Our Week in Pictures!

We've had a fun week at our house....but it's been a bit cranky too.....coming off a week of birthday celebrations and Valentine's celebrations!

I surprised each of the younger 4 children with a box of valentines in their school work boxes this week!  They were so excited!  They are used to them having only schoolwork so they were thrilled to have valentines to fill out!

They all worked very hard on their valentines.  They were anxious to give the out!  I really love when they want to give to others and bless them!  Makes me HAPPY!

Another good part of the week was having Lincoln back!  The kids missed him so much when he was out sick the week before.  I loved this sweet moment: I caught Lydia and Lincoln holding hands.  My kids adore him!  So do I!!!  SWEET boy!

Then of course was Valentine's Day!

We started the day early with our 14th annual Valentine's Scavenger Hunt!

Usually we reserve this for the evening, but we had plans for the evening and co-op all day so we did it first thing...

I don't think everyone was quite awake yet!

First surprise was....Donuts!  

YUMMY!

Now because we had co-op I tried to tie the clues to getting ready to leave.  So after a special breakfast their next treat was hidden in the bathroom and they had to brush their teeth before they got it!

Then the clues led them to the "shoe closet".  After putting on their shoes they got a bucket of popcorn and candy and learned that we were renting 2 movies that night for them to watch with Andrew while Daddy and I went on our date!

Not sure how excited Andrew is.

The final stop was in the school room where they got their last surprise, a small stuffed animal for the little kids, a shirt for Andrew, and PJ's for Sophie.

Then we loaded up the van and headed to co-op!

Co-op was filled with more fun Valentines and treats!

After a full day of classes at co-op all the kids enjoyed playground time!

Lincoln and his co-op buddy!

Love these two!

After Co-op we headed home. Randy was home and had Pizza and movies for the kids.  I had a list of activities for Andrew. Then Randy and I headed out for a date to the ANGUS BARN!

YIPPEE!!!

Randy and I don't go out alone very much, and we certainly don't go anywhere that fancy, so it was a HUGE treat!  We usually don't even celebrate Valentines, other then our scavenger hunt for the kids and maybe a card for each other. I was shocked when he told me he had made reservations for us 2 weeks before!  

WOWSERS!

It was wonderful, and he even shared my favorite desert, blackberry cobbler!

Love my sweet valentine!

Thankful to finally be at a stage when we can get away for a few hours once in a while! 

Grateful for Andrew taking such good care of the crew while we were away!

Friday was basketball.....ALL. DAY.

The boys won their first game and made it to the second round.

Unfortunately they lost in the second round. 

I really enjoyed watching them play.

What a great group of guys!

Flight Fan Section!

All these siblings are troupers!

Saturday morning was SURPRISE....SNOW!!!!

Sooooo Exciting!

They spent most of the morning running back and forth from our house and the neighbors.

Then Nikki (my neighbor) made them hot cocoa and Brian (her husband) played with them....they had a blast!

Saturday afternoon brought two more basketball games, Jackson and Sophie.  I really am ready for basketball season to be OVER!  Saturday evening we had a Q&A at church with a potential associate pastor.  It was good.  Finally, we headed over to Starbucks to hear some of our friends that were playing in the band.

WHEW!

To top off a very full and very fun week Lydia and I got to go see Mary Poppins this afternoon.

Randy's mom and dad have season tickets and gave these to us to use.

I debated on who to take and decided I would take Lydia, because I have done a lot of one on one things with Sophie and I thought Audrey may be a bit young to sit through the entire show right after sitting through church and it was really close to Lydia's birthday...so I invited Lydia to go with me.

She has been sooooo excited about our special date.

After church we had lunch together at McDonald's and headed to the DPAC.

As we were headed to the car she exclaimed, "I am so glad you choose me!"

It was pure elation!

I'm glad too.

I couldn't help but think.....

I'm so glad God chose me.  So glad!  I need to have her same joy over being chosen!

Convicting!

It was a great week....BUT as we loaded up to head to Home Fellowship tonight the wheels fell off.

Too much going.
Too much sugar.
Too much fun!
We had a van full of

Fussing.  Fighting. UGH!

So Randy made the VERY wise decision to turn around and go home.

We had family fellowship instead and dealt with some heart issues and cleaned up from a week filled with too much coming and going and getting.

Now....I'm tired and going to bed!

Night!