Happy HEART Day!!!

And, my HEART couldn't have been any more full of LOVE on Valentine's Day this year.

The LOVE for my hubby and partner in crime, the one I get to share this journey called life with....

The LOVE for each of my three, amazing, full of life, children....

The LOVE for all my family members, near and far.....

The LOVE for those friends that are near and dear to my heart...

The LOVE for life itself and this opportunity I have in front of me...

  

 

What a silly bunch....LOVE you THREE!

 

 

Trying to do a little more serious pose before heading off to school. They are too cute, sleepy eyes and all!!! Ty brought Valentine's Day movies for her party...Trey brought suckers and stickers for everyone in his class..and, Tay picked out heart-shaped Peeps for her friends at school. The day of fun we had been talking about all week was finally here! We were all feelin' the LOVE!

 

 

Daddy had set out V-Day goodies for everyone in the front room....the personalized poems he wrote were the perfect way to start the day!

 

 

And, can you believe that this little cutie is one day less than a month shy of turning TWO?!?! I cannot believe it!!! What a sweetie....

 

 

The kiddos and I headed to Chuck E. Cheese to burn through some tokens while Daddy caught some ZZZ's and tried to re-coop from a bad case of strep...fun, huh?!?! Not so much. (Tay opted out of this pic with the scary gray mouse due to the fact that she couldn't stop crying. It was 100 x's worse than this year's sitting on Santa's lap adventure!) Ty was actually the one who asked Chuck E. to take a picture with her and Trey....and, it turned out GREAT! Fun times!

 

Ty LOVES this thing...she honestly fed at lease half of her tokens to this fun machine. She kept saying how much she loved to fly high above the games and pizza...Love her!

 

Tay LOVED feeding those colored ping-pong balls to that froggy. In fact, as I watched Trey shoot some hoops behind her, she also took to feeding this machine EXTRA tokens. Needless to say, we played that froggy game A LOT. (LOVE the tongue action in this shot from Miss Tay. She's inherited that from Jason, just like the other two... it always makes an appearance when it's time to focus.)

 

Trey's favorites were Fruit Ninja and the "go-to" game of choice which involves some sort of flinging the ball into the lit up ticket hole, which he ALWAYS seems to hit the jackpot on.

 

Still smilin' as we head into round twenty....ha!

 

We wrapped up the night by jumping in the bath, sorting through school Valentine's....

 

 

making a quick jammie change, and watching a last few minutes of Alvin & the Chipmunks Valentine's fun!!!

 

Happy Valentine's Day, sweet little munchkins! I had a BLAST starting our morning off with Daddy's poems and goodies, venturing to Chuck E. Cheese to get a few games and excitement in, and then hearing all about your fun-filled days at school with friends and teachers as I tucked you in for the night.....this Mommy couldn't imagine a better day!!!

 

Glad you are feeling better, J....and, here's to many more Valentine's Days together. Your poems and the Daddy & Hubby perfectness made for a WONDERFUL day!!! The days of dinner and a movie and time to ourselves will come again in the future. Until then, we will spend our days and nights relishing in the family we have made together and enjoy each and every second of it!!! I love you ALWAYS & FOREVER!!! Hugs!

 

XOXOXOXO

 

Winner, Winner, Marble Jar Fillers....

Trey and Tylee have been working so hard to fill their Manner Marble Jar over the past couple of months. I know, that sounds like a LONG time to take to fill the jar, but they definitely had about 400 marbles to earn. So, given the size of the jar they had to fill...I'm excited to announce that we celebrated about three weeks ago. (I know, I'm totally SLACKING on the posts lately, and I don't even have an excuse as to why!!) The kiddos got their pick of places and, unanimously, decided on Chuck E. Cheese for a fun evening of games and pizza. We usually don't eat there, instead spending our time feeding those awesome game machines...but, they also got their pick for having such wonderful, respectful manners during their four day stay with MawMaw Cindy while Jason and I were in Chicago. So, Trey decided that the second prize could be actually eating pizza AND playing games. Tylee Jean agreed on that way to spend their choices. Big time for Mommy and Daddy because it meant only ONE fun-filled stop....

So, we suited up and headed out...Look out, Chuck, and hide all your tickets...the Weite Crew was on the game loose!!!

All ready to burn a few tokens while waiting for the pizza...

