) for supper. They were pretty well-behaved, although Ben had to use the bathroom seven times before he actually DID anything. Gotta love the recently potty-trained. At the end of our meal, the waiter came up and asked if we wanted dessert. The boys responded rather enthusiastically, but we declined and they were a little confused. :) After dinner we went to Wal-Mart where the kids spent their Valentine's money from their great-grandma. I had a hard time helping them out, but we hit the jackpot when we found the clearance toy section. Matthew found a light saber, Anna got a kangaroo that had snaps, buttons, zippers, etc, and Ben got himself a toy coffee maker. He loves that thing and has spent hours "making" coffee and pouring it into the little coffee mugs. He has inspired us to get him a whole kitchen set for his birthday, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. We found an inexpensive one at Wal-Mart that looks pretty sturdy and got great parent reviews.

Rob and I actually exchanged gifts on Thursday b/c we have the hardest time waiting. I got him some candy, a t-shirt, and a tie to wear on our date. He got me some candy and an MP3 player so I can listen to my music while I work around the house w/o have little people complain that they can't hear the TV. Woo-hoo!

On Friday, Rob and I went out for a date. He is required to attend the Artist Series at Maranatha, which isn't too bad b/c it was Foundation Brass from BJU, an excellent brass ensemble. But, that meant that ALL of the MBBC students were required to go, hence we had no babysitters. After scrounging and praying, we found a wonderful family to watch the kids. Two of the girls are MBBC students, but the mom and youngest daughter were more than happy to watch the kids. They had pizza, made a cool craft, played with their dalmation, and had a blast. We went out for supper, shopped for a bit at the outlet mall, had fun in the falling snow (God's Valentine's gift to me!!!) and enjoyed the concert. It was a grand evening out.

Valentine's Day itself was a little quieter, seeing as Rob needed a good chunk of the day to work on his paper. (Due Saturday...please pray he finishes on time and alive!!) He did make pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and I gave the kids their cards, a plush heart in their favorite colors, and a Tummy Tickler drink. He also made them heart-shaped pizzas for supper, even a cheese-only one for Anna, which she gobbled down!

Last night, Matthew sang in the Cherub Choir at church. As usual, the group was darling, but Matthew kept grabbing the microphone. I asked him why later and he said he wanted to make sure we could hear him b/c the girl next to him was so loud! He's so cute!

Oh, and totally unrelated, but Anna is taking independent steps now. She hasn't just taken off to walk yet, but will walk a little. She could do it if she wanted to, but seems a little uncertain. We've had to trick her a few times to get her to walk! Won't be long now!