February {so far} in a Nutshell!

Miss Mae recently went to a Valentine's Dance. With a date. When I picked her up afterward, she said and I quote: That was the best night ever! Here she is with my sister-(not her date)-ha ha! before the dance. We have rules for the blog-and we try to protect the innocent. (Like boys who are friends, or boyfriends or whatever) Facebook, however, is a whole other story...mwwwwwahahahaha!

These, on the other hand, are not a blog violation. Miss Mae received these this year for Valentine's Day. She said it was the best gift ever! Big Daddy shakes his head reflectively and I think about the days that I got sick of watching Barney the Dinosaur over and over and over again....
Oh, Maeci. What in the world am I going to do with you?

Big Daddy, had a few tricks up his sleeve this Valentine's Day as well. He absolutely pulled out all of the stops--and I got this for Valentine's Day!

It's literally no wonder that after nearly 14 years--my heart still skips a beat. He knows me so well! :)

Hannah Grace had a date of her own. Only, it was with the orthodontist. (Come on--she's way too young to even think about "liking" a boy). Yes, I'm probably in denial--but, she's the baby...let's give her another 15 years.

After school yesterday, I asked her to smile for another picture.... She was absolutely not having it! She was so excited to get braces before she actually got them. Right after they put them on--she was still pumped. Several hours later--she was not a happy camper. She wanted me to get a "refund" and return the devil's contraption.

Earlier in the day, it was a different story. Here's the before:

Finally, finally--a forced smile. She said it feels like her teeth are wearing clothes that are way too tight for them and they're throwing a temper tantrum.

We are so excited that we will be soon celebrating Grandma's 93rd Birthday. What a wonderful, wonderful blessing she is to each of us. I found these cute invites at Target. They were supposed to be birth announcements--at least that's what the "sample card" showed. Hannah just didn't understand why we had to get birth announcements--instead of Happy Birthday invites. After we finished them--she still thought they looked like "We have a new baby boy!" instead of Happy Birthday Great Grandma. I think they're perfect.

The 16th of February was my dad's birthday. He would have been 68. Hannah Grace asked me if there are birthdays in heaven. I responded with every day is like your birthday in heaven. I still miss my daddy. My kids miss their grandpapa. Life is still different--but we seem to be moving forward with more sure steps these days. A little at a time-it gets easier, but missing him... we still do indeed.