I love my Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day

What a great day it's been! This is worth saying because no elementary teacher in his or her right mind looks forward to Valentines. It's worse than the last day of school and the day before Christmas break combined. It should be noted that it is not worse than Halloween or the day after Halloween, though. Not a fan of the sugar hangovers. However, in 9 years of teaching on Valentine's Day you learn you can't beat em so you might as well join them. And, I truly like Valentine's Day, or the idea of it anyway. So this year I planned a fun party with the help of great parents and it went off without a hitch! We had the normal sugar rush craziness at the end but I turned them out to the playground like wild horses to pasture. We celebrated the whole day with Valentine cards and books and the dozen red roses delivered from Jeremiah in the afternoon. How fun to see all the little girls' faces when I read the card out loud.

Now, in all these 9 years of teaching I've helped the kids make what feels like dozens of gifts for their parents...Mothers Day, Grandparents Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving... You name it and I can give you at least three craft ideas with school pictures pasted to it, handprints smudged on it or crooked paper hearts erupting from it. And, if I'm honest, it's never been my favorite thing to do. I'm not crafty in the "let's all make the same glued paper masterpiece and give it to my mom as if it were my idea" way. But, I solemnly swear I will never complain about thinking up a craft again. Here's why. This morning we dropped off Braddock at Daycare. I was so excited to give his teachers their Valentines (movie tavern gift cards) (more on this later) that I didn't expect to receive one myself. But out pops his teacher holding a large red piece of construction paper with red paper lace hearts glued in each corner. She proudly presents the paper with the coffee filter (classic material for mom craft gifts) glued in the center. On the coffee filter were the two most precious foot prints I'd ever laid eyes on. It read 'From the bottom of my heart to the tops of toes I love you.' Swoon. I instantly felt regretful for all those inner complaints about the super glue gun nightmare craft projects I begrudgingly helped kids do in the past. I never thought I could love a piece of construction paper so much.

Happy V-Day party
Roses from JKB
First construction paper craft from my boy
Blessed

Braddock is 4 months!

Tomorrow Baby Braddock will be 4 months old! During his 4th month he started teething, (none yet, just lots of slobber), got his first illness, started daycare, and learned to laugh out loud. It's been a month full of changes for us but we are settling into a routine. Every morning when I wake him he has a huge grin on his face. Jeremiah and I usually take him to daycare together which makes for some sweet family time in the morning. When I pick him up in the afternoons he is beginning to recognize me and smiles excitedly. We get lots of play time and a walk in before the bedtime routine starts, and he will even sit in a little chair pleasantly to watch me cook dinner (on the nights I actually do, lol). Jeremiah gives him a bath every night and he kicks and "talks" the whole time. The past month back to work was way easier because the families in our class provided meals for us three nights a week and for Christmas they gave me two house cleaning sessions. The first one is on Wednesday, whoo hoo! We have been so grateful for their support.

We go to our 4 month appointment next week for "official" measurements but on our scales he's a whopping 24 pounds and 28 inches long. That's amazingly further along than his daddy was at this age.