Holidays

I love holidays. It's so much fun planning them and seeing the faces of my three girls when something special is planned. On Valentine's Day, my girls woke up to balloons and streamers in the front room and kitchen. There doesn't seem to be anything more exciting to my girls than a balloon. Apparently they are the best things on earth. So for Valentine's they got helium balloons and mouth-blown up balloons.

The above was breakfast. Heart pancakes (which are not pictured). For dinner, we had a fancier decorated table with a table cloth and a pepperoni pizza in the shape of a heart, thanks to Papa Murphy's. Scott and I got to go out on a date the Saturday before to a BYU basketball game and then out to eat.

Each girl got some candy, a stuffed animal, a balloon, and a note naming off 10 things that Scott and I love about each of them. I hope to make that a tradition and keep them until they're adults.

Hannah got some chocolates and a rose from her friend Ammon. I have a feeling that this is the first of many that this child will be getting in her life time. I must admit that it was really cute to watch them exchange gifts. Hannah just colored him a picture, but Valentine's Day is a girl's holiday anyway, right?



On to St. Patty's day.....

(Pics are kind of out of order, but I'm too lazy to change it)

Shamrock pancakes for breakfast! Let's face it, you can pretty much do anything with a pancake. Egg pancakes for Easter?? I think so.

Leprechauns love rainbows, right? So we had a rainbow cake for dessert.

Corned beef and cabbage, mashed potatoes, rolls, and salad. Oh yeah, and a green drink (sparkling apple cider). I didn't dye the mashed potatoes green this year. I figured we had enough food coloring for the day with the cake, pancakes, and green drink. I wanted to get green St. Patty's day plates and cups but apparently St. Patty's day is not a big deal in Utah because I couldn't find them anywhere. Come on, people, where's your Irish pride?

Mmm..... food coloring and chemicals. Delish!
(Actually this cake was really delicious, if I do say so myself.)

Here's the leprechaun catcher that Hannah and I made. I think he really liked it.

Yup, he did like it, and we caught him. I think he especially liked the rainbow that Hannah painted for him on the inside of the box. He even left us some gold chocolate coins. We left him some rainbow Trix to eat so we could catch him. Unfortunately, he turned to stone before he could eat any of them. Don't worry, that night he turned back into himself and ran away. We'll see you again next year, Pat.

Hannah wore this same dress last year for St. Patty's Day. Apparently it's the only all green item she has. Good thing it still fits!

Hmmm....let's see. How many pictures does it take to get all three of my girls' eyes open? Forget all three of them smiling.

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

Take 6

Take 7

Take 8

Take 9

Take 10

Take 11

Take 12

13!! It takes 13.

Apparently the flash on my camera is extra bright. Thank heavens for digital cameras. Otherwise I'd be going through a lot of film right now. Happy really belated holidays!