valentine central

whoa! the dining room table is filled with the valentines gabrielle 

is giving to her classmates.  

a colorful envelope filled with a "girl talk" valentine, heart-shaped silly band & a lollipop for the girls...

an NBA valentine complete with a tattoo and lollipop for the boys.......

    

&

ben is writing a valentine to his girlfriend, kendall to send off tomorrow.

kendall is away at college - butler university in indianapolis, indiana

ben and friends, emma & lillie came home during their off-period at school for some relaxation.....

golden days nursery school.........

ryla and i had so much fun at our little school.......

we read one of my childhood favorite books 

madeline

and then for nursery tea, we tied big, white serviettes around our necks and drank 

chocolate chaud 

just like mademoiselle madeline petite would do - from a bowl!

magnifique!

then we went outside to play in the snow with the warm chocolate milk in our tummies.......

snow penguin?

here in colorado, our snow is very dry so it is difficult to make snowballs and snowmen.

but ryla really wanted to build a snowman so we found large blocks of snow left over from paul's plowing and we stacked them on top of each other.........

sticks for arms, stones for eyes and a carrot nose......

naughty dog!

i came outside later to take clearer photos of our snowman after the shadows had moved and

our bad dog had attacked our snowman and ate his nose!!

carrots are one of her favorite foods.......bad girl.

i have been painting the new storage room and shelves over the past few days 

and roxy has fallen in love with one of the paint rollers.

 she carries it around and then throws it so we will play "keep away" 

with her.

but her favorite is to hold it close when she naps near the fireplace.

OK, that is pretty cute - you're forgiven.

i am heading up a women's conference this weekend and have been baking up a storm.

50 little bundt cakes.

they are hummingbird cakes and will be drizzled with cream cheese frosting over the top.

50 little valentine boxes as well........

i also have to be the main speaker and haven't even begun my talk......

stressed........

but look.........

my amaryllis is blooming again, again!

these are the type of things that calm me.

i am hoping these rosy, ruby reds will be in full bloom by sunday so that i can use them 

in my display for the conference......