Happy Valentine's Day...

Happy Valentine's Day! I have a few pictures to share before we talk V-Day...

We attempt to have game night at our house once a week (aka Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders). When I say attempt it's because we have Laney Bug (Swiper, no swiping!) that doesn't grasp the rules of taking turns, sitting still and basically rules in general. Many times Laney loses interest, then eventually Izzy will too, and Mike and I find ourselves playing the game just the two of us. We laugh at it...but this past week Izzy made it all the way through a game and even won (fair and square). Just love the little girl she's becoming. So sweet.

Had to take a picture of the two littles in their matching jammers

And I know I've posted a similar picture in the past...but Izzy just cracks me up in the way she settles in for bed each night. She has about 327 stuffed animals (of all sizes) and she arranges them along the perimeter of her bed. She tucks some of them in. Groups them with their buddies (monkeys go with other monkeys, Abby Cadabby goes with Elmo, etc). The shear amount of buddies she has on her bed drives Mike crazy and he's constantly trying to reduce the number on her bed. However, I find it so endearing that she loves every one of them and seeks out the guys that daddy has removed. Sometimes she'll even ask for me to help in lining them up and tucking them in. We say goodnight to most of them. Don't want to forget this time, as eventually she won't even want me in her room one day.

Saturday morning instead of my typical outdoor run, we Perfect Strangers opted to run indoors. The temps were in the teens and the winds were 20mph. Don't get me wrong, I love running outdoors and bearing the elements with the next crazy distance runner, but as soon as the idea was thrown out of running on the track? You bet I jumped at the opportunity to forgo the 17 layers and hand warmers! Running in shorts and a tank felt so freeing. But the laps around the track did not. We ran for time, as we knew counting laps would not last long (as 8 laps=1 mile). The run felt great and we were all able to catch up without the muzzle of a neck gaiter in our way. Ha! Below is a pic of Meggie, Karen & Christie lapping it up.

Something exciting has happened at my office: Reebok CrossFit has shipped us a "box" that contains all the supplies to run a full CF gym right in our warehouse. Last week we were able to try out a very elementary workout, and now they are offering 4 classes a week to us. There are talks of building out an entire CF gym in our warehouse...but until then, we're all just enjoying a total body workout. It's fun to work out along side VPs that I wouldn't typically get the opportunity to talk to, let alone do lunges next to. Think that's one of the biggest reasons (next to health) that our management is bringing this here...to promote community among our 700 employees. Should be fun!

Nanny Natalie and Mr. Dave surprised the girls at school last week. Love that she always finds a way to visit them whenever she's back in town. Had to dress the girls in the t-shirts she made them (front says "Go IU" and back says "PU Purdue").

Just 6.5 more weeks until we go to Florida. The girls got some new suits for Valentine's Day...can you tell how excited they are?!?!

And this year for Valentine's Day I decided to save some money and make my own cards. Definitely didn't save me time, though. I spent Sunday nap time cutting and pasting. But they did turn out cute. Buggie's cards:

And Izzy's valentines are a little different this year:

Girls are getting lips on the end of a sucker while the boys are getting mustaches

Jaime and I spent another Sunday afternoon together, this time making sugar cookies and frosting (both homemade!) for the littles to decorate. Check out Jacob in the pic below, he's taking an important phone call while everyone else is smiling for the camera.

Besties. Jaime taught me how to use a stand mixer. So fancy.

Jaim and her boys

Gigi and her girls

One of the best sights in the world is watching your best friend love on your children like they are her own. Never gets old.

Happy Valentine's Day!

ps-sorry for the phone pictures...but my phone is so much easier to carry around then my big camera. I've been reading on several peoples' blogs that Instagram is killing the DSLR. True dat.