My sweet, sweet Evonne...

I met Evonne years ago when we lived in Boise. We were in the same ward at church and we lived across the street from each other. Awhile after, she discovered that I cleaned houses for a living and was needing some help, so she hired me. Little did I know that I would grow to love her like a Grandma. I used to take her grocery shopping, out to lunch, to the bank to cash checks, wrap christmas presents and write her holiday cards. We have sat and watched Jeporady, Wheel of Fortune, the news, ate candy together, de junked her craft room and had countless talks over the past 8 years about everything their is to talk about. (Seriously, we've covered every topic out there from birth control to gun control!)
The beautiful thing about our friendship is that we truely care and love one another. I am so excited to show her pictures from a recent trip, or vent about something,get her advice or tell her a funny joke- while she is happy to have a friend to talk to,a clean home, and have someone open her water bottles and put them back in the fridge for her. (she was born with 1 hand, so twisting caps off is kind of difficult to do. Every time I'm there, I un twist 4 or 5 bottles for her. One of my most favorite things to do.)All I can say is I love this woman with all my heart, so when she fell last week and broke her hip, a part of my heart shattered. I spent days talking to her son getting updates and then last Tuesday the girls and i went to see her at the hospital but were unable to go in. she had just been moved to the ICC and children were not allowed. We were so sad but were able to give our paper flowers, drawings and treats to her Grand daughter who was there visiting her. We finally went to see her yesterday at the new hospital she is at. It felt so great to see her, to talk with her and to tell her how much I love her. Of course she was so mad at herself for falling and she hated being in the hospital (she's been so independant and living on her own all these years.) i told her to hurry up and get walking so we could go have our lemon pie at Marie Calendars (something we were planning on until Tristin came down with Strep & Scarlet fever. Something I am so sad we haven't done yet.) She is hopeful she will return home and I am unsure if that will actually happen. I know what the reality is when someone is 93 with an injury, I know because I have found myself crying and unable to sleep at 3:00 in the morning because of it. I am not sure how much time we have left with her, but I do know that she is a fighter and if that plays into anything- she will be ok. I love my sweet friend with all my heart and it was so great to see her. As we were driving home Grace asked, "Mommy, why is Evonne so crinkley?" In my heart I answered, because she is 93, sweety, and she has lived a very long time...

Trav gets crafty...

This year for Valentines day we knew our budget was zero dollars, which was fine, so we decided to give "handmade" presents this year. ( I do it every year anyway!) But Trav really surprised me... he got out card board, scrapbook paper, a hole punch, glue, silver rings and wrote his feelings out on paper! I was so proud of him because he did a great job without even searching craft blogs for idea's! He made me a flip calendar with reasons why he loves me... the best part is that he worked on it for over a hour and even left exacto blade marks on the black computer chair- and Im not even mad! I made him a little heart book with a bunch of reasons why I love him (His is on the left. Mine is on the right.)Other than that, I was exausted and in bed by 9:00PM- seriously! It was the best Valentine's day ever!

Valentines Day...

I know I posted this last year but... growing up, one of my favorite holidays was valentines Day, not because of boyfriends, flowers or chocolate, but because my Mom made it such a special day for us!
She made us breakfast in bed every Valentine's Day and I LOVED it!!! I looked forward to it every year. Now that I'm a Mom, I realize it doesn't take too much to impress kids, which is nice- but I also know how early she had to get up to serve us all, get us out the door for school, and then get to work by 8:00 AM.She was and is the most amazing woman in the world.
One reason I adore my Mama is because she gives everyone "their" moment and makes everyone around her feel so loved. Every holiday there were decorations, treats, cards and whatever else she could afford at the time. She made holidays wonderful and birthdays memorable even if all she could give her $ 3.00 canvas shoes from Kmart and our favorite box of cereal. Even now she sends the kids cards filled with dollars for every holiday. Even though I dont get breakfast in bed anymore, I can still look forward to her package of little treats for us and I love it- still. Thank you Mom.

I decided to do breakfast at the table for my kids each Valentine's Day instead. The truth is, I don't want to have to wash 3 loads of sheets & blankets, so I'll save the breakfast in bed until they are older! The kids were thrilled when they woke up and had fun eating candy for breakfast (gasp) and reading their valentine's. You can't see the other decorations, but there were streamers and more decorations- they thought it was great. Afterwards, Tristin gave me that famous hug and said, "Thanks Mom" which was a boy way of saying; That was super cool and I loved it but I can't get too excited or I'll be acting like my little sisters, and that isn't cool.
Later in the day we made our Valentine deliveries to friends & family and the girls loved hopping out of the van and knocking on doors to give them treats.
In the morning, Grace, Willow & I did our normal Double coupon shopping at Albertson's and we even took Valentines to them. Grace delivered treats and cards to the workers and you should have seen their faces... it was truely priceless to watch someone go from pricing cheese to be handed a shiney bag from a 4 year old. Their smiles & surprised faces were the best part of the day. Grace recieved lots of hugs from our friends there and we talked about how great it feels to make someone smile! To me, that's what the day is all about- letting someone know you care, even if all they do is bag your grocies at the store.

Poor Grace wore a dress...

I told Grace to put jeans on with her dress before we left to go swimming, but she didnt listen... so no wall climbing for her. She was so sad that she couldnt do it, but the world would have seen her panties up there so they said No. She was excited when she was able to play on the little 4 foot wall though! She's such a a monkey, look at her Spiderwoman abilities!

Daisy wall climbing...

Daisy was the first one to try it and she was off! I was pretty impressed because its a pretty good sized wall for a 6 year old!

Tristin Wall Climbing...

After swimming at the Y on Saturday, the kids wanted to climb the wall, so we asked about it (because they had never done it before) and found out they could do it! They were thrilled. After a little demo, Trav was helping the kids and they LOVED it! They were fearless!