in preparation for Valentine's day...

Friday, 2/8/13

We started with coloring .... the big girls were working on writing all of their Valentine's out to their classmates, so Lydia & LeaAnn did not want to be left out :)

Still... the only thing she will really 'play' with is books and colors... much like her oldest sister, Warn ;)

On Saturday, 2/9/13 - Grandpa surprised us with a lasagna dinner!  He came not only with dinner, but bearing gifts for everyone :)  Grammy was in Iowa City watching the Raefield clan while Aunt Jill & Uncle Eric were on their 10-yr-anniversary trip to Mexico!

Wish I would have taken a picture of the individual cakes... they were decorated (by Papa) using chocolate chips and licorice to make it look like a smiley face on top of the icing :)  They were delicious.. I am such a sucker for cream-cheese frosting.

And there were four of course :)

Beer for dad :D  how cute is that??

and wine for mom ;)  but after one glass I said, "sorry Jim, your daughter-in-law prefers Dad's present' ;) maybe someday....

Then on Sunday, 2/10/13... we attempted to be able to walk through the downstairs... which started with cleaning the dining room so we'd have somewhere to eat... this is what 'cleaning' looks like ;)

Always a big helper :)

Sunday I also tried a recipe... a REAL one :D  complete with 'presentation' and all!  (so of course I had to take a picture of it ;)  Stole from Iowa Girl Eats, click here for the deets... is was awesome!  avocado-mozzarella-and-bruschetta-chicken

Then that night... all four of them on the couch... a huge rarity.  Notice 'big-girl'.... not paying attention to the show ;)

four clean kids in a clean living room... too bad the rest of the house wasn't that way!!! ;)

Oh yes, and Dr. Dad had to fix up the monkey... Lydia tore off both his arms!! ;)  (freebie from Children's Place the year before)  Whew! Big weekend... I think we're ready for the big V-day!