this last week

michael caught the stomach bug the kids had so i got to spend friday  night reading my book and eating a leftover cookie

 i love seeing these two play together

 he is so loved and taken care of

 nice mustache

 finally got to go out for a valentine's day date on saturday

we went to dinner at the cheesecake factory with michael's birthday gift card from last may

and then to see the greatest showman with michael's free movie tickets from work

so it was a free date and so much fun! i loved it

 olive and i made her a new dress for church on sunday

using the fabric my mom made me a dress with when i was her age

she loved it so much

 meanwhile i stayed home from church with some boys

 who were still recovering from the stomach bug

jude loves being scooted around

 he is sitting on my lap while i'm trying to read my book

he reminds me of his dad :)

 president's day started out with some playdough

and jude learning to climb on the table 

 tuesday bedhead

 and playing in the kitchen with all the chairs and stools

 i always line the girls backpacks up before school once they have their lunches packed 

but henry wanted his lined up, too 

so cute

 baby shower prep

lots of balloons

 i had been wanting to try my hand at a balloon arch and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out

 mr nakie pants running away mid diaper change

 the spread 

it was all delicious

 the guest of honor and her soon to be baby boy

 today we woke up to snow!!! we haven't had snow since Christmas so the kids were thrilled!!

 sometimes i get impatient so instead of waiting for michael and his muscles i do things myself

the girls bunk beds were recently separated so they were both on the ground

but they kept sleeping in each other's beds

 so we decided to trade noah's queen for them so they have more room

 a twin fits so much better in noah's small room 

 henry got the other bunk in his room

 so heavy. i was sweating

 olive and eleanor's new queen to share

they will love having more space

and they are so cute sleeping together

quite the work out

i am wiped but it's nice to remind myself i am strong and can do hard things

valentines day

valentines went a little differently than expected

because the night before henry and eleanor both woke up vomiting

which was a bummer because they had to stay home from school and miss their parties

but luckily they were already feeling a bit better by the next morning 

we wrote them little love notes and gave them a couple treats

jude loves suckers

i set up a fancy lunch for henry and eleanor

to try to ease the pain of missing their class parties

they loved it

and henry kept saying it was the best day ever

eleanor started getting warm and i convinced her to take a nap in the afternoon

when noah got home i left to pick the girls up

and olive was SO happy to have me come to her party for a little bit

i think it made up for missing last years valentines party

 that i didnt know parents were supposed to go to 

she was supposed to dress like the 1950s

we did our best

checking out hazel and olives loot from school

i told michael not to get me flowers and that we would just have dinner at home

to save money since we had just booked our trip to Paris

but he insisted on buying dinner so i didnt have to make it while taking care of sick kids

and he surprised us with sodalicious and cookies

so sweet! and he wrote me the sweetest love letter that i love so much

somehow noah had a middle school band concert scheduled for valentines night

so michael and i went while hazel watched the kids

hot date!

they did great and it was fun to see noah in his element at school

michael and i stayed up late talking and spending time together

and despite all odds it ended up being one of our favorite valentines days together anyway

i guess i am a twice a month blogger

the first half of february

 ...........
happy groundhogs day!

 sweet michael

 baking cookies with the kids

 free zoo day!

 we are getting good at making chinese food at home

 eleanor decided it was time michael teach her to play checkers

 i love this cheeky little baby

 i love that this stroller is nearly 10 years old and still going strong
occasionally carrying three kids at once

 all ready for preschool

 soaking up the sunshine

 a love note from eleanor

 jude loves hanging out with the chickens

 eleanor keeps talking about how grateful she is
that Heavenly Father sent her to such a wonderful family
she is the sweetest

late night date night

 i love seeing jude in noahs old clothes ive been saving for so long

 the girls loved making their valentine boxes

 stoked about our new dining room light

 judes hair is growing...a little

 the 100th day of school!

 plasma car races with the whole family
mom vs dad

 saturday morning at the temple

 free sodalicious for the grand opening in meridian

 the discovery center
i think michael is the cutest wearing jude

 we stopped by the boise library just for fun
and they happened to have a thing going on with dogs
sadly, jude loves dogs but we think he is allergic to them, too
his face got a little hivey and broke out pretty bad afterward all over

 cafe rio

 working on valentines
michael is a sweet dad

 sunday morning i gave olive her first sewing lesson
she was so happy and such a good learner
it touched her i guess, because afterward she hugged me and thanked me a hundred times
for teaching her

 henry and jude were not happy to sit in sacrament
or even the hallway
so we went outside to get some wiggles out

 henry made a tower to sit on for prayer

 fhe about the plan of salvation

 on monday michael texted me that he had seen a good deal on flights to Paris
it sounded awesome but i did not expect anything to come of it
as we have dreamt of traveling but it has never worked out
i currently have a 9 year old stampless passport from when we wanted to go to italy 9 years ago
but instead michael went back to school and we needed that money
anyway, i figured michael was just daydreaming and we would not actually go
until he came home from work and told me he had already asked his parents to stay an extra week
when they come in may and he said he thought we should book it
WHAT!!!!
we are actually going to Paris for a week in may
i am sooooo excited!
this is a picture of us booking it

next up...valentines day