I turned 29

 It was my birthday last Monday and I was lucky enough to have Benji home the whole day. I wanted a picture with my favorite little people ever, but they weren't feeling it.

 I relaxed all morning and then Benji and I went out to eat for lunch at the Olive Garden.

Later that night I told the boys that I wanted to get mini cupcakes or a pie for my birthday cake, but they did not think that was appropriate. Birthdays are supposed to have cakes. So even though I don't like cake and Benji is on a no sugar diet I went and got myself a birthday cake.....for the kids. Since I had to pick it out, I decided to have them write something awesome on the cake. This was fun to tell the baker while keeping a straight face! :)

It was a great birthday. Here's to the last year in my 20s! Whew, that makes my head hurt!

The Crane Game

 So it probably has something to do with my maiden name being Crane, but I am really good at the 25 cent crane game at Walmart. I win every time, usually on my first try. I've discovered the trick is picking out an animal that is round, the crane holds on to them better. The machine at Walmart usually isn't stuffed full of toys so it's easy to win.
The problem with the cheap machine is the animals are crazy looking. I think these things are goats, but I'm not sure. I won these for the boys a few days ago.

And then the next day I won one for Hannah.

We also have a few frog monster things and a circle blob. I think the 25 cent machine is full of toys made my people who have never seen real animals. :)

How to get a little boy to eat peas....

Valentine picture outtakes

 Hannah does not like to take pictures with her brothers lately. If I place her in the middle of them or have her stand next to them she freaks out. I was trying to get a picture that I could add to their Valentines they were sending to family, but Hannah was being so difficult that we decided to try having her sit in a basket. While that did stop her from running, she still didn't want to be there. Her face is pretty amusing, but Sam's face makes these pictures funny.

Best one of Hannah.

Poor, poor basket baby.

I decided to try the next day, but it was a lot of the same old, same old.

I don't know how I managed, but here is the winner.

 

It's better than nothing!!!

Peek a boo

 I was playing peek-a-boo with Hannah on my bed today and she was pulling so many adorable faces that I had to get my camera. These were super hard to take because I kept playing peek-a-boo and didn't know where the camera was pointed. Some of them are blurry, and her hair is crazzzy, and her nose is crusty, but I think they turned out cute.  Oh, and side note, she kept saying, "one....two....three!" while we were playing.

 

Jordan's Valentines

I don't know what the heck I was thinking, but Jordan and I spent hours making his Valentines for his class. I drew the dinosaur and cut them all out and Jordan helped glue everything and he wrote "from Jordan" on the back. It took forever, but I was happy with how they turned out. I really enjoy things like this, even though they drive me crazy.

Valentine's Day

 We had an awesome Valentine's Day this year. No helicopters. No hospitals. No near death experiences. Nice and drama free. We started the day out with giving gifts to our kids. We never have done that before, but Valentine's Day is like Hannah's second birthday. So it's like we had to. We had no choice. :)

The boys each got a ninja turtle and Hannah got a stuffed pug and they all got a box of chocolates. All I can say is they have a very nice dad.

I made red pancakes, heart shaped melon and strawberries for breakfast.

This picture makes me laugh so hard because I told Sam to look at the camera, but he was having such a hard time looking at me when he had a new toy right next to him.

She loved her new chocolates.

For lunch they had heart shaped ham, heart shaped cheese, strawberries and pink yogurt.

Sam thought he was adorable.

We made pink cupcakes after lunch and I had a very special helper. She's also very cute.

The boys loved decorating the cupcakes.

Sam looked so cute all smeared with frosting.

Here's Sam's finished work.

And Jordan's. He lovvvvved the sprinkles.

She loved the frosting.

We are so blessed. I LOVE my family!!

This is what Hannah does when I pull out the camera.

But I lucked out and eventually got a pretty good one. She loves that pug.

Hope you all had a wonderful, drama free, healthy Valentine's Day as well!!!