I guess we are sort of on a floral kick this week…

I don’t always get around to brushing their hair and sure, sometimes their clothing combinations aren’t exactly matching, but it’s all good. I’m sane (mostly) and they are happy, so it’s all about survival and going with the flow over here, so that’s just what we’re going to keep doing. It keeps our days interesting and manageable.

I’m not one of those adults who feels comfortable wearing a floral crown out in public (it’s not my thing), but it’s fun to draw it on and pretend!

on me: sweatshirt, old navy. jeans, vintage. shoes, lotta from stockholm. on true: shirt, misha lulu. skirt, fab kids. tights, hello merch. boots, gymboree. on brave:  shirts, target and misha lulu. skirt, lucky kids. leggings, misha lulu. boots, old navy. on soul (she changed 3 times!): shirt and pants, a gift. boots, thrifted. on glow: sweater coat, vintage. shirt, misha lulu. pants, hello merch. shoes, old navy.

Flowers have started blooming in our backyard again. I totally neglected my garden this past year, but I’m ready to get back into it this spring. We’ve already started working on the vegetable and fruit tree section of it, but my floral bushes are just kind of crazy right now. There are some that need to be majorly pruned and some that need to come out altogether. Thankfully, I like the overgrown messy looking garden, but our yard definitely needs a bit more guidance to get a more neat, overgrown look.

Due to my lack of attention, my camellia bush is still there, but hasn’t grown much this past year. I did manage to cut some pretty blooms off though and bring it inside to be enjoyed (if you follow me on instagram, then you’ve probably seen all my flower pictures of late). I also have this almost 10 foot high rose bush (maybe it’s a tree now?), that still yields beautiful roses, but it needs to be trimmed back because it’s get way too big. I’m a girly flower type of person. The ruffles and layers of roses and camellias make them my absolute favorites, but I do also love the simple vibrance of California Poppies.

Did you know my first job ever was working at a local flower shop? I dreamed of opening one of my own one day and I even took classes on floral arranging and used to do florals for weddings on the side. My mom and I were once very close to leasing a place for our own flower shop, but chickened out. Somewhere along the way that dream faded, but flowers are still one of my favorite things to work with. What are some of your faded dream jobs?

The past few celebratory days (e.g., our birthday, Christmas, etc.), we just give each other a house thing present or something store bought, which there’s nothing wrong with that and those presents are fun too, but there haven’t been too many handmade gifts of late. 1) We both have our hands full. 2) Free time is hard to find these days. Thus, when we were talking about Valentine’s, we both talked about how we miss those handmade gifts, but because of time, we both understood.

Ben is such a sweetheart and he had a nice little surprise up his sleeve for Valentine’s. After we had spent time cuddling and celebrating with the girls, we got our own quiet time together. First, we spent time eating a special meal I made for the occasion, and then he gave me my gift. He busted out this red paper and started reading me “Tus Pies” by Pablo Neruda, in Spanish of course. I love it when he does that! Naturally, I couldn’t understand it though I knew pies and could make out some things here and there, so after he read it in Spanish, he read me the English translation. It’s a pretty hot poem and if I could blush, I totally would have.

The surprises just didn’t end there and with the whole “tus pies” theme, he handed me a big painted pink box (no wonder the garage smelled like spray paint!) and when I unwrapped it, I saw the cute shoes I had been eyeing. Then after that, there was one more surprise, and he busted out some oils because he was going to give me a foot massage! Seriously, he’s such a romantic! I was pretty giddy from being spoiled.

I was so stuck for awhile on what to make (or give) Ben for Valentine’s, so this idea didn’t come to me until the day before and thankfully that night he was at his Rare Fruit Growers Association meeting, so that gave me time to work on his gift. I had purchased an invisible ink pen with a black light a few weeks prior and decided that making him a “Round the Clock Invisible Valentine Card” with lots of sweet (and naughty) messages would be fun surprises for him. So on Valentine’s morning, right as he was walking out the door for work, I handed him a brown paper bag with his surprise.

I was excited knowing his messages would start at 9:00 am, so I knew he’d text me once he got started with the first one. It’s funny because he texted me saying he could tell there was a message and he was trying hard to read the indentation, and that he didn’t realize to use the black light until after. D’oh! He’d text me almost every hour after he’d get the newest message and it was fun staying connected that way throughout the day. It was a simple gift, but I just wanted Ben to know how much I love him!

I know some people are jaded about the commercialism of February 14th, but it’s still fun to have a day set aside to go the extra mile. I appreciate the everyday ways of showing love and I appreciate the extra miles too.

