Happy Valentine's Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

From these two little monkeys!!

Tolerating a tight squeeze and kiss from Sissy.

And he's had all he can take....we're done with the photo shoot.

Gracyn was so excited to open up all her Valentines from school when she got up from her nap. To her delight, she got a new bracelet!!

Here's what she got me....she made it at school. LOVE it!!!

We got them a few treats...Hudson was loving his new Buzz Lightyear.

Gracyn got a Jessie purse--perfect for her to keep all her Squinkies in.

Gracyn was more interested in what Hudson got at first, than seeing her surprises. She played with all of his things first....go figure!

Happy Heart Day!!

"Balentimes"

Gracyn is so excited to hand out her "Balentimes" to all her friends!! I found this printable on Pinterest and tweaked it a little bit to make her Valentines.

The front says, "Valentine, you make my heart BOUNCE!"

And the back says "Happy Valentine's Day!"

I took her to Old Navy with a bunch of quarters and let her get the bouncy balls out of the big gumball machine. She LOVED it! She was a great little helper.

Sleeping Beauty

This little girl just cracks me up!! This is how we found Gracyn the other night when we went in to check on her before we went to bed. She told us that it was her "sleeping crown." Ha!

Sleeping Beauty
While we thought she was trying to go to sleep, she was busy picking out her outfit for the next day. She was so proud to show me the next morning. She said that she had long sleeve and short sleeve for hot or cold. She even picked out shoes to match! Love that she gives herself options....she is SO my daughter!! Ha!

Check out the bow to go with it tucked in the top of the shirt. This one even somewhat matches.

Another night when we thought she was going to bed, we walked in to find this. She was so excited to show me her new "game" the next morning. I'm not sure how you play it....but Hudson liked moving all the books around--Gracyn, DID NOT! :) Love, love, LOVE this girl to pieces!

YEE-HAW!!

Gracyn was so excited when I came home with new pink cowgirl boots and a matching hat. She immediately put them on....
"YEE-HAW!"

Trying to get her hat just right....

Then she said she was taking a bath and got into this basket.

We're all set for Rodeo Day at school. She was so excited to get to wear all her new western gear!

Hudson wanted his hat on too.
And his mittens...
Look at these two little cuties!! :)

She had so much fun playing on the hay horse at school.

Gracyn had early dismissal that day, and she wanted to go to lunch at Alamo Cafe. It was a Mommy- Gracyn date...

...and I loved every minute of it!!

Hanging Out

On Sunday, Mimi and Pop took the kids to church while Drew and I ran a 5K in the frigid 40 temperature--I know, I'm a trooper! :) I'm saying a prayer of thanks that it started raining later on in the day. I'm not sure I would have done it in the rain... Drew ran it in 23 minutes and I did it in 25 minutes. We relaxed and hung out the rest of the afternoon.
I'm loving Hudson's relaxing pose--he sleeps like this too!I'm constantly having to get Hudson out of the toy chest. He loves to sit in there with all the toys.

He does look pretty cute just sittin' in there though....

Of course, he couldn't have ALL the spotlight--little Miss Priss was soon to follow! :)

Love these two crazy kiddos!

They love going for a ride on Daddy's back.

"Hold on!"And....down they go!

Pom Pom Jar

We started a new thing with Gracyn a while back using pom poms as an incentive to help her make good choices. I think it really worked--though Drew and I need to learn to be more consistent with it. She thrived on getting praises and putting a pom pom in the jar. There were three marks on it that she earned rewards for when she reached them. She picked out her rewards. The first one was ice cream--we went to McDonald's and she got to get an ice cream cone and play. I forgot my camera though, so no pictures of that. And....the ice cream sticker fell off the jar. Whoops!

The next reward was going to get a cupcake. She was so excited about this! The place was having a private party, so we had to bring it home to eat. But that didn't bother her one bit!

She picked a pink cupcake with sprinkles

--and only ate the frosting. :)

Her last reward for filling up the whole jar was a treat or toy that she's been wanting.

She decided that Squinkies would be her prize.
There are so many to choose from--but Gracyn was sure of which ones she wanted--Toy Story and Little Mermaid--and the girl didn't waiver one bit. When she decides on something in her mind, it's set in stone. The hard part now will be trying to keep them all together since they're so small!

Gracyn's favorite things to play with are her little people and figurines. She could line them up and arrange them and play with them all day. I know that she'll enjoy playing with these. Way to go Gracyn!! We are so proud of you for making good choices and for being a good example to Hudson! Now, it's time to start over and fill up the jar again! :)

"Arting"

Gracyn LOVES to paint!! When I pick her up from school, the first thing she tells me is if she painted or not. Mimi got her these paints for Christmas, and she's been dying to use them. I finally gave in and let her go to town.

While she was painting, she told me, "Look Mommy, I'm arting!"