Valentine's Week

Justin commuted to California for work on Monday! He left early in the morning and was home by 7:45. Evelyn thought it hilarious he took an airplane to work. He had a job interview, after meeting with the company they decided not to hire him. Apparently, he was energized enough after a long commute and a full day of interviewing. That was disheartening. We had a really, really good Come Follow Me lesson for FHE. For the first time the kids were engaged until Justin walked in! Hooray.

Tuesday afternoon Kieran, Josie, and I drove out to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix for her Senior Photos. I die! The location was completely gorgeous, Kieran so full of beauty and personality. Josie did well tagging along with her lunchbox full of snacks in the stroller. Sister Godard watched the kids until Justin got home. Amelia came home with a tummy and head ache. She swiftly succumbed to the stomach flu. Everett also had the stomach flu towards bedtime. Both kids stayed home from school the next day, feeling poorly again. Come Saturday Phillip and Josie came down with the stomach flu. Poor Josie was up until 11 pm barfing in a bowl. I think it's hilarious when Dog Vader barks she tells me Vader is barfing. Well, for the first time today she said Vader was barking. I think she understands the difference now. Phillip is by far the messiest barfer, he made it to the bathroom...but not the toilet. I'm happy it was not the carpet.

Aunt Charity sent us a fun box of every type of kid snack for Valentine's Day! The kids were thrilled to pick and choose their favorites. We loved saying thank you via facetime. Monday I looked outside in between piano lessons to check on Everett. When I looked I could see the sun illuminating his spit spray as he made outrageous weapon sounds. It made a really cool photo...or 20 photos. I can just hear the sound effects as I look at those photos.

Wednesday we had New Beginnings for Amelia. We had to bring all the kids so that felt a bit crazy. Amelia was glowing with all the newness of the program. Pretty exciting.

Valentine's day was amazing. The kids went off with their cute boxes, bags of cards and treats, decked out in red and pink colors. The girls had heart braids in their hair. I surprised the kids with cute stuffies and candy. The boys FINALLY got their own squishimal. I though Everett's was a boy but turned out it's name was Kylie...he renamed his stuffy to Kyle. Done! It's a boy now, named Kyle. Josie, Gabi, and I took Justin out to lunch at Cafe Rio to celebrate another day of love. I took several rounds of cute baby photos studio style of two darling blessing gowns and a baby's 6 month photos. Sister LaBarr brought us a huge box of sugar cookies, frosting bags, and sprinkles as a thank you! Hooray! The kids all came home hyped up on sugar and excited over their fun day. Isla and Evelyn played Valentines for the rest of the afternoon. Amelia was disappointed her class chose to NOT hand out Valentines. Instead they opted for a pizza party. Justin came home arms laden with beautiful flowers for all the girls! He surprised me with a potted plant of Azalea's! Yassss! We enjoyed shrimp scampi and asparagus by candlelight for dinner. Yum. The scampi looked strange because the garlic turned green and purple. Justin represented at work, he wore the cute wooden heart Evelyn made in class. After school she explained that Justin and I have to take turns wearing the heart for the rest of our lives! Ha ha ha! She is in love with her rainbow llama!

Amelia went to the temple after school with her friend Ruby Smith and her YW's class. She was baptized for three more family members! That girl is on fire. At home we packed up the kids and headed to Build a Bear to spend Josie's last few birthday dollars. She's pined over the Skye doll, jacket, helmet, and wings set they sell. She was so cute picking out her animal, filling it, rubbing her heart (and etc), and then washing her new pet. The best was afterwards. We let the kids play on the play area for a while. Justin got us ice cream cones to enjoy. Josie went at it! She licked her cone super fast with her eyes closed. Made us all laugh!

Saturday we stayed home once Phillip started to barf. Justin did replace the ballast in the laundry room florescent light, it has been inoperable for over a month now. I love having light again. I did a bit of thrifting. The pickings are good lately!

Today we stayed home again after Josie started her night barf session. I decided it best to keep all our germs at home, only Justin went to church. We watched Ephriam's Rescue for our church content. Made us all cry and feel grateful for our shoes and circumstances. Mary Goble Pay has a quote at the end of the movie! We are related to her! I met with the bishop at 3 pm for various reasons. Comes down to the wire that I need some help to overcome some of emotional baggage. Gotta see a professional to help cut out the strangeness. Life is just hard sometimes.