A Sweet Treat for Valentine's Day

The excitement for Valentine's Day has been building in our house all week. As usual, Benny had two parties at preschool that we had to prepare for. When we sat down to sign his valentines for school to our surprise, shock actually, Benny insisted on writing all the names of his classmates himself! I figured that I would write his friends names on the valentines and he would sign them. It was great practice for his letter writing, and he did such a good job! We had a few challenges, such as some very long names (like Catherine) that had to fit on a tiny card. But Benny prevailed and finished all of the cards himself. He is making so much progress at school, and we are thrilled!

Sophie and I attended his party on Thursday. We even picked up pizza for his class. Apparently, preschoolers love pizza! I brought three medium cheese pizzas, and eight preschoolers ate every last piece! Some kids even polished off three pieces each! I would much rather have them eat pizza, than fill up on cupcakes and goodies anyhow (plus Ben won't eat most of the goodies). We had so much fun at the party. The kids all handed out their valentines, and then they had dance time and story time. Sophie was very much at home in the classroom. I think she would love to be in preschool! Benny was so happy that I stayed for his whole party. I am glad that he isn't embarrassed by me yet!

On Saturday Nick and I put out a few little goodies for the kids. I just love the holiday, not for romantic reasons, but I think it is a great way to celebrate the ones you love. Both sets of grandparents had sent some things also. The kids were so excited to see their packages in the morning!

Sophie was overly excited at opening her 'purse' with fun things inside. She was delighted by the Hello Kitty bandaids and had to put one on immediately. She has lots and lots of imaginary boo-boos lately. Grandma sent an outfit for her Bitty Baby, and Oma sent a cute new dress. Benny was so excited by his new Playmobile's and a new Star Wars action figure. Oma and Pa sent him a gift card to McDonald's with instructions to take his family out for a treat.

After a fun morning, we had to head out to Topeka to run lots of errands. The baby is due in five weeks, and Sophie was a full two weeks early, so we needed to get some things in order before she comes! We've decided to keep Sophie in her crib for now, and plan on moving her to a big bed this summer when we move. So, we needed to pick up a pack n play for baby #3. We've decided to let her sleep in our room for the time being (we'll see how that goes), so she won't disturb Sophie in the night. Hopefully it won't take long to get her into a good routine so she and big sister can sleep together in the same room. We also needed to pick up some new spring clothes for the kids, Easter clothes for the kids, and some baby items from Babies R Us. For those of you who have been to Kansas, you know that the shopping here is limited. We try to make a Topeka run every few months and stock up on what we need. Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect time to go. We could have a nice lunch out and get the things we needed. We had a very successful trip, including finding Birthday presents for Sophie (she'll be two in six weeks!), and we had a great lunch at Ruby Tuesday.

Before we headed home to Junction City, we asked Benny if he would like to stop for a treat. He decided that he would like to take us to McDonald's for hot fudge sundaes. He was so proud to use his gift card to buy us a treat. He took his wallet in, placed our order and even used the card himself in the machine. He was proud as punch to do everything himself. When we sat down, Nick and I thanked him over and over for taking us out for a treat. He responded that he had been wanting to take us out forever, but he didn't have any money. It was just so sweet! He thanked us for the nice day, and it was a great way to finish our trip to Topeka.

Here is Benny with his sundae, chocolate face and all.

Of course Sophie was very excited to dive into my Oreo McFlurry. She was happy to have an ice cream treat too! This particular McDonald's had a 50's theme, and the rock n roll music kept her grooving the whole time.

We are so thankful to have two sweet kids to spend Valentine's Day with!