A Sweet Valentine's Day

Valentines - from Jill to me and Roger, from Roger to me, from Cory to me and from me to Roger.

Jaime with a new dress. She and Aaron were going out for Valentine's Day

Jaime in her "Almost Famous" coat and Aaron.
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A nice Valentine's Day. I watched Jonah and Mia so Jaime and Aaron could have a night out. There was a Valentine's party at the park for the kids. Roger and I had dinner at home - steak and lobster from Omaha Steak. Karin and Alan joined us. Roger's sister was not able to make it. I made a chocolate bundt cake with a mocha glaze.

BFF's and Mia

Jill and her best friend do everything together. They are in the same class and ride the same bus and play at the same park, etc. I was baby sitting Mia and I thought she would be glad to see the girls. I was wrong. She kept getting mad and folding her arms and complaining to me. All she would say was, "Jill keeps taking my stuff!" You see, many of Mia's toys are inherited from her cousin who is 3 years older. Since Mia is 4, she can't remember a time when all these things were not hers. But, in truth, many of Mia's things originally belonged to Jill. What can I say? They are both right. Anyway, I said to Jill, "Be nice to Mia. She has been wanting to play with you all day." Jill looked at Mia and said, "Actually, that shirt you are wearing used to be mine."

Jill - Soccer Match

Jill's soccer picture - 2011

Trophy

Action (blurry)

Conferring with the coach

Dad is watching
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My first soccer match - ages 5-7 I think. So cute. As I arrived and walked to the field, I heard a little voice shout, "Hi, Grandma!" Jill is just learning, but some of the kids are really good. The coach is very nice and has a British accent. One little girl got the ball slammed right into her forehead and came off the field in tears. Everyone was shouting, "Good blocking!" Hard for a grandma to see but generally a fun experience. Go Green!

Jill - Principal's Honor Roll

Congratulations, Jill! Good job.

Mia's Puzzle

Mia gets frustrated with art work and writing. She feels she is "too small" to do it right. But she needs no help or encouragement with puzzles, even difficult ones. This one is the Disney princesses with very large pieces. Unfortunately, a piece always seems to get lost. If you look closely, there is a missing piece at the bottom. This also frustrates my little perfectionist.

Saving Children's Art Work

Fishing by Jonah - date unknown 2010

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What a great way to save the children's art work. Family historian hard at work and burning up the scanner. There was the inevitable one of Jonah's hand but that got lost somehow.

Mary's Angels

A belated Christmas gift from a dear friend. Daffodil, 2010 - an ornament from the Mary's Angels series from Hallmark.

Now I have 3 angels. My mom bought the one on the right, Buttercup, 1988, the first in the series. She liked the little bare feet. I found the one in the middle, Marguerite, 2000 and my friend Joyce found the new one on the left, Daffodil, 2010.

I didn't realise until after my mother was gone that these are called Mary's Angels. My mother's name. The signature on the bottom even looks very much like her signature.

Here is a picture and a sample of my mother's signature. She is the one on the right on the second row.

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What a great gift. Joyce found out by reading this blog (See Little Christmas Things) how much these little ornaments meant to me and she found one! A really cute one reading a book with little bare feet. Thank you, Joyce. I love it. Edited to add: The designer is Mary Hamilton and it is her signature on the bottom.