Valentine's Day

Now that Erik and I have been married for almost 7 years, Valentines day is just...not as big of deal.  Since we have had kids however (especially a little girl) it sure makes Valentine's day fun!  I love to dress them up cute for the holiday and spoil them with presents!
I was going to make an outfit for Elisa for V-day, but I came across this adorable tutu skirt and Marshalls and Grandma gave Elisa a V-day shirt, so I settled for making Elisa a hair bow instead :)

She looked adorable this Valentine's day:

 __________________________________________________________________________________

I did "make" Gabe a shirt though.  Make, as in "design"an iron-on transfer.  And by "design" I mean shamelessly steal someone's idea for a V-day shirt:

Gabe modeling his shirt and holding his V-day present from Daddy (which he immediately devoured).  Mommy's present was letting him pick out some candy in the Valentine's day aisle at Walmart, and he ended up picking out a candy-filled plastic Easter egg.  Silly boy.

 _________________________________________________________________________________

 Gabe's not a great eater, so cutting heart-shaped bologna sandwiches did the trick!

__________________________________________________________________________________

We had Gabe's bff over while her parents went out for a V-day date.  Gabe and Eva had a little "date" of their own, including dancing, dinner, and hugs and kisses to follow:

Anders and Elisa also had a date, but I'm not sure they hit it off to well.  They were more interested in crawling around than in each other.  But they did like to hit the table:

__________________________________________________________________________________

For Christmas one of my piano student's mom gave me a $25 gift card to Papadeux Seafood resturant.  I had planned on going there for Valentine's day but alas I cannot find it for the life of me (or it has been STOLEN).  So we didn't end up going anywhere, but Erik did make a nice chicken dinner with Brazilian cheese balls.  He also gave me flowers, Gabe a box of chocolates, and Elisa a little balloon.  What a great husband I have!

__________________________________________________________________________________

I took Gabe to a place called "Paint Me Mine", it's one of those places you pick out a piece of pottery, paint it, and they fire it for you.  We will not be going back there as it is ridiculously expensive.  I found the cheapest thing there was to paint and let Gabe have at it.  He had fun painting it and I think it was a cute gift:

Family's Visit

Ticket were really cheap for a certain period of time so my family took that opportunity and came down for a visit!! My dad, my mom, and Lisa and Aaliyah came.  It sure was a houseful but we had fun.  I especially liked seeing the cousins play together.  Aaliyah has officially passed Elisa in size! She is two months younger and super cute.  Here are a bunch of pics for ya:

My dad was very helpful in watching all the babies.  He took Elisa to the park and took this picture and video:

Elisa loves dancing and she loves watching people dance! So cute:

We celebrated my mom's birthday while she was down here.  I made her a heart cake and we sang happy birthday to her.  I don't know what was going on with Gabe though!

Christmas Crafts

 Now that Christmas is almost 2 months past, here are some fun Christmas crafts I did this year.

Beaded Ornament.  This hobby is going on the back burner for the next several years.  It takes too long and I have not the patience for it.  Beading is so very tedious! 
I made this ornament for my in-laws, and despite the time put into it, it still didn't turn out that great:

 

 

I made some Borax Crystal ornaments with Gabe.  It sure was fun seeing how dumpy pipe cleaners could turn into somethings so sparkly and pretty.  I made everyone's names and put them on the tree.  The lights on the tree made them really sparkle! They are so easy and quite cheap to make, click here for the tutorial.

 

Made this train for Gabe on a whim.  He loves it!