Pleasantly Surprised

My Valentines Day turned out to be pretty good. Despite our strep, both Pete and I felt fairly good (though confined to our house).

Pete gave me a pink Snuggie. It's super awesome. Oh, and Coke and chocolate. Does my man love me or what?


I gave him some candy, too.

Saturday night we ordered Chili's to go, and ate it after the kids were in bed. We got Molten Chocolate Cake for dessert (YUM!!!!), which incidentally we'd order all the time when we were friends in college and split it. We also watched "Miss Congeniality".

So our V-day weekend ended up being really nice. I really liked eating food late, just me and Pete. Maybe next year we'll do it again, but without the germs.

A "Cheer"

Nat: I've got strep, yes I do!
I've got strep, how 'bout you?

Pete: I've got strep, yes I do!
I've got strep, that makes two!

...My aches and chills turned into super awful throat pain; I went to the doc and it turns out it was strep. (My apologies to anyone I came in contact with when I didn't know I was contagious.)

And just as I'm starting to get better, Pete goes in today and gets the same verdict.

So our Valentine's Day will include a lot of drug-induced staring at one another. Soooo romantic.

So who has good plans for V-day?

The Little Things

I'm sick. Oh, how I'm sick. Chills, aches, and sore throat, mostly. But I've been wanting to blog about this.

One of the Personal Progress experiences talks about writing down the service that family members do for each other for two weeks. (Seriously, how awesome is the Personal Progress program?) I figured since it was close to Valentine's day, that I would work on this one with my whole family. So for Family Home Evening, I made this poster that's now hanging on our back door. This is where we can write down what we love about each other, and the good things that we do for one another.


It's made me realize that our lives are not necessarily made up of the big events that happen. It's actually made up of all the little things that happen and that we do for one another. Mother Teresa said, "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

My small "things" have done many small things; writing them down has really opened my eyes to how much love they give, and to how much I love them.

For instance, Ivy shared her fruit snacks with Troy. And she said "please" when she wanted a bite of my sandwich.


Troy made the broom stand up by itself. And he brought a blanket over to me last night when I was feeling so achy and yucky. He also cuddled with me and played with my hair, which is one of my favorite things.



Before I got sick, I took Jake out to get his haircut (for free, which rocks). We got some Wendy's, and he bought a new Bakugan with his allowance money. It was really fun to spend some one-on-one time with my little man. He has also opened up the door for me when I had my hands full, and did his homework really fast one day without complaint.


(As a completely random side note: I hit the Payless Buy One Get One 1/2 Off sale when Jake and I were out and about; these shoes ended up being $3.50!)


Brock was watching "Muppets from Space" the other day. Gonzo says, "I don't know where I came from". And Brock said back, "I know what you mean, Gonzo." It was so funny! Brock cleaned up the toys all by himself (no small feat), and made his bed without being asked.

And not to leave Pete out: last night he made dinner and got the kids ready for bed while I slept.

It's been so wonderful to see my little kids give so much to each other and to me.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

-Napoleon Hill