Belated Valentine's and Another Great Visit from Mom!

A cheesecake and card all in one! I got a great recipe from a friend and made the little chocolate hearts by melting chocolate chips in a ziploc baggie and cutting the tip off. This cheesecake was the first I've ever made and it rocked!!!

Riley came home from preschool with all this! He brought me the cookie you see on the plastic bag and was SO sweet when he gave it to me. He gave me a hug and KISS (kisses from him seem to be rationed the days) and said "Happy Valentines Day." My heart absolutely melted! I have already made him promise that when he grows up and is married and a daddy that he will NEVER move far away and that he always has to stay close by to mommy :) There is some four year old little girl out there somewhere that will probably hate me some day :)

Thought I'd throw in a Spring fever picture. This was a couple days ago, before all the depressing storminess. It felt SO good to be outside and play in the yard and dream about the things I want to do with our yard. Last night I went and walked around the soon to be gardening section of Walmart. There are some things already set up for the coming season, and I had to call Ben because I was so excited. I said "Guess where I am?!.......I'm in the gardening section and they are getting it ready for me and it smells like dirt!!!!!!"

My Mom came for a visit, and this time she flew instead of driving. One hour of flying to get here versus six hours of driving. Well worth it! We took the kids to McDonald's, and Riley sat in Ronald's lap for a while to be comforted after the traumatizing experience of his ears being "hurt" by another little boy yelling too loud. I gently reminded Riley that a playland is loud and it's okay to be loud here, and he's loud too sometimes! Ronald apparently had more sympathy.
My Mom made an amazing stir fry with Tofu. I've always made fun of tofu...it seems like a crazy health fanatic food, but man that stuff can be tasty! In fact I'm making a stir fry tonight with tofu, and I can't wait to try my hand at it.
This trip, Riley was GLUED to his Granny. I think he said "You know whaaaaat???" about ten thousand time during her visit. And if I tried to give her a break and say "What Riley?" he would quickly say "I'm not talkin' to you. I'm talkin' to Grandma. Grandma, you know whaaaaat?" In the above picture, they are starting their sleep over on our couches. They watched Night at The Museum, and even though it was very late, Riley made sure my mom didn't miss a minute of it. Every time she dozed off, he would tell her to wake up.
Well this time, my mom was smart enough to not stick her finger in Malia's mouth (last trip Malia made my mom's finger bleed). Rather than her finger, my mom offered Malia french fries! In case you can't tell, that is a french fry hanging out of her mouth.

Riley wants to write something now:

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My Dad, the Grandpa!

So I don't think I've put many pictures of my Dad up with my kids, but I have to say it has been a hoot watching how he interacts with them. He has an interesting relationship with Riley, sort of a love/hate although hate is a strong word. It's sort of a love/annoyed relationship, with Riley being the annoyed one because my Dad teases him and pushes his buttons, so it's really my Dad's fault when Riley glares at him. I never know who to scold, my Dad or Riley. Malia seems to really like my Dad. She's kind of a "man's lady", jut like Riley is a "ladies man". I have a feeling Malia and my Dad will get along just great :)

OH Riley....

I love this little guy so much, but the other day I just had to shake my head and say "Oh, Riley." as I often do. Here is why...I took him to the dentist a week ago, and we had built this event up in a positive light for two weeks. He was excited to go, excited to open his mouth, etc. So we get there and the second it's time for him to go back and see the dentist, he goes from brave, confident Riley to the clingy and pouty and will NOT even open his mouth. So after 10 minutes of trying to coax him, we leave and of course I am upset that he wouldn't cooperate. The next day he sais he wants to try again, and PROMISES he will open his mouth and let the dentist look and do whatever he needs to. I know the promises of a four year old are shaky at best, but he really meant it. So BEN takes him because heck if I'm going to go through it again if Riley decides to back out. Well, this time instead of the male dental hygienist who tried to help Riley last time, there was a lady. I guess Riley didn't want a lady. He told me this later. So the second try was no better than the first. To top it off, I keep hearing stories of how wonderful other people's kids have been at the dentist. Oh well, I guess we will just wait until he's a little older and keep brushing and flossing!

This kid is such a good helper with Malia! It's funny to watch him try to carry her. The way he picks her up under her arms, she always has a wedgie as he's carrying her around. Speaking of WEDGIES.............

Check out the wedgie here! I could not believe how far between her cheeks this fabric had migrated. But she didn't seem to mind at all. How does this even happen when she has a big diaper on! Somehow, it did. Look at those buns!! She's a very curvy gal.

My friend Holly came to visit the other day, and brought her little girl who is a month younger than Malia. I know Holly from highschool and we also went to Snow College together. I had never met her little girl and she hadn't met Malia either, plus we hadn't seen eachother since last June so it was a fun get together!
Don't they look like the best of friends! Well, actually Olivia kept beating on Malia's helmet and Malia kept pulling Olivia's socks off. At least Holly and I were nice to eachother!