a happy ♥ day

in our relationship brian and i have never really been big valentines day kinda people. we have always much preferred sweetest day. mostly because no one here in florida knows what that day is, so it makes it feel a little more special between us. we actually got married on sweetest day for that reason.
with that being said. my valentine worked all day. and while he was the first to hold my heart, he now shares pieces of it with the three beautiful babies he gave me. so valentines day has become the day we thank our kiddies for their love... and what better way to show them my love for them then to spend the day doing what they love to do..... kitchen fun!


that's right! we spent nearly the entire day in our home sweet home of a kitchen. first, we made up sugar cookies and decorated them. then i thought it would be fun to finally use that pizza recipe that my good ole friend sara gave me so long ago. levi was oh so very excited to make his own pizza. he was shocked and amazed that there would be no need for the pizza man to bring us one. he quietly waited the hour and a half it took for the dough to rise, running to check on it nearly every five minutes. and although theirs looked nothing like a circle they thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it!

we ended the day of love with a chocolate fondu extravaganza! strawberries, pineapple, raspberries and all. this was honestly one of the most fun things i have ever done with the kids. both were just tickled to be dipping their fruit plate in hot melted chocolate. i highly recommend doing this as a fun filled night... if you can handle the mess.




at the end of the night when the kids were fast asleep brian and i did share a small special moment. and while this may seem no where near the typical romantic gift it was nothing but romantic in my eyes!
for months now i have been talking about wanting a freezer in our garage. my hopes and dreams, to make meatballs, doughs, soups and more in advance and be able to simple defrost... ahh yes what a dream!
my husband silently heard my complaining! and while some men brought flowers and candy home for their sweeties... my husband brought home a giant, shiny and pretty new freezer! now that's love!
and if you may be wondering....
i made brian a shadow box frame with all the stuff he holds near and dear to his heart from his grandpa levi (our levi's name sake).
~his belt buckle with the letter L on it.
~the tape measure that grandpa had scripted his name onto.
~ a small stone he had always carried around in his pocket. he would rub it in there and actually made a finger print marking on it.

there is love in this home,
there is love in this home!

*********************************************************

we went to the circus tonight. it's funny cause i always get a little choked up when i'm experiencing things through the eyes of my children. their amazement amazes me!
and we had a simply fabulous time.... well, up until levi puked all over brian that is!

busy bee...

honestly, i wish could just run away sometimes...
just for a little while... to have peace and quiet, to not have one thing needing to be done or accomplished for just a few hours would be nice.

i had so much i needed to get done today but my list was completely twisted around this afternoon. i spent the morning making valentines day cards with the kids. i was sure to start this project bright and early because i wanted to make sure they got out in todays mail so that grandparents would be getting them tomorrow. perfectly planned procrastination done only as shannon could do it!


brian and both girls have had runny noses for the past few days and this afternoon i swore i felt a mild grade fever on alivia. seeing as how today is friday i thought it best to go ahead and take both girls in just to be sure everything was looking A OK....
and naturally it wasn't. alivia has yet another ear infection! so, i now have the joy of having antibiotics spit in my face for the next 4 days...YEA!
fitting in their DR. appointment made it so that i couldn't possibly get the cards in todays mail. but thankfully brian came to my rescue and was nice enough to be our "mail man". he said that he would drop cards off to the places they needed to get to in tomorrows mail (and i love him for it!).




levi spent the day with nana and papa. munky had a vet visit and so did my parents dog so they decided they would take both dogs and levi wanted to tag along. i am assuming that everything went well. i know levi had a great time cause he talked about it the whole time he was in the bath tub tonight.


i took full advantage of only having two kids in tote today. after their appointment we ran over to the new produce stand and stocked up on a few things. this seriously makes my world.... the produce stand that is. they have everything i could ever think of wanting and being able to get all that kinda stuff at the restaurant just knocked my grocery bill down to practically $0.... i'm so excited.... it doesn't take much to amuse me these days! :)
speaking of which. as i drove around thinking of what i could possibly give my husband that would have meaning i started thinking about how becoming a mother has changed me. seriously, five years ago a new high end designer bag would have practically made my month (well, my week at least) and now i honestly don't remember the last time i walked in anywhere with enough money burning my pockets to drop on something that does nothing more then hold my lip gloss (that i never even use)!
that thought was made even more clear this evening while i strolled the isles of target looking for little things to put into the kids valentines day boxes. i have been told my brian to make sure that i walk past the "monster jam" toy section anywhere i go with eyes open looking for the trucks to which my son is lacking. levi thinks, breaths and lives for his $3.04 monster trucks. whenever he gets one he stares at the back of the packaging for at least an hour going over which ones he has, and which ones he doesn't and which ones are the "hard" ones to find (he learned that from brian).
anyway, there today as i scrolled my eyes down their selection i quickly spotted "superman".... i say this in all honesty, the lady across the isle from me looked at me as though i was crazy as i jumped for joy. i was so super excited to see levi's most craved one. he talks about it daily with this super sad look on his face because it is so hard to find. and i found it!
yes, this girl who used to be excited about pretty jewerly, handbags, and the perfect shirt was elated to find a tiny little toy for only the excitement i would find in those big blue eyes when he realizes he's got it....
when did this life become so wonderful?
and let me just say...
i felt 10 billion times more happier in that toy isle today then i ever did even once at COACH!

*********************************************************

here are a few pics from school yesterday. i think (and this may sound funny) that valentines day is levi's favorite school holiday.
he was so excited when he went in yesterday morning. he shouted "look friends, i brought us candy!"..... stinking cute!





now i'm off. i still have to make up sugar cookie dough so that the kids have something to put pink and red frosting on tomorrow...
once again, perfectly planned procrastination! ;)

love mail...

i will admit i was the tiniest bit excited when i got the paper last week that levis "homework" was to make the nostalgic valentines day mail box....
hearts, kisses and love was what popped into my brain.... but who was i kidding... we are talking about my three year old boy!
like i said a little while ago levi is obsessed with monster trucks in the current moment. actually, i think my son is a true "redneck" at heart. he loves NASCAR, "monster jam".... and yes, even hunting! which is funny cause his daddy is such a pretty boy, so i have no idea where on earth these thrills that make up levi came from.

i spent all of the late afternoon and much of the early evening helping a pair of little boy hands invent his creation....
turning a garbage bag box into a truck.... although, i know about no such things. i had ideas in my head but my creative child had ideas all his own, and in the end i fought back the urge to be the perfectionist that i am and let his little mind do the creating.
so now we have a red box, with four freshly painted black wheels, decaled all over with "monster jam" and spider man stickers. it was levi's ingenious idea to have the hood be the spot where you put your love letters....
all in all it was a little on the messy side. paint was all over and levi and alivia fought over where the stickers would go.
but, the end product is absolutely perfect in my eyes.
my creation created it after all. :)


right before baths i made up an assembly line.... levi and livi helped put their "treat bags" together. not my favorite task by a long shot.... note to self: never put mounds of candy in front of children and think they will be able to control themselves!


one more quick thing....
i know i am short for time but i'm looking for a good romantic gift for the hubby. something special. for example last year i gave him a "list".
it included stuff like
*making his favorite dessert.
*a night of watching sports in bed (i hate sports on TV and he is never allowed to have them on in our room).
*sleep as late as you want, unbothered by me or the children.

that was by far his most favorite gift i have ever given him... he still talks about it. and the best thing about it was that it was FREE!
anyway, i'm looking for good ideas like that does anyone have any?