Happy Balentimes Day!!!!!!

We've been hearing a whole lot of "Happy Balentimes Day" around here... it's awesome! (In case you were wondering I was referring to Peyton.... okay and Wes a little too). Every time we've had cookies, cupcakes, or balloons she says it. And out of nowhere today she busted it out... too funny.

And we've done quite a bit of celebrating Balentimes Day here too.

1st: Church Playgroup party at my friend Kim's house. (seriously if you live near me and want in... regardless of where you go to church/ or don't, let me know, we mom's have just as much fun as the kids). :) We decorated cookies, decorated our Valentine's bags, played with all of Kim's fun toys, and passed out Valentine's to our friends. It was a blast! Ella's friend from next door came with the Brobergs and exclaimed half way through the party that, "this is the best Valentine's Day party EVER!" It was special.

2nd: Peyton and I went to story-time at the library where they read lots of Valentine's books followed by cookie decoration. That's at 10:30am at the Perris branch library for any interested in joining us each week.

3rd: My parents hosted a Valentines/FHE for all the kids and families... heaven for them all. Sugar high with cousins... nothing is better. We decorated cookies (I hate this activity because I can't resist a good frosted sugar cookie and always eat too many). :) Then the kids did a scavenger hunt for their loot from Nana and Boppie (pop rocks and fun dips). Then we all played a good BINGO game. Followed by heart shaped pasta and poison lemonade... it was bad! The lemonade that is. :) Fresh lemonade 2 days later is NOT fresh anymore. We ended the night with face painting and balloons.

 Thanks Nana and Boppie

Valentine's Day: I made blue pancakes (man's pink right? Okay, really I did not know I was out of red food coloring) and heart shaped eggs and heart shaped bacon for breakfast. Then Wes went to work and Peyton and I prepared the house for him to come home. We made him a finger painted card, wrote nice notes around the house, and had a candle lit dinner for 2 set and ready for him to come home too. I even wore his favorite outfit, which I will not post photos of.  :) (P.S. Peyton was asleep before he got home, so no weirdness for her). We finished the night with a romantic movie... i.e.: The Bourne Ultimatum. :)

On our way to our favorite place... Walmart! Not really but it's across the street so I go often just to get out of the house when I don't have a car. So... we went there for some fun V-day activities and ingredients.

We finger painted a big card for daddy... that I framed for him from Peyt.


And when he got home dinner was hot and ready for him...along with the cheesiest "romantic" songs... we kept laughing during dinner at the stupid songs that would play (I used an online "romantic" play list- so bad).


I love my family and love to share my feelings of love with them daily. But, it is fun to do special things on occasion like fancy dinners at home with music and candles... so I embrace all holidays, even silly ones like Valentine's Day. Plus, we did a nice lesson for Peyton on Christ's love and gift for us... I am sure it really resonated with her too. ;)

Ye Ole' Cross-eyes

Peyton learned a new trick this past week... she is obsessed with doing cross-eyes. Once she does it, she knows how, then she'll keep doing it over and over because she loves to make us laugh. We have to cover her eyes or tell her to stop or she never will.

This video below, we tried to get her to do it on command... which is a little harder because she wasn't in the habit. But, you get a good idea, even if it is not her best.

Chick-Fil-A: Super Heroes

Every Tuesday the Moreno Valley Chick-Fil-A does a 'Family Fun Night'. We go on occasion. This last Tuesday Peyton and I met the Broberg family there for their "Super Hero" night. Unfortunately Weston B. was working. I found out about the theme in the middle of the afternoon and was away from home all day. So, don't judge me on Peyton's poor costume, I put it all together in about 10 minutes and I woke her from her nap to go, thus her crazy hair. :)

We had fun though. We got our dinner, which was "soup"er (free soup for dressing up in a super hero costume, and Peyt and I went in matching capes). Then Petals the clown painted the kids faces, made them balloon art (a poodle, a dinosaur, and a sword), and Peyton hassled the cow the rest of the evening. He made the mistake of dancing with her for a while and she would NOT leave him alone after that. She kept chasing him trying to hold his hands. I finally had to come rescue him after a while. And every time he would walk by our table she would grab her little balloon sword and try to get him.

Like I said... we love taking advantage of fun free activities around where we live. It makes life a little more interesting. Plus, it passes the evening more quickly... always a plus.

Peyton was "Super Cute"

Lunar New Year

We spent Saturday in Downtown Riverside for the Lunar New Year celebrations. It's fun to take advantage of the free, fun festivities that happen around where we live.

