Easy As ABC

Last Monday evening, as we enjoyed our very late Valentine's dinner, the following discussion took place:

Bryan: (giving me the "I'm about to talk in code" look and speaking quietly) It's getting really late. I'm thinking about the little guy, maybe we shouldn't do the C-A-K-E tonight for him.

Me: I don't know, he's already seen it, that might not go over well.

Topher: Wait a second! Am I the little guy?! Does this mean I'm not getting cake?

I knew he was doing a good job learning his letters, but I had no idea he could figure out our high-tech spelling code!

It's All About the Costume

Play Along

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about how skilled Bryan is at getting the kids to sleep? Well, I showed that adorable picture to Topher. He liked it so much that for the last few days he's been pretending to go to sleep during naptime in the hopes that Bryan will take his sleeping picture again. I guess Bryan didn't pick up on his plan, because Topher finally announced what his aim was. Bryan obliged and this picture is the result.

Hmm, I wonder if he's actually asleep...

The Cookie Elf

All the Valentines

Sophie loves Valentine's Day. She loves it so much that she asked me to buy balloons and a cake and planned a fancy dinner. Of course, Bryan and I were the ones that actually made the cake and fancy dinner, but it was Sophie's brainchild.

Our Valentine's Day celebration started on Saturday afternoon. Bryan's mom had put together a box of goodies and mailed it to us. Once morning chores were over, we opened the box. And we've been enjoying its contents ever since.

Here the kids are enjoying their Valentine's Day treats (a little candy, a few art supplies/books/slinkies depending on the kid) yesterday morning after their special breakfast of pink oatmeal.

Sophie's friend (who is her age) has her own baking business. She makes cookies, cake pops, and hot chocolate bombs which you can order from her website. We were lucky enough to get a free delivery of sweet treats after school.

Phoebe's heart:

Sophie's heart:

Cooper's heart:

Our fancy dinner consisted of steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, strawberries, rolls, sparkling juice, and strawberry cake.

A young man in the ward bought and delivered flowers to all the young women that didn't have boyfriends. I thought it was very sweet. Phoebe also had a morning valentine delivery from one of the members of the Young Women class presidency. We had one more delivery that didn't get photographed. My ministering sister brought a loaf of homemade bread and a small bag of Dove dark chocolates. Topher immediately claimed the chocolates as his own and went skipping back into the house with his prize.

I baked the cake and started the frosting process, Sophie took over with the frosting and had complete control over the sprinkles. She was very pleased with the end result.

It was well received.

It was a full day of love. I think my favorite activity of the day was a game we played at dinner. Each person had to say one thing that they loved about the person sitting to their right, as well as recite what each person before them had said. We do this a few times a week and say what our favorite thing about the day was. We call it the Listening Game because you have to pay attention and listen well to remember what all the people before you said. I really liked our holiday variation yesterday.

Also, I might need a day to recover from all the cooking.

The Conductor

Out of the corner of my eye, during the closing song on Sunday, I noticed Topher moving. I looked up to see him leading the music. This is interesting because we can't see the person conducting the music during our church broadcast, the camera isn't pointed in their direction. In the almost year and a half that we've been watching these broadcasts, we've only been pointed toward the chorister a handful of times. That means he's mimicking what he's seen me do around the house, or he's remembering back nearly two years ago when we were last at church in person. And I think that's pretty cool.

Tie It Up With a Bow

After working on and off on this particular skill for more than a year, I'm happy to report that Sophie can now tie her shoes!

She wanted to show both the shoe that I tied (her left foot) and the one that she tied (her right foot).

We've Been Framed

Like Rapunzel, But At the End of the Movie

If you've ever wondered how thick Sophie's hair is, I can tell you: it's thick enough that I had trouble cutting that ponytail off at the beginning of the haircut. She has SO MUCH HAIR. We've known for weeks that she needed it cut. She and I have spent too many hours brushing the early stages of dreadlocks out of her hair. I was relieved when she finally agreed to the cut.

She loves the result. It's much easier to take care of and looks really cute with headbands and clips. I'm just glad she was happy with how it turned out.

Room for Everyone

On Sunday I did Primary with Topher and Sophie upstairs in Topher's room while Bryan and the big kids watched the Sunday School lesson over Zoom. Near the end of our lesson we took some time to listen to a song about Noah and draw pictures of the ark and animals.

Topher asked me to take a picture of his ark when he finished. It includes an octopus, he told everyone that would listen.