Valentine's Day

February 13-14:  Sadie (as always) had a great time making her Valentine box and Valentines for her class.  Aunt NeeNee was here for a visit and she helped Kinnick make his Minion box.  Sadie helped Macey create her Paw Patrol-themed box.  The kids are not allowed to bring candy--Sadie passed out Sunglasses, Kinnick did Teddy Grahams ("Bear Hugs") and Macey did mini Cereal boxes (I "cereal-sly" like you Valentine).  They all enjoyed their party days with their classes.

Grandma & Grandpa Gorsch came for a visit.  We enjoyed dinner out followed by cupcakes to celebrate Macey & Janet's birthdays...

On Valentine evening, we enjoyed a movie night with Heart-Shaped Pizza...

Marc and I also got a date night out while Grandpa & Grandma watched the kids.  Marc surprised me with a new Stella & Dot necklace and earrings... And flowers!

Winter Miscellaneous

January--March:

Shopping with Christmas Gift Cards:

Bathtime Fun!

Sadie's Chocolate Cake:

Cutest Mess-Maker Ever...

Date day to TCBY:

Playing in the Snow with neighbors...

I love my Friday afternoons with all my kiddos home for the weekend:

This kid loves to be like mom...

The boys woke up early one morning and this is how I found them:

Chocolate Face!

Carver had lots of breathing treatments this winter, but he got really good at taking them!

Todd & Jennifer came to visit and they brought a birthday cake for Macey & Kyra:

The kids became obsessed with making "projects" using items from our recycling bin...

Marc helped Kinnick make his Valentine box for school:

Macey helped make her birthday cupcakes:

5-year Check-up:

Birthday party!

I was SUPER excited to purchase my first pair of real running shoes (which now have over 200 miles on them!)

We got to watch Bennett and Jett for a day... lots of fun with these cute girls:

Enjoying the early spring weather whenever we could:

Carver developed an obsession for hats.  He always had to have one on and he kept claiming all of Kinnick's as his own!

"That's All Folks!"

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was pretty low-key for us this year. We started Sunday night by mixing up Valentine snack mix to take to our friends Monday at our play group. We made a big batch of puppy chow (with valentine sprinkles) and mixed it with cranberries, cherrios, valentine m&m's, and gummy hearts...

My kids spent the night at Ms. Pearl's the night before Valentine's Day... so Marc and I got to enjoy a date night early. We had Panda Express (at home) and painted our bathroom. I went to pick the kids up the next afternoon (after more painting).

We got to spend Valentine evening with our small group. We had tacos and a surprise baby shower for one of the couples in our group--it was the perfect night of fun and friends. I made this cake for the shower:

The top layer was chocolate with raspberry filling and the bottom was white with lemon cream filling. My first try at adding fillings... turned out very tasty!

So Bridget and Jared were told by their Dr. that they were having a girl... they finished their nursery (SO cute and girly) and found out at 32 weeks that it was actually a boy! (They are so on top of things--their nursery was converted in about two weeks and is now adorable for their little guy!) We are waiting to meet him any day now!

Because we barely got to see out kids on Valentine's Day, we had a special breakfast the next morning to celebrate V-Day and Macey's birthday. I made these heart shaped cinnamon rolls (thanks Pinterest!)...

with pink frosting and pink smoothies. I set the table with some fun surprises for all my Valentines!

Marc took the day off for Macey so we enjoyed a laid-back breakfast before beginning our day of fun.

A Heart-Filled Day

I have always liked Valentine's Day, but I think I enjoy it even more being a mom! I love celebrating the love that our family has for one another and I also enjoy coming up with ways to make the day special. Here's a look at Valentine's 2011 for the Gorsch Family: The kids started the day by finding these balloons tied to their chairs. Sadie come up to my room to wake me up early (typical for her) and said "Mom! I love Macey's birthday balloons!" She was even more excited when I explained that they were for her and Kinnick. (We were at a surprise b-day party Saturday night and towards the end they started handing out balloons to all the kids. Sadie was so disappointed when she didn't get one... so when I saw these in the dollar tree the next day, I had to get them!)

We had big plans to head to Bloomington and meet friends, so I needed a quick a breakfast. I made the kids heart-shaped toast with pink sprinkles and pink milk/apple juice.

Our plans were to try a new place I'd heard about called "Make-A-Mess". We were meeting the Downings and the Humistons. When we got there, we were all having trouble finding it so I called only to find out they had recently went out of business. (Steph did find the building...) We were bummed, but we improvised. Chuck E. Cheese it was!

Me with my three little Valentines...

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but a week-day morning is a perfect time to go to Chuck E. Cheese with little kids! They were pretty much empty which gave our little ones more freedom to roam (and gave us a little more opportunity to visit--although not enough!)

The kids napped on the way home, so when we got home I loaded them right into the stroller and off we went delivering cookies to the neighbors.

Back home to read Valentine books and start on our special dinner...

We had a "fancy" dinner--china, candles, sparkling grape juice in a bucket of ice, toasting glasses (that Marc picked out), flowers (from Marc), and music playing. We made fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken and mushrooms, sauteed green beans, garlic bread, and salad with olive garden dressing! For dessert we had warm chocolate mini-cakes with cream cheese filling and a chocolate glaze (I will for sure be making those again!)

My best valentine... (I had some special surprises for him too!)

I had planned a scavenger hunt for the kids, but it got to be too late (and a school night) so we postponed it until the next evening. I remembered this idea from an episode of John & Kate (I used to love that show!) I picked up a few goodies from the dollar store and Target Dollar spot and also got a few candy treats. I hid all of the treats and let the kids listen to clues to find them. They loved it!

Clue #1

Finding Goodies

Their last stop--books in the freezer!

Showing off their Valentine loot!

Sadie loves her new socks!

It really was a perfect day--I continue to feel so blessed with this life God has given me!