The festival was basically a lot of local businesses with booths set up, either selling things, giving away things, or doing demonstrations, etc.

 This booth was doing drum demonstrations. Peyton was NOT having it.

And there were a lot of interesting people there.

 Including these sumo guys.

 My mom and I dressed up in traditional Korean (?) outfits.

 We also tried some new and interesting foods.

We weren't there very long, but we had some fun.

18 Months

Peyton had her 1st 'official' day in nursery!!! Unofficially, she has been going since the beginning of January- per the nursery leaders request. :) The first day she went they said she did awesome. "Just a few tears when they sang 'I am a Child of God.'" Only my crazy baby would cry when they sang that, and at no other time. It all started when I sang it to a baby doll of hers when we were playing and she got jealous. Since then she cries every time she hears that song. We are working on that though. (Must admit, I think it is hilarious though). They also commented on how smart and sweet she is. It makes me so happy to hear those things.

 My baby and I on her big day as a big girl.

She was totally staring off into space and must have had a comfortable stare going because she refused to look at me, and this was after like 30 seconds.... :)

Other things about my 18 month old toddler.... not baby.

-Weighs 24 lbs, don't remember her height or head. (whoops)
-Dr. said she has a high IQ, and is at a 22-24 month old level.
-She obsesses over our fish, Gill. If it was up to her we would feed it every 5 minutes and she would do it every time.

-Has 12 teeth.

-When she sees someone eating and she wants some, she will walk up to you and make a 'chomping" noise.
-Loves to wave 'hi' to people and is very VERY friendly. She makes new friends old and young wherever we go.

-Favorite activity is still reading.

-Jumps off things with no regard to the result and rarely cries even when she biffs it.
-Loves Sesame Street. Favorite characters are Elmo (of course :/ ) and Cookie Monster. When she sees him she says, "Coooookie. Yeah yeah yeah yeah."
-She talks all day long. I can't even count anymore the words she knows. She repeats everything we say and can communicate effectively with words or sign language almost anything she wants. But, when we are in a group she is quiet and plays but doesn't talk much. I truly think she is taking it all in. She understands soooo much it is quite amazing. Learns funny new animals sounds all the time too... like Hippo, rhino and duck.
(This is her face when she makes a hippo sound)

-She likes to stand on her head... with no arms is her favorite.
-She does a funny glare.
-Favorite food: anything noodles, fruit snacks, and apples (but only whole she gets angry when I cut them up).
-Throws tantrums... like roll on the floor tantrums. (It is funny because she gets on the floor so daintily)
-Loves to load and unload dishes (she puts all the silverware in and out, and does the pots and pans well too-seriously she does a good job).
-Has gone pee-pee on the potty about 3-4 times.
-Can almost repeat the entire alphabet with me. (Most of the letters sound pretty similar though).
-When asked her name she will almost always start with "Ummmmm". Sometimes she will answer with "Ummmmm- Pey Pey", and sometimes it is just "Ummmmmmm",  followed by nonsense.
-Cries when singing Child of God" except for before bed or nap.
-Sleeps between 7:30-8:30 and wakes between 7:30-8:30. 1 nap.
-Loves to sing songs, and will try to sing or do hand effects with you if she knows it.
(Singing "happy and you know it shout hooray")

-Loves the park, especially the slides and swings.




-Loves looking for and waving to the moon.
-Everything she likes and we do, after we are done she will look at us, put up 1 finger and say "one more" (probably only we could understand what she says though).

-Tries to make silly faces with us.

-Gives GREAT hugs and kisses to almost everyone. And if she won't it's usually because she wants you to chase her.

Pinterest

Yes, I know we all use it. We all have become subject to spending hours on the site pinning and liking crafts, hairdo (one which I am sporting now in hopes of having curly hair tomorrow morning), but let's be honest the real reason we love it is all the food ideas. I swear I pin more food, sweet, and snack ideas then anything else. There is an occasional work out pin (to get the gluts I want), but then I see how to make home made Snickers and I've completely forgotten the arms I want!

The problem with Pinterest is this. I just went out in my garage and ran/walked for 30 minutes in hopes of getting some sort of exercise in. Don't judge me for my short attention span. However, once I am done "working out" I come on the computer to relax. After looking at Pinterest all I wanna do is snack. I give in to these urges, then instantly feel guilty. Why do I do it? Because food looks really good. What I need to remember is this.... "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." And once I feel skinny, I will tell you if that is true or not.

Some pictures of Pinterest recipes I've tried.

Zucchini baked with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and bread crumbs. So good!!!

 Crescent roll/string cheese pizza bites.... ehh.