Ty loves the spider shooting, Jeep riding game!!

Trey hit the jackpot with his FIRST token....lucky guy  He totally hit the 1,000 ticket jackpot during our last family game time outing!!

Tay enjoying a couple of crackers and showing off her latest "funny face!" Totally cracks me up!!!!

Ty hit a little jackpot of her own....

Shootin' spiders together....What a team!

Tay wanted to help Trey count his tickets....

And, my FAVORITE pic of the evening....Trey and Ty bellied up to the prize counter. Trying to spend all their tickets. We usually walk away with Fun-Dips, bouncy balls, and those little squishy bugs.

Way to Go, Trey & Ty....

I'm so proud of all the manners you've been using and so proud of you for sticking to our goal to fill that jar. I know, at times, it seemed like you'd never drop that last marble in. But, good things do come to those who wait and to those that decide to always use their manners. What nice, awesome, caring, kind, friendly, helpful, and patient little folks you are becoming. Keep up the great work and remember to ALWAYS be considerate of others.... Daddy and I had a blast celebrating with you!!!

Love you LOTS & LOTS!!

~Mommy

A Little Weekend Fun....

The past few days have been crazy around the Weite House, with parent/teacher conferences for the Ottumwa School District and all. I had them scheduled all last night over at the middle school and Jason's up at the high school tonight. (Then we both have them Thursday night...fun, fun!!) Needless to say, we've both gotten a chance to play the single parent role and it's times like these that one realizes how much we do appreciate the other!! (It's amazing how far emptying the dishwasher, throwing in a load of laundry, and wiping down the kitchen counters really can go!!) I'm lucky that my partner in crime pitches in around the house and helps with the "little things!" You are much appreciated, honey!!

But, leading up to this new week, we got a chance to spend a little time up in West Des Moines with Jason's parents. Trey & Tylee absolutely LOVE visiting family and always have a great time at Grandma Marcia and Papa Ken's house. It was great to see them...it's been a while since we celebrated Christmas and it was nice to be able to relax without all the Holiday Hoopla! Below is a little re-cap of the fun (and one NOT-so-fun) time....

Tylee giving Grandma Marcia big hugs when we arrived!!

Cheese, Please!!

Trey getting a little trim (okay, a BIG trim)...his hair was outta control!!!

Goofball...but cooperative!!!

The after shot...with a little gel action!!!

Tylee being silly while waiting for her "haircut"....she really wanted one, so we pretended to cut it. BUT, there was no way I was letting her get a cut-those bangs have some growing to do!!

Kids watching "How to Train Your Dragon" and heading to bed. They were all geared up for Saturday and a little Chuck E. Cheese action!!! (SUPER CUTE movie!!!!)

((Before I go any further, I would like to share with you the SCARIEST moment of my life, which just happened to occur on Saturday afternoon....

After nap, Jason, Marcia, Trey, Tylee and I all headed to Hu-Hot to celebrate Marcia's birthday. Oh, so I thought...

While in the car on the way there, Trey stuck his finger up his nose (to find the SNAIL that his father told him was up there...thanks to a "Where the Sidewalk Ends" poem) Well...his finger sticking incident resulted in a little blood and I didn't have any tissues....

We pulled into the parking space at Hu-Hot and as we are parking Jason proceeds to tell Trey that his nose was bleeding because he poked a hole in his brain. (In good father humor, of course!) Who hasn't told their kid that?? We all walk into Hu-Hot, where there is a 30 minute wait (at 2:00 in the afternoon...weird!) and I take Trey back to the bathroom to wash up. While in there, he washes his hands and I wipe his VERY SMALL amount of blood off the edge of his nostril....

The WHOLE time he is asking me if he really has a hole in his brain. I proceed to tell him at least 10 times that Daddy was just kidding and that can't really happen. We grab a paper towel to dry our hands off and Trey then looks at me, turns white, and tells me he's going to PUKE. I quickly usher him into the first stall where his legs give out from under him and his face falls onto the public toilet seat......germs were the least of my worries at that point!!

I try to lift his head up and see that his eyes are rolled back...I give him a couple nice slaps on the cheek and tell him to talk to me...he's grunting and mumbling the whole time about how he wants to go to sleep.....

