This morning, as Daughter curled up in bed with me, I whispered, "Я тебя очень люблю" "I love you very much" and she replied, sleepily, "А я тебя еще больше люблю" "and I love you even more" It doesn't get any better than that.
Husband and I had a spur of the moment night out last night. Valentine's Day is just about flowers and chocolate in our house, because it's the eve of The Entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ into the Temple. Husband went all out for Daughter, and traveled the world of CVSes to buy her a battery operated rose that blooms. And I received the most beautiful bouquet I've gotten from him from 1800flowers.com

The lillies have smelled up the whole first floor of our house- and they are just as beautiful as the picture. Thankfully, there were no red roses in my bouquet....definitely ruins the bouquet....Anyway, Husband was texting me at work asking me when I would be home. I joked back saying - why? Are you surprising me with a babysitter and a night out? And that is exactly what he did! Of course I was the one who set it in motion, but as my father always says, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Or in my case, you have to say what you want! I don't know what the magical recipe of the evening was, but it is one that will linger in my memory for a long time. The mood was light, we talked and laughed a lot. Married almost 11 years, and we're still not that couple (who we did see at the restaurant) that silently eats together, yet separately.
On another note, I have been reading this author,Stephanie Haddad. Last week I downloaded her book, A Previous Engagement, onto my Kindle, which was available for free.

You never know what you're going to get with the free books, but it never hurts to download a book and try it out. Especially if it's free! If I hate the writing (which happens more often than I would like), I just delete it from my Kindle. Stephanie Haddad's writing captured me right away, and kept me reading. In fact, I read her second book (I paid1.99 or 2.99) in one evening, because I couldn't put it down.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't literature, and it isn't deep. It's Emily Giffin style, or Sophie Kinsella. She is funny and light, and the plots are worth sticking with to the end. I highly recommend her, and I can't wait till her third book is out. I read an excerpt over lunch today, and maybe it's a good thing I don't have it, because I'd be slamming through it right now.

Daughter Story Time

My 15-month old did something that neither of my other kids has ever done to date. When giving Baby a quick bath the other day, I didn't plug up the bathtub. We use one of the flat, circular stoppers. Baby totally figured me out, found the stopper and put it in the right spot to plug up the water! I was floored....and my belief that he is a genius was confirmed once again. lol.

Today I want to share some of Daughter's photography, and I believe it's quite appropriate for my Valentine's Day theme. Tonight, I feel the need to put down how much I love my children. However much I may complain, I would never give them back (yea, I know I can't even if I wanted to), and they light up my life. They make me responsible (I just don't always stay responsible). Husband sent me a picture at work today, and it made me realize how big the kids are getting, and how time is flying. I try to remember that when I am so irritated that I could just scream. It's hard to remember, though.

So back to Daughter's photography. I was going through my photos on my camera, and although I know that the kids hi-jack my camera sometimes, this is the first time that I've seen something that I wanted to keep.  And I even think they are worth sharing!

Apparently, Daughter has a new best friend - the Nutcracker. These are just a few of the many snapshots taken with him.

Here's the fun part: Daughter staged a story and captured it on film!

We may need to have a conversation about monogomy....

Little Bits

It’s that time of year again – when my clothes is tight and my mood is low. But I’m making a stand and I’m back on the wagon again with a different mind frame. It’s not about losing weight for me right now (although hopefully it will be an added bonus); it’s about making better choices and eating healthier. Tried a great new recipe from weightwatchers.com, a Moroccan stew. Not only was it healthy, but it was a slow cooker recipe! And it tasted (and smelled) great!

