Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day the kids and I made some chocolate chip cookies and took them to Tory's work. Penelope decided she wanted to look pretty and wear a dress so we got ready and headed off to the base. The kids had such a great time seeing daddy at work. They were pretty excited to see dad and to eat some cookies. We then stopped by a park before heading home. I took some photos of the kids, it was fun because the park had swings.



That afternoon I went out back and this is what I found:


Now whenever Oliver goes out back, he ends up on top of the train table, the little rascal!

'Me' Time

I have found that as a mother of young children, 'me' time is hard to come by. My three little ones do nap at the same time every day (for the most part) but mostly that time is used to eat lunch, clean up the house a little, get something started for dinner, make any calls that need to be made, answer emails and occasionally sneak in a nap too. I don't really consider that 'me' time. As I have mentioned before I'm not great about leaving my kids with a babysitter (I'm working on it though) but my hubby is really good about being willing to take all the kids somewhere when I need a break. But, I almost always use that time to mop my floors. Its just so hard to mop it with a new walker (Oliver), he wants to be near me but isn't totally steady on his feet and he inevitably ends up slipping and falling so I can only mop when he is not underfoot. But today, today I decided I needed some real 'me' time. Tory took the kids and even though our house was messy and the dishes not totally done, I just left. I hopped in the car without having to buckle anyone except myself and took off. And where did I go to take advantage of my new-found freedom? I went to Borders. I have had a Borders gift card since last May and today I decided it was time to use it. I LOVE bookstores, I could spend hours there. Before Tory and I had kids we would often go to a bookstore just to peruse and he was always ready to go before me. So today I grabbed a couple books (travel books - I'm researching a little trip I'm going on next month) and a magazine. I spent way too much money for a little something to eat at the Starbucks attached to Borders and found a comfy chair and settled in. It was so nice to not have to worry about anyone else, to not have a timetable and to just read. I came home calmer and more relaxed. The evening was good, I wasn't totally out of patience by the time the kids went to bed. I think I might have to make this 'me' time a more regular thing.