We give each other coupons for Valentine's Day. Marissa got a makeover from Mommy. This is how it turned out! She took it very "seriously". 
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Valentine's Day
Red Dinner with our neighbors. I totally forgot to put Marissa in her red outfit! Yikes! You can't really tell that all our food was red. I made this great Pasta and dyed it red. We had red butter and bread. I made a Briami with lots of tomatoes and we had a Tomato and Spinach Soup. For dessert, we ate a Layered Trifle with Strawberries and Red Whipped Cream. 
Rice and Gatorade
Garett and Marissa have nicknamed each other "Gatorade" and "Rice". After Marissa and I came home from our trip to see my Dad in Kentucky, Garett called out to Marissa to come give him a hug. He said, "Come here. I've been hungry for my rice!" She replied, "I'm coming because I've been thirsty for my Gatorade!"
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Self timer
Tate REALLY wanted to put the camera on a timer to take a picture of all of us today. I can't believe he got it to work! I can't even figure out how to get that feature to work! Yea!!! A picture to mark where we were on February 3, 2010!!!
Vent Love
Nearly every morning, Marissa comes down and crawls under the kitchen chair. The vent is her best friend. This morning, she sleepily took her breakfast down to the floor with her.
Density
Garett was so excited about an experiment that he did at HEART. He was learning about density and showed me what happened when you added water, oil, food coloring and syrup. In that order. It was very cool!
Garett will hate me for this one day!
Garett and Marissa decided to play opposite world this afternoon. They swapped out clothes and had fun playing each other's part.
Tutoring
Tate was designed to be the "big" brother. This is a picture of him tutoring Garett on how to properly use a calculator. 
Reading Cake
Marissa finished her reading lesson book. She very gently reminded me that I had made Garett a cake to celebrate his completion of the reading lesson book. So- here it is! Didn't she do a lovely job decorating it?
Northwestern vs. Illinois
Dad set us up with great seats at the Northwestern vs. Illinois basketball game for his birthday. The Cats won!
Pondering
I'm so glad to have Marissa home with me this year. She came down while I was on the treadmill early in the morning today. She was rolling herself around the room on a big bouncy ball and I wasn't paying a ton of attention to her because I was watching the news on t.v. while I walked. All of a sudden, she walked up to me with this really profound question. I answered it to the best of my ability. She was satisfied and started rolling around on the ball again. It might not seem like a big deal, but to me it is everything. To be a good mother and influence my children to have Godly values and to foster a relationship with each one of them where they can learn and grow and reach their full potential. I am so grateful to be home with them to catch those questions and encourage their pondering of important principles.
