What happened to Valentines Day?

When I was a child in elementary school I loved Valentines Day. I loved decorating my shoe box with pretty hearts and Xs and Os. I loved making my valentines or choosing out my cards. And I was always very careful to give the appropriate card to the appropriate person. Remember how a box of valentine cards would come with 2-4 special cards that were bigger? I was always sure to give those to the people I liked the most... meaning a best friend, a teacher, and the two boys I was sure I was in love with.

Over the past 4 years as I have watched Sage experience Valentines Day, I have come to the realization that cards and notes are no longer as popular as suckers and nerds. Last year when my kids brought home their Valentines Day loot, they showed me what they had received, and honestly it looked more like a bag of  pink and red Halloween candy than a bag of sweet cards. How are you supposed to know that a boy likes you from a simple box of nerds? It seems as though the point of valentines day has been lost. The simple joy of opening an envelope and reading a card is no longer existant among our children. Instead its how much candy you can get.

So this year I am going to find cards that actually come with envelopes and have room for my kids to write a sincere note to their classmates. And I am going to teach them that valentines day is not just another holiday to get candy candy candy. And hopefully as they grow up, they will realize that you do not have to purchase chocolates and presents for valentines day. It is not Christmas. Its a time to express your love even if its with a simple letter of admiration or adoration.

Ryker 4 Months

Please Ignore the spit up! Nerd boy did that just before the shoot.

Cute, Neat, and Fun

Just so darn cute!! Love my little Ryker.

Blued eyed angel.

This is my bush by my front steps. I just thought it was neat. I love nature.

Close up of frozen bush.

Shows the drip sequence:) Pretty blue sky.

I know she looks a bit satanic right now... but as I watched her gracefully flee my yard she was anything but satanic.

Deer as they leave the yard.

Last deer out of 12 to leave that were eating my bushes 

Jace and Jesus Turn Another year Older

I know... cheesy title but its all I could think of due to lack of sleep:).

Jace turned 2 on the 16th of December. I found a lovely recipe for a Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting covered in a Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze. If you want the recipe check my Pinterest under good food. It was seriously a heaven sent cake. A little rich but I got past that quickly seeing how my super powers include being able to eat incredibly rich food without my heart skipping a beat. I am sure this super power will lead to my demise one day.  Anyway, back to Jace and his birthday. Curtis used his hidden artistic skills and decorated the cake creating a scene of a man on a motorcycle riding the highway. Jace loved the cake since he absolutely adores peanut butter, chocolate, and motorcycles. This year he managed to open all his present by himself and he even blew out his candles without assistance and without spitting all over the cake. Yes Jace is quite the talented 2 year old. Overall we had a great day celebrating his birthday.

Christmas was a nice relaxing and fun day. I was really excited for Christmas this year for one reason or another. So I got up really early and ushered the kids upstairs. All the kids loved their presents and we had fun eating all day and gaining our holiday weight. Jace learned about Baby Jesus, the three kings, and the angel this year. Mary and Joseph are still Mom and Dad though... which is understandable. We will work on that next year. Sage and Ashton had a blast playing with all their new spoils. And I got to start on my next stocking for Jace (I hand stitch all my stockings and they take months and months to complete.)

New Years Day was fun. Curtis and I got the opportunity to go on a rare date without the kids and head over to my parents house where my mom had prepared a wonderful French raclette. What is a raclette? Well let me describe it to you! Actually just take a look at this picture.

Each person has a little tray to themselves where they can put whatever they want in it and cook it. Cheese, meats, breads, veggies, mushrooms... the sky is the limit. Than you dump it over a potato and eat it. I absolutely love this style of eating. Mostly because it reminds me of France. After food we played games and then headed home around 10pm where Curtis and I spent a fairly quiet evening alone loving each other while the kids slept soundly in their beds. I would be lying if I said we stayed up till midnight... We did not, but the fireworks did wake us up and Curtis and I gave our traditional half asleep kiss to each other.

As for New Year Resolutions, well We all have a few. Let me share them.

Curtis: Curtis' resolution is to keep me and the family happy.

Becky: Lose my 10 pounds (already lost 3 since the beginning of the year.)
            Be a better person overall including a better mother and wife (I am hard on myself.)

Sage: Get better at her Gymnastics

Ashton: Make new friends

Jace: He has not told me what his are but I would think it has something to do with writing on every imaginable surface their is in my house and collecting every car in existence.

Ryker: Grow and survive his older brothers and sister.

Cassie: Attempt to gain access and be welcomed on mine and Curtis' Bed. Good luck with that Cassie.

"I wish I were a Man!"

It was Sunday morning. I had just finished getting all the kids fed, cleaned up, and dressed up for church. I looked at my clock and discovered I had 10 more minutes before I had to load the kids up and head for the chapel. I quickly threw on a dress and stepped into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and saw a head full of half dried frizzy hair that needed to be tamed by product,  blow drying and straightening. Frustrated, tired, and exasperated I yelled to my husband, "I wish I were a Man."  Did those words truly come out of my mouth? Yes, they sure did.

I am a woman. Most days I do not mind being a woman. I love to feel and express my feelings. I love to be romantic and I like a good cry. I prefer dramas over action and thillers and I actually love wearing dresses. I have no issues with asking for advice, help, or directions and find it silly when people waste time on trying to do something on their own when they could simply ask for assistance and get it done 20 times faster. I love shaving my legs, keeping them smooth on a daily basis, and I love having my face framed by long hair.

BUT I also hate shopping especially for myself, prefer to get dirty outside than do a craft inside, and I absolutely abhor the idea of making a scrapbook. My long hair was up in a ball cap for most of my college years and most of my friends including my best friend from college are male. In fact I am very particular about the woman I choose to spend a lot of time with. There are very few woman I consider a best friend. And yes, spending an absurd amount of time trying to get my hair to behave is not my idea of time well spent. However... (going back to why I like being a woman and would make a poor man)... I do love my man. And I do like to appeal to all his senses. So yes I do take the time to do my hair. But do I do my hair every day including a full face of makeup. Heavens no. Its not me to overdue it on any of that stuff. Which is most likely one of the reasons my man does love me.

So do I really want to be a man? No, not really. But sometimes I think it would be nice on those days that being a woman is more of a hassle than not and when what the boys are doing appeals to me far more than what the girls are doing (which happens all the time). I guess you could call me the girliest kind of Tom Boy there is:). Love me for who I am because I'm afraid I am not changing any time soon.