Valentine’s Day

I didn’t used to like Valentine’s Day, but marriage and kids has made me enjoy it a lot more. It’s easy to decorate for, easy to teach the story of St. Valentine, and really fun to make valentines. I’m a very much prefer a homemade valentine to a store bought one, so each year I pick three options for my boys to choose from for their classmates. 

Lewis chose a fish one. Super simple. 

Augustine chose silly straws. Even more simple. 

And Elias discovered the happiness of glue sticks and stickers. He must have made 15 different valentines. They’re all hilariously cute. 

Grandma & Grandpa gave us valentines and a cake for after school snack, and Grandma Kathleen stopped by with valentines for everyone too!

Lewis’ favorite is the fun dip candy. He traded Augustine for all of his fun dips. 

Augustine’s favorite was the hot chocolate kit. 

Elias’ favorite was the cake, but I didn’t get a picture of him eating it. It took us quite a while to convince him that the cake was for our whole family and not just him. 

More Baby Food

Today’s baby appointment went well. Blood sugars are good. Blood pressure is high maintenance but it’s up to a much better level for now. I’m not constantly dizzy with legs that feel like jello. Baby “is not big” which is the goal, so woot! Only 11 more weeks to go. 

I just wanted something good to eat tonight.  I know low carb will always be *almost* good, but oh well. We do breakfast for dinner a lot these days because it’s easy and Aldi has cheap eggs. These almond flour cinnamon scones rolled out very nicely. The dough was easy to work with. 

They baked up nicely too, and were delicious served warm with deviled eggs. 

I had another one after bedtime and it wasn’t as good. I guess straight out of the oven is best. 

Grocery Store

I saved some boxes from my latest trip to the store. We’ve added more in the last day or two so it’s even more fun! I sat with him and played for about 10 min to help him get into a creative groove, and he got it very quickly. 

He understands the money part way too well. “Mommy, I need to beep your card.”

Lewis wanted to play but was being quite bossy and Elias finally said, “Lewis, you can be my assistant.” I had no idea he knew the word “assistant”, let alone use it in context. 

He must have packed up groceries in the bags and then restocked the shelves to do it again 20 times over. Then his big brothers set up a restaurant next door and called him for grocery delivery. Such easy fun!

Fix-It Man

He was trying to find a place to put his hammer yesterday as he worked so I showed him the tool belt. 

He couldn’t believe there was such a thing. SO handy. 

The washer/dryer had all sorts of issues, but he got it working again. 

Cousins

Me: spell brother

Augustine: b r o t h e r

Me: spell trouble

Augustine: t r o u b l e

Me: good! Spell cousin

Elias: I’m so glad I have Thomas. 

What Elias Has Been Up To

Playing Zingo. Correctly. From start to finish. 



Listening to books on tape from my childhood. The kid loves The Lion King. 

Painting the edges at grandma’s house...for pretend. 

Making valentines for all his loves. 

Playing and playing and playing. He loves sets of any kind with lots of guys and pieces and trucks. He’s starting to whisper-think which is my favorite preschool age habit. 

Getting a kick out of his tongue matching his jammies despite being diagnosed with the beginnings of croup. 

Family Pizza Night

I just couldn’t cook the other night so we went to Blaze Pizza. It’s really a fun place. 

Build your own pizzas. 

And they have vegan cheese for the Elias’ of the world!!!! He was so happy to be included.