At this exact moment, Jason's Mom comes into the bathroom with Miss Tylee (who's doing a great job with her big girl undies, by the way) to go pee-pee. I tell her she needs to go get Jason and that something is not right with Trey. She says she will after she takes Tylee potty and proceeds to take her into the stall next to us. (Marcia didn't realize how serious I was, but when a newly potty trained two year old has to go potty, she has to go potty!!)

I hoist Trey up over my big belly and shoulder and quickly carry him out to find Jason....Trey's still white as a ghost and his lips have NO color...but, his eyes are slightly open. I tell Jason something is wrong and IMMEDIATELY start crying. Jason takes Trey from me tries to talk to him outside. I am crying and saying that we need to call an ambulance. Trey's shoe falls off and he doesn't say a word about it....which is not like him.

People are coming in and out of Hu-Hot watching me cry and hearing Jason tell me to CALM DOWN. (I was NOT calm at this point...there was not a CALM bone in my body!) Some random lady even tries to give him glucose tablets.....

Before I can dial 9-1-1, Jason's mom come out with Tylee and I am like "Something is wrong, we need to call the ambulance!" Trey is still white and Marcia says we can get him to the Urgent Care Center FASTER than the ambulance can come get him. I agree and we all pile into Jason's car. I'm in the front holding Trey, trying to control my own shaking, and trying to keep him alert. Marcia is in the back with Tylee sitting on top of the seat because she didn't have a chance to push the seat down and Jason is trying to drive (with all the TRAFFIC) about 1 mile to the Urgent Care Center!!! It was AWFUL!

I'm asking Trey if he needs a drink and how he feels...he's not really saying anything and his lips are still white. All I'm thinking is blood sugar issues...pulse felt fine, but I didn't know what else to check. I asked him if he wanted something to eat....all I had in my purse was a little bag of trail mix from a work meeting weeks before (of course, I had eaten all the chocoolate pieces out of it...those are the best part) but it would have to do. He chewed up three raisins and then I hear in a soft, little Trey voice, "Mommy, can I have a peanut?"...

You don't know how sweet those few little words sounded. I gave him a peanut and we pulled into the Urgent Care Center. Jason carried him in and I filled out paper work. They actually got us in pretty quick...thanks Marcia...

Jason and I went back with Trey and the Doc and, 10 minutes later, we were walking out. Apparently it was a reaction to nose bleed...the doctor had some fancy name for it and told me to just give him a few pinches if it ever happened again and that everything was fine. There were no blood sugar or other issues to worry about....

At this point, I'm still getting all emotional, Trey is smiling, and the doctor is patting me on the shoulder telling me to "call him if I NEED anything." He even told us to still go to Chuck E Cheese and that everything was perfect!!!

WOW...what an emotional roller coaster!!! So, lesson learned...no picking noses and no poking holes in the brain!!!))

Now on with the picture fun....

Jason and Marcia at Texas Road House...where we ended up going because there was NO WAY we were headed back to Hu-Hot!!! (And, I'll probably never go there again, anyway!!)

Trey on Marcia's birthday saddle...less than an hour after the Urgent Care visit!! Marcia was a trooper and got on while everyone did the birthday song for her. I have a picture of her on it, but that's for her. She wasn't too thrilled with Jason for telling them it was her birthday in the first place!!!

Chuck E. Cheese time....(the next day) because Saturday evening just happened to be when EVERY kid in Des Moines had planned a birthday party and we couldn' t even get in without a 45 minute wait. Note to the rest of you....Sunday at 9 AM is the PERFECT time to make a Chuck E. Cheese run. No lines, no waiting and easy access to all games!! In and out in less than 2 hours!!

Tylee being silly...haivng a ball, as usual!!

Firegirl to the rescue!!

Tylee and Barney....Cheesin' it up!!!

Resting Up....Leapster Time before we headed back to Ottuwma to watch the Packers win the Super Bowl!!

THANKS, PaPa Ken & Grandma Marcia, for letting us come up and take over the house for 2 1/2 days! We had a blast, loved spending time with you guys, and can't wait until we get to do it again. (Just think...there will soon be another grandkid added to the mix-even that much more fun, fun!!!) Love you guys!!!

PS...I have TOTALLY learned that I'm NOT good in SCARY situations...thanks, Jason, for staying so calm and, Trey, I am so glad you are okay!! No more fingers up the nose, got-it? Your momma doesn't need anymore scares like that!! LOVE YOU!!!