Can I just mention, as a side note, that I hate eating oranges? This ties in, because I’m trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, and although I do like oranges, I hate peeling them, and getting that orange peel stench on my fingers. I’ve had an orange sitting on my desk all week, and finally today I forced myself to peel it. I even washed my hands twice after peeling it, and I can still smell whiffs of orange peel on my fingers. Maybe I should draft Husband to peel the oranges for me…there’s an idea)

February 3, we went to Elizabeth Jordan’s reception for her Prayers and Written Offerings exhibit.

http://ejordanphotography.com/ 

 This is the exhibit where Son’s photograph is hanging. When we walked up to the photograph, the first “graffiti” that popped out at me made my throat constrict with tears. Son’s friend, Billy, who also has Ds, had written Hi Kyprian! By Billy and drawn a heart in which he wrote a K on one side and a B on the other. I know Billy. And I know how much effort it takes for a child with low muscle tone to form his letters. But beyond that, this was Billy’s testament of friendship with Son.  

May this friendship grow for the rest of their lives. It was so overwhelming to see the kind thoughts that were written for my son.  I tried to take pictures of every piece, but every time I walked away and came back, there would be more I wanted to capture.

Daughter immortalizing her love

It was so nice for Kypa's closest friends to be there

Daughter and Friend could not stop drawing

"He will keep you!" -I love this one

  

Another friend was featured.

 It was a pretty moving experience. My heart clenches when I read what I captured on camera.

The two stars

But I have to say, my favorite part of the exhibit was the mirror, where you could reflect on yourself.

 It was a bit distracting to have so many people around, so even though I did write on every photograph, and on the mirror, I don’t feel like I really bared my soul, or wrote anything that I would have written had I had a chance to just be with each photo.

Friday night, Daughters tooth fell out! She has been waiting for this day for a long time. Earlier in the day, she told Husband, “You know what will happen when my tooth falls out? I’ll only be able to speak in English.” I had a long, hard laugh about that one. She was very anxious about the tooth fairy coming, and although she initially wanted to put her tooth in this plastic tooth container that her friend gave her, she decided not to because she was worried the tooth fairy wouldn’t find the tooth. We opted for a small zip lock bag used for extra buttons, and she wrote a nice little note to the tooth fairy. I’m sure the tooth fairy appreciated it, because she left a note for Daughter as well. So sweet. Except the tooth fairy forgot to tell Daughter to brush her teeth every day, but remembered to tell her to buy some candy with the money she left. You can’t win ‘em all.

I watched this clip today, and had to swallow my sobs. I don't know why I cry like a baby whenever I hear Kelle Hampton's birth story. Makes me wonder if I have pent-up emotions about my own special birth.

I love hearing the kids' personal prayers at bedtime. We have a ritual; we pray, and then theoretically, they are supposed to get into bed so I can sing to them and get on with my evening. But they like taking this one icon of the Theotokos and saying their own personal prayers. Here's Kypa's on any given day: "Сибо Божка сииильм! Сибо Божка Мэри Поппинс!" which is "Thank you God for movies! Thank you God for Mary Poppins!" Tonight Manya's made me laugh out loud: "Пожалуйста Боженька помоги мне что бы я не проглатила зуб!" Please, God, help me not to swallow my tooth!  You can't make this stuff up, people!

But on that note, I can't believe that Daughter's tooth is loose already! She's not even five! So you know where my paranoid, crazy mother thoughts took me? If she loses teeth early, is she on the fast track in physical development? Is she going to get her period early too?! I know, I know. I'm crazy. But my thoughts did go there.

Can I just say that I love love love how much Baby is signing? I love how he tells us when he's tired at night. He will walk up, bang on your arm and make the sign for sleep. Or he'll walk to the bottom of the stairs and point up. He's 15 months and only says Mama, Papa, Boo! and Ho-ho-ho (Santa), what a weird combination, I know! But at least he can sign to tell us that he's hungry, wants more, is done, is thirsty, needs a diaper change or wants to go to sleep. With Baby being the third, I doubt I'll be waiting on my tip-toes to hear Baby talk...I waited for Son and Daughter, and now I can't get a word in edgewise! I never thought the words would come out of my mouth, but I did tell Son one day - You are talking too much!