First thing in the morning, Ben individually asked each of his girls to be his Valentine with a card and a gerbera daisy. The first three each said, “Yes!” and took their flower and gave him a hug. Things went south when he asked the baby, “Glow, will you be my Valentine?” while holding out the flower and card. Immediately, she said, “NO!” and pushed the flower and card away. He asked her one more time and she gave him the same refusal. Ben and I were just laughing at the spunk of that little girl. Oh well! Ben even asked me to be his Valentine with some flowers from the garden (those are my favorite kind) and of course I definitely said yes! Four out of five ladies isn’t bad I guess.

Since the girls had the day off for the President’s Day holiday weekend, they spent the whole day making gifts for each other. It was the sweetest thing! They had already been working on it during the week, but the still managed to spend another whole day making more things. These girls are extremely thoughtful towards each other and us. I spent the day baking some treats for them and trying a new recipe to make for dinner that evening.

Ben came home and we had our room ready for our celebration. True and Brave hung up the gold glitter garland I got from Minted, along with their heart chain garland, I had our cinnamon roll cake on this pretty cake plate ready it was calling out all our names (Glow kept dipping her finger in the frosting)… it looked so yummy. Presents were strewn all over the bed and everyone was buzzing with exciting because we just like celebrating!

We all sat down on the floor of our room as the girls ate dinner and we all opened presents as they ate and talked about everything they made. They made so many cute and creative gifts for each other, and it kept on going and going and going. They had boxes full of handmade goodies! After they passed out their presents, Ben and I gave them our presents for them, which were personalized journals (from here) and walkie talkies. Then we had them all hop into bed to light the heart sparkler on the cake (bought from Danni’s shop). Glow was petrified of it, but the other girls were loving it. We all indulged in some deliciously gooey cinnamon rolls, gave more hugs and kisses, and then it was off to bed for the kiddos because Ben and I needed our own special time to celebrate each other.

It was definitely a good day of celebrating our littlest loves and our love for each other! I’m thankful for the sweet hearts of my girls and Ben. I’ll share what Ben and I gifted each other in another post tomorrow.

White Bean Chili. Yeah! Dinner Club is officially back on for the New Year. We started this last summer and typically Thursday evenings we have a group of friends over, usually the same ones, and invite some neighbors and new friends over too. We took a break in December for the holidays and we haven’t been able to resume until this week. It was so good! Most who come are married (a couple aren’t though), so we frequently talk about our marriage woes (we scare off the single folk too) and encourage each other to keep pressing on. Usually there is a lot of laughing going on because when we talk about our marriage woes, and once you’re removed from a particular fight, it’s just funny to retell it and see how ridiculous you’re both being. Anyway, I usually make some big pot of chili or soup because it’s the easiest thing to make for a big group of people.

Week of  2/24 – 2/28
Monday: Spicy Seafood & Soba Noodles
Tuesday: Bossam
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Sushi/pizza night

I’m really loving being in the kitchen now. When I first started this family meal series, I was doing it just to help my family get more organized and be efficient with our dinnertime. I really hadn’t done much cooking previously, but after about 63 weeks of this, I’m feeling more comfortable stepping away from a recipe and going with my gut and taste. Ben rarely cooks anymore!

I need to keep working at getting the kids involved, so they can learn and love cooking too. Cooking was another thing I learned late in life (just like laundry), but I’d love my girls to get started early. It’s a life skill they need to know after all, not because they’re are girls, but just because it’s something good for everyone to learn to work towards being independent. I wish it’s something I learned at a young age. Ben started getting interested in cooking when he was a kid and he started making his own pizza from watching Reading Rainbow!

The newest plant added to my indoor collection, and of course I’m still wanting more. Thankfully, I’m able to keep them alive.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Some recipes for homemade Girl Scout cookies that Ben emailed me. We don’t buy them because he doesn’t like the hydrogenation in them, so maybe I should try making a batch at home!

This pom pom thing looks fun to make.

Marriage (any thriving relationship really) is a lot of work. Don’t stop working friends! Everyone needs this reminder from time to time.

Loving this pullover sweatshirt that Gusta sent over.

I’m styling my first Babiekins shoot on Sunday and I’m nervous!

I’m addicted to ice cream. I seriously have half a cup every night.

I was getting into watching House of Cards, but it just didn’t make me feel good. I don’t know. I was 8 episodes in and realized, I don’t like it. I mean it’s interesting, but Kevin Spacey creeps me out, so while the storyline is pretty good, it just wasn’t something I wanted filling my brain any longer. I can’t wait for the Olympics to be over so all my regular shows can come back. Good news is Walking Dead is back and I don’t mind thinking about zombies! Those don’t creep me out as much as Kevin Spacey.

Weekend’s here… yipee! I know some people think it’s dumb for stay home moms to get excited about the weekend because we get to stay home all the time (though that doesn’t mean I’m just home eating bon bons and twiddling my thumbs), but I love the weekends because that means I get to do the parenting with Ben by my side all weekend long and 2 on 4 is so much easier than 1 on 4.