I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine’s Day! I was looking back on the past few weeks and it’s been filled with Valentine’s decor, crafts, treats, gifts and dates that have been so sweet and fun. And this is why I love this little holiday so much! 🥰 Joey and I had a true date night on Friday then spent Saturday and Sunday hanging with our little loves.

I usually get the kids and Joey a few things for Valentine’s Day but I try to keep them practical and small 😋 They loved their cards and balloons most I think! (Lydia accidentally let go of hers outside on Saturday and she was SO SAD. She was crying in my arms and big brother came over and gave her his 🥹🥹🥹) Joey got them scratchers, flowers for Lydi and I and some really thought things for just me 🥰 True story: we exchanged gifts and cards in a semi-rush so we could still get out the door to preschool/work on time and I later found my card to Joey still in my work bag 🤦🏻‍♀️ I had a Valentine’s Day manicure scheduled and my very sweet nail tech surprised me with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers! Plus my nails were a wreck and she cleaned them all up!

We met Dempsey at school that afternoon for their Valentine’s Day party and it was so cute seeing all the card boxes and cards they made! Afterward, we brought him over to Grandma’s (where Lydia already was) for a sleepover then headed to our dinner reservation at Jovanina’s Broken Italian, it’s so cool in there and the cocktails were great! Thought it was weird that the first two courses were bread and cheese though. We enjoyed the rest of the meal but decided we were too full for dessert 🤦🏻‍♀️ We had a hard time finding a movie afterward but settled on the live action Oscar-nominated shorts. They were slightly less depressing than usual but I think only because they’ve all become so political and you can feel where it’s headed from the moment it starts.

We took the opportunity to have my honey sesame pancakes for breakfast since we were without the kids the next morning. Lydia has a sesame allergy so that recipe has been off limits. Then Joey worked for a bit and I did some chores and finished up my audio book. I thought it was SO trite but I also cried at the end so I don’t know what any of that means 😂 Once the kids were home, lunch was eaten and Lydia went down for a much needed nap while Dempsey and I played outside in the snow. He’s a Colorado boy through and through! I let Joey talk me into pizza for dinner and man is Blue Pan good! We started Sonic 3 with the kids then put them to bed and watched Blink Twice. I hadn’t heard good things but we liked it so we either have bad taste or lowered our expectations enough to enjoy it 🤔😂

Woof, I was not in a good mood on Sunday and for no reason. Sometimes I have a lot of patience for the kids and other times they are pulling all my shoes out of the closet and fighting over the lights being on or off and it feels like a lot. We had talked about getting biscuit sandwiches and going to the museum though and it seemed like a good idea to get out of the house. Rise & Shine is the best! Dempsey ate his sandwich and the last few bites of mine and I’m so happy he loves that place as much as we do. Lydia is happy as long as there’s hashbrowns 😂 Got to the museum just after it opened so it wasn’t too crazy inside. We hit up the health exhibit then the discovery zone before taking the kids to the 3D IMAX theater. Dempsey’s first 3D IMAX movie and Lydia’s first movie in a theater ever! She’s not quite ready 😂 Dempsey did better but even he was having a hard time paying attention toward the end. I guess Blue Whales aren’t exciting enough for them 😂 Headed home afterward because Lydia seemed TIRED and I guess she was because she fell asleep in the car.

Spent the rest of the day playing, baking and chasing the kids around, then Joey made us ricotta gnocchi for dinner 🥰🥰 The best! We watched a little bit more of Sonic 3 before taking the kids up for bed and yikes, Lydi is struggling with sleep. She does NOT want me to put her down since she got sick last week. I hope we make it through this rough patch soon. We watched halfway through the SNL 50th Anniversary special but we had another hour to go and bedtime was calling. We were loving it though and I can’t wait to watch the rest!

Wishing you all a good week!

