Happy February Birthdays

On Valentines day, Sam brought the boys to our house. Ron took them to Subway for lunch while I had the "ladies lunch" at the house. The boys spent the night and went to church with us on Sunday. Sam and Audrey got to enjoy an actual "date" on Saturday evening. Sunday evening Sam, Audrey, mom, and the elders came for dinner. It was also an UNexciting birthday party for Ron and Audrey :) I didn't get very good pics. either :(

Let Go...My Lego...Valentines

I found a cute idea, on Pinterest, for Valentines for the grand kids, that I couldn't resist. With all of those boys that love Legos, I thought it was perfect. Not that any of them need any more Legos ;)
They each got a lego heart, a Valentine card, and Hersheys heart Valentine. (The little heart valentines are what we gave out to the primary kids at church. I just made extras for the grandkids too.) I didn't get my "inspiration" for the idea and then my "perspiration" for getting them done in time for them to arrive on Valentines day, but they arrived at each destination this week. Alison said, "That didn't matter, the kids LOVE getting packages no matter what day it is." I also posted "a bunch" of Lego ideas on the cousins blog.

 Here are a few of my Valentine decorations.

On Valentines Day, I invited some ladies from church, who live here in Bandera to come to lunch.

It was a good time to get to know each other better and also accomplish some visiting teaching. 

Ron gave me a great Valentine gift- no candy, or bouquet, or card- but a weeded and mulched flower bed and some out door flowers. (Deer food- lol) Best Valentine gift ever.

These were the Valentines for the ladies from church.

My HaPpY Purchase This Month

Sometimes, it takes very little to make me happy. Like finding these two rugs for my bathroom, that I love. The good thing about having a very neutral home decor, is that it lets me add whatever other colors I desire. Then when I get tired of those, I can get something else. So...here is my HaPpY purchase for February.

STUFF

Often, Ron and mom both ask me, "What did you do today?" Usually, I have to reply, "I did stuff." :)
My life seems to bounce around like a pin ball machine. Maybe that is why I am feeling like I never really accomplish anything- ha. Here are a few of the items on my "stuff list"- The Silver Hanger, Primary, Honey&Lace, Class Reunion, Mom's stuff, Ron's stuff, House Cleaning/Laundry, Yard Work, Exercise, Visiting Teaching, The Storage Room, Sewing Projects, Cooking/Grocery Shopping...and I just added a new item called Thrive Foods (as if I needed anything else- hehe). Usually what determines my schedule for any given day is whatever item has percolated to the top of the list and is in need of immediate attention. I am still trying to figure out exactly what happened here :) At least no bonbons and TV for me. Besides, chocolate is no longer in my diet!

Empty Space

I'm not sure exactly how to explain it...but "empty space" is important to me. Maybe something to do with my type 2/4 personality :) Cluttered space makes me crazy. I even tried putting two more chairs in our bedroom, which wasn't clutter, but I realized that I NEEDED the empty space, so the chairs went upstairs. My snowmen decorations are alreay stacked on the dining room table waiting for boxes. Even with just the Christmas decorations, I needed things to be put away and everything dusted, with again, empty space. I will take a little break, and then get out a few Valentines items. So today is my day to get a few of those things done. I had a tough week of driving, this week. On Monday, I had to go to San Antonio with Ron- Tuesday I went to Boerne in the morning, then in the afternoon, back to San Antonio, this time with mom. On Wednesday evening, I needed to go to Kerrville. Yesterday TWO trips to Boerne. So...today...I am not going out of the house. In fact yesterday would have been a perfect stay home, curl-up-on-the-sofa-rainy-day, but instead I was out driving around, going to the doctor, getting groceries, and getting cold and wet. Mom always tells me to rest, but I've got things to do! Just not driving anywhere :) and trying to make....empty space- lol. My sewing room and my office need serious attention.

Inside Snowmen

The only snowmen at our house, are inside. That is why we retired in Texas. No more snow outside. It has been cold here for a while and we did get a small amount of freezing rain yesterday... but no snow. One of my friends was sad to put away all of her Christmas decorations. I realized that I have a way of keeping some of the Christmas decorations out for January. For Christmas I put out all of the winter and Santa Claus and nativity decorations. After Christmas, I put away the Santa Claus and nativity items and keep the snowmen items out. When we lived In Oklahoma, that worked perfect, because may times in January there would be lots of snow. When we lived in Katy, I sometimes had a hard time leaving those decorations out, because January was sunny. Here, it's cold...not much sun...but no snow.

New Years List

I found a cute list to use for goals for the new year. It is a fun list because it is less formal and less complicated than normal new year resolutions. We are sharing our lists on our family blog. It is fun to see how each person uses each word. And fun to see what each person would like to do in the new year.

Here is the list...
1. Start...
2. Plan...
3. Have...
4. Build...
5. Write...
6. Read...
7. Make...
8. Do...
9. Give...
10. Visit...
11. Learn...
12. Eat...
13. Be...

Some of our family added a few (fun) words...like... Stop, Call, Master, Wait, and Always. My extra word that I added was "Blog". One of the things I want to do for the new year, is to blog on a consistant basis. I have this blog, a "Cousins Blog", a "Family Blog", and a "Silver Hanger Blog". I love the way we can use the internet to stay connected as a family, and for a journal, and for advertising. Here is my new picture for the "Cousins Blog".

On the cousins blog, I share videos, stories,and activities with the grandkids. My goal is to post something there once a week. (I didn't keep that up very well last year and now the kids forget to go look there on a regular basis) 

This blog, I get printed into a book once a year. That is why it is important for me to post here often. 

I love having these books.