The little things

Sometimes it is just the little things.  Okay, so the $700 I just spent fixing something on my car is not a little thing, but hanging out with my little man and doing absolutely nothing is a little thing that is worth a million bucks.

Yesterday was a snowy, wonderful day and we had no where to go.  I worked from home and we just hung out together and had a great day.

While I fixed dinner, Aiden did this...

It's hard to see what he is doing, but we had pink heart marshmallows left over from Valentines Day and nothing really left to do with them.  So, I put some milk in some silicone cupcake liners and added food coloring.  I gave him a paint brush and had him "paint" his marshmallows and then eat them.  I thought they were kinda soggy (they are marshmallows and milk...) but he didn't seem to mind.  

Wow.  Look at that beautiful boy.

So fun.  we will definitely do this again.  Someone suggested painting popcorn?  Okay...soggy!!!

Valentines Day

Valentines Day this year was extremely awesome.  Extremely Awesome.  

Okay, so I don't have a "special someone" and, honestly, it was really perfect not to have a romantic thing to figure out.  

I had a toddler who was up for whatever - whenever.

First off, Aunt Kari helped Aiden make this Valentine for me.  It was the coolest present ever.  What a wonderful sister to think of me.

For lunch we had "love notes".  Okay they are pizza pockets done envelope style with pepperoni and cheese, but Aiden loved it.  They were pretty tasty.

My knight in shining armor.  Let me explain this picture.  I think that the best times as a mom happen when least expected.  Aiden loves these swords lately and will ambush me at the least expected times.  We have two of them.  He hands me one and will say, "Run, mom, run...!!" and then it is ON!  

Most of time he ends up collapsing and laughing like a cute little possum.  

Oh, and I got this for Aiden.  We have a potato head collection.  And this is his ninja potato head.  Notice the bare feet, the black belt, the shredder chucks and the dreaded butter knife.  Yeah.  Awesome.  He also got a few Thomas the Tank Engine books.

Part of our killer dinner last night.  Man, I love having a fun time with my Monkey.

Finger painting with dessert.  Awesome.

The Great Cupcake Adventure

The survivors.

The Casualties

The winner!

So fun making Valentines cupcakes for Family Home Evening.  

So fun.

Kamakasi Ninja Monkey Toddler

Yesterday, after church, we had a nap.  Until 530pm.  Needless to say, I had a wired monkey until very late.  He found the foam swords and wanted to "play" with Mom.  What ensued was the craziest kamakasi ninja monkey toddler you have ever seen.

Such a NERD!!

I have to preface this post with an explanation or two:
#1 - My bike was stolen (by my best friend, I found out) when I was younger.
#2 - I never learned to ride a bike.  See #1.
#3 - I had a boyfriend once who tried to teach me to ride a bike.  He ended up swearing and I ended up angry.  See #2.
#4 - I was not raised in a family that really was active.  See #2.

So - with all that - and my very overly large behind in mind - I purchased the coolest thing...  An adult tricycle!!

Oh, yes I did!  

And when I picked it up in the box, the cashier asked me if I was buying it for a grandmother.  NOPE! Just for me and my behind.  Awesome, huh?  I need a big flower for the basket - and you better believe that my little dog is riding in the basket!

My nephew was a total trooper and put it together for me and even tried to wheelie it.  He did tons of tricks and didn't care that he didn't even look cool.  Of course, when you are Stu, you can make anything look cool.  Thanks, man.

Also, keep in mind that Aiden got one of these for Christmas:

BOO YEAH!  We both are proud owners of bright red Schwinn tricycles.  Mine is missing the nifty bell and tassels, but I think I can fix that...  tee hee.

So we went for an inaugural ride tonight.  I have a bike trailer for Aiden to ride in, too!! To my neighbors' credit, none of them laughed or snickered (at least openly).  But seriously, for someone who has known the thrill of riding a bike for the first time, think about how seriously cool this was for me tonight.  I got to ride my bike with my son... just like a normal mom.  

Such a cool night. 

The train show

As promised - here is the post about the train show.  First off, let me say - whoever decided to have the gun show and the train show in the same convention center on the same day should be shot.  (No pun intended).  Scary military-type guys walking around with guns and ammo - by small children wanting to play with trains.  Bad planning.  Boo.

However, we really did have a great time at the train show.  It was short and sweet.

Big long red carpet - bigger than my house - for kids to play.  And Play and play.

One day we will have a plumber's crack problem.  I am sure of it.  He has no bum.

Best part of the day.  Seeing and riding Thomas.  Notice the super-swell Thomas shirt and Thomas shoes.  He was wearing his Thomas backpack earlier.  Awesome.

Quick stop at Sizzler for lunch.  Halfway through the meal, he looked at me and said, "Hold me, Mom.  I am super sleepy."  He fell asleep two minutes into the ride home.  Love this boy.

Later on Saturday, we had a fun game night with the Smeds.  Ok, just Kelly and Shiree.  But it was super fun.

Good, fun day with my man.

One of those days...

I have a lot of family activities to catch up on.  Friday we went to a train show and Sunday was the Super Bowl.  However, those posts will have to wait.

Monday night.  And I feel like I am washed and rung out to dry.  But when I really think about what we did today, I feel like a good mom.  We did it all today.

I worked.  Then, I picked up little man.  He wanted to go to the park, but it was soggy, so we did the next best thing... I took him to Arctic Circle and I sipped a Diet Pepsi while he played with other little kids on the play structure for nearly an hour.  I have always worried that as a single child he would not know how to really play with other kids, but I shouldn't worry.  He was running, chasing, playing, laughing, and all that with all the kids.  Girls, boys, older, younger.  Happy, happy kiddo.

We came home and had a great, healthy dinner - turkey, beans, and wild rice.  Monkey ate every bite.  (Shocker) and played with me (we played trains).

We did bath time.

We did Aiden's chores (5 very toddler-appropriate chores).

We had family home evening.  (worked on a puzzle about the things that help us get to the temple)

We read scriptures and lots of other stories.

We talked about our days.

We snuggled and sang Primary songs.

Aiden called me his best buddy.

He fell asleep in my arms.

Now, my laundry is running, my dishwasher is running, my homework is done and my house is clean.

I am tired.  But I am very, very happy.  It is one of those days that I can sit, exhausted, still needing to study more, and just say, "I did it."