Hello and Happy Monday! Every week, I cross my fingers that someone in our family won’t be sick and we can just be on our normal schedule but alas, Lydia was up with a runny nose at 3 AM, so here we go again 🤪😫 Dempsey was on the tail end of HIS cold, but I think we managed to have some fun in between these sicknesses. We checked out a new restaurant on Friday, went to Monster Jam on Saturday afternoon, babysat Landon Saturday evening, walked to get pastries on Sunday morning and “watched” the game with friends on Sunday evening. I’m still trying to get over my great disappointment that Dempsey thought Monster Jam was “just boring the whole time,” but what can you do? 🤷‍♀️

Finally, a normal low-key Friday! I dropped Dempsey off at school and took home this bead “coaster” he made then worked. Snuck in a car wash and a mini toy rotation too. I think it worked because Dempsey has been VERY into his circuit board ever since. We tried to go to dinner at Vine Street Pub but the wait was too long, so we headed to Som Dee Thai instead and I really liked it! The kids were acting a little bit insane but that’s par for the course 😂 We got them home, bathed and to bed before starting up The Substance but more on that later 😋

Dempsey was straight back to the circuit board on Saturday morning! Joey made us some ricotta pancakes. It was Lydia’s first try and she seemed to be a fan. A bit later, we took the kids to Target for Valentine’s cards for Dempsey’s classmates and what a mistake that was!!! They were NUTS in there. Lydia was literally picking up every thing she saw, including, at one point, a boxed wine 😂😂 We got out of there and headed back home for early lunch and attempted an early nap for Lydia but she wasn’t having any of it, so we packed up and headed out to Monster Jam instead. Guys, I was really really hoping Dempsey would love it. He was so into watching monster truck videos a few months back and that’s where we got the idea to buy tickets, but he was not into it at all. He kept asking if we could go home yet 😢 Lydia loved it, at least! She was cheering, pointing, doing the Megalodon chomp with her arms and chowing down on popcorn. Joey and I did think they could shorten this show up a bit, but we had fun overall.

Once we were back home, Adam and Lauren dropped Landon off so they could head out to dinner and we were all so excited to have him over! The three of them played, jumped, danced and ate grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. With Lydia skipping her nap and Dempsey just always being tired past 2 PM, we tried to get them to bed at a mostly normal time, so Landon helped us get them ready. Actually, it was Lydia taking every pair of pants out of her drawer and trying to get Landon to wear them while Dempsey listened to me read — he’s a no on Monster Jam but a YES to every single book, so I’ll take it — but then the three of us said good night to them and headed downstairs. That sweet boy cried when his mom and dad took him home, so I hope that’s a sign he had fun and wants to come over again soon 🤍 Afterward, Joey and I finished The Substance and wow, we both really did not like it and I wanted to! It was so boring, so completely ridiculous and in a banal way, not a fun way. I thought it completely lacked depth and I was shocked at how little Demi was given to do. Felt like she spoke something like 20 words in the entire movie. Absolutely do not recommend.

Our Sunday started with Dempsey making me a yogurt bowl 🥰🥺 Why’s he so sweet?? Took him a bit to figure out how to get that thick Greek yogurt off the spoon and into the bowl but he got there. A bit later, we walked up the street for pastries and wow are those morning buns good! Got our Sunday chores done afterward, then headed over to the Super Bowl party. The four year olds are trouble makers and Lydia just wants to be in on the fun, but I saw Mason watch the entire game very intently and it gave me hope for when they both turn 7 😂 Till then, I guess Lydia will just lock them in some dog crates 🤣 She loved the food and the halftime show too! Dempsey has been asking to make confetti since New Year’s when I showed him a video of Mason throwing homemade confetti at midnight, so he and Joey made some and brought it along. LOL at him tossing it up and yelling “Happy New Year!” at the end of the game. It was a late night for those kiddos but we got them into bed and followed not too long after.

I’m hoping we can get our girl recovered by the end of the week because she has a sleepover to attend 😊 Hope you all have a Happy Valentine’s Day!