valentines day!

 The kids have been so excited about valentines day ever since we put the christmas tree up! :) liza has had her Valentine box picked out for months and couldn't wait to get it made. she does n every little step from the head to the toe.... to what box it is going to be made out of... to exactly how to tail will be attached. she even un rolled all the toilet paper rolls to get the legs for the horse faster than we could get the tp used. ;) i love that she did this all her own. it is never totally perfect but it IS totally perfect! :) i asked her if she wanted help getting another coat of paint on it (you could still see the hot chocolate box underneath) but NO haha it looked exactly the way she wanted it and i LOVED that! :) i am always careful to help her when she needs it but i NEVER take the lead. she is always the LEAD in how everything should be or how or what the ideas are and how the should be implemented. leadership practice! :) i love letting her know she is fully capable of making the right choices and being a leader! i think so often in life people are scared to try things or be creative because they have a fear of something not being perfect and it paralyzes them and they would rather not try if it isn't perfect. this is NEVER the case at our house...hahaha--- have you seen my cooking??? but i love that it teaches them to try and fail and not to take any of it seriously. we laugh so much at the failures! :) i think it is one of the best lessons i can teach my kids..i think it builds confidence and to encourages them to be in charge of things like this and do it all without criticizing or trying to perfect it speaks volumes to them and their confidence.

 of course with ALL holidays they woke up at the crack of dawn. let me take that back--WAY before the crack of dawn! :)

 it should be noted that mccoy wore his peter pan costume to sleep in. he insisted i order this for him to wear it to his birthday party next week hahaha

 by the way--this little lady has been a walking fool! she took 2 steps about two weeks ago before she turned 10 months and became pretty confident with it this weekend! i am wanting my baby to stop trying to grow up too fast!!!

 picnic in the yard this weekend!