Valentine's Day (or is it week?)

Happy Valentine's Day! A little late. I was waiting to post till I had pictures, and I temporarily misplaced my camera, so now here I am. For those of you who don't know, at our house, we tend to stretch celebrations out for at least a week. So we started last Friday night, with Jody & Emily going on a date. Jody took Emily to Marietta Square to walk around and to get dessert. Emily loved the square, especially the stage. She got up there and danced and sang a song. She also played on the little train. She thought she was really something, showing off for Daddy. From the Square, they headed to Chili's for her favorite dessert~ Chocolate Molten Cake. MMM SO GOOD!! They had a lot of fun. Here they are on date night.

I didn't take many pictures of our other celebrations, but we had a busy week. Sunday night was the First Grade Bible presentation at church. So Alex walked up on stage to get his Bible presented to him by Pastor Johnny. My neice Hope got one also. Afterwards, they had a reception with pizza, balloon animals & pictures with the pastor. Wow, what a line. We opted out & decided Alex & Hope could have a private photo session with Pastor Johnny and maybe Mrs Janet too. Without the wait.
From that we moved on into the week, so Alex & I could plan our date. We were going to go to the Melting Pot for dessert, but that didn't work out. So we settled for Chick-fil-a milkshakes, which is one of his favorite things. But he only likes "Ranilla"(as he calls it), unlike his mom who only likes chocolate. Spending time with the kids one on one, is really special & fun. That is actually one of our goals for the year. We are planning at least one little date a month, Alex & Emily get one on one with either me or Jody. January was Jody & Alex and Me & Emily. And we're rotating every month. Ella already gets one on one time with me all week, and Jody spends 1 or 2 mornings with her. It may not seem like much, but it's a start, and now it is a priority. So because of these new priorities, Jody & I didn't really get to go on a date. We did go to lunch on Thursday, but you know I still want the Melting Pot or even Stoney River. But, we are creating special memories for the kids now, and that is important too.
Our most exciting celebration for Valentine's Day was Thursday afternoon, when my little brother got married. Brett and Stacy were married yesterday and it was really a special time. The whole family was there and the kids were almost as excited as the adults. Emily said back in May, before they were engaged, "Guess what. I'm going to be the flower girl in your wedding." We were like, O-KAY, great honey. Nothing like kids and their impatience. So Emily was the flower girl. She couldn't go to sleep the night before, then had her alarm set for 5:45am (she thought) so she could get ready for the wedding. She was so excited, she forgot about school that day. Poor thing that must have been one of the longest days for her. But she made it through, and Emily, Lindsey & Hope got to be the flower girls. Alex stood up there too, but he wasn't "holding no flowers". My Aunt Penny also came from FL.

Brett has always been a great brother, you know since I'm older & he listens to me. But I am really proud of him. And Stacy has become a good friend and is now a sister. I'm proud of her too, for picking a great guy. We are so happy for them and glad we could share in this special time. I'm looking forward to seeing the blessings God has in store for Brett, Stacy & baby Landon. Congratulations Guys!

Now the kids are out of school, and we're off to PCB. Have a good weekend!