From Helper to Grouch

One day, Jet was being my big helper. We made jello with berries in it with whipped topping on top. It went along with our French Dip sandwiches we had from A Season of Family Meal Plans, volume 4, by Jordan Page (still going strong). Jet put a bunch of berries in and ate the rest. Cutie.

He was also in charge of FHE treat so we took suckers and wrapped them in paper towels and drew faces on them to make ghosts. He likes decorations so much, we made our own.

The next day, however, he was a grouch. He must have been celebrating the holiday, National Grouch Day on October 15.

We also listened to Oscar the Grouch sing "I Love Trash."

That was a rough day. I picked up Lucky and when I got home, I let him go in while I posted this on Instagram:

Not a minute later, Lucky came back to the van and said, "Jet wants you."

Later before Jeremy got home from work, I texted him what Jet said. Jet was in the same room and must have seen Jeremy's picture on my phone because he told me, "I don't want Daddy. I want Nichole." Grouch.

Will You Be My Valentine? Yes.

I asked Jeremy to be my Valentine. He said Yes.

He gave me the sucker.

Throughout the beginning of February leading up to Valentine's Day, I followed an idea given by Six Sisters' Stuff. I printed out little cards that they had on their website and attached them to little gifts for Jeremy. It wasn't every day but it was frequent. I also didn't buy anything specific for it. I just used things I had around home. I just happened to buy bananas earlier in the week when that one came up later in the week. I didn't spend money on this but it was a way that Jeremy knew I loved him and was thinking of him.

He expressed several times how much he liked that I did this for him. He even followed my example and made a little card to print out and attach to a present for me. He is a sweetheart.

Jr. Jr. and Lucky both designed Valentine's cards for the students in their class (with some help from Dad) and Jr. Jr. decorated a box. I got a big kick out of it.

 

On Valentine's Day, the kids and I made heart-shaped pizza. Yumm.

One of the crusts cracked in half so we made a broken heart pizza.

The day after, Jeremy and I planned to go on a date. We were going to walk a certain trail, birding, but it was so cold and windy that day, we ended up eating our Winco salads (traditional date food), while watching birds from the van. Lots of water fowl. Then we drove to another spot and spent a few minutes watching more water fowl from the van. It is interesting that you can see different birds at different spots even though they are both on the water. At the first spot we saw wigeons, Canada geese, green-wing teals, gulls, some mallards, and a few other birds like that. At the second spot we saw more mallards, but we also saw wood ducks and a goldeneye.

 

That evening, Jeremy and I took some time for ourselves again. While four of our kids were at activities, we attended a UCB meeting over Zoom, talking about birding in Yellowstone. You know we love Yellowstone. And birds.

 

Oh, yeah. One more thing. Jr. said on Valentine's Day it was Singles Awareness Day so he asked if he could put a Singles packet in his water bottle. I told him he could and anybody else who asked.

Flip a Coin Day 2017

Jeremy:  Never flip a coin in a moving car.  Words to live by.

June 1 is Flip a Coin Day.
We went out as a family and decided what to do while we were out based on the flip of a coin.  First stop- credit union.  We flipped to decide whether Jeremy would go in by himself or the whole family would go in.  Flip.  The whole family went in.  Since the kids were well-behaved, they got suckers.  Lucky kids.

Back in the van- go birding or go to a playground?  Flip.  Go birding. 
Kids:  If we're going birding, can we watch a movie?
Flip.
Mom:  Yes, you can.

So I put in "Singin' in the Rain."  A little while later-
Nichole:  Did you choose this movie because of the guy flipping the coin?
Mom:  Yes, I did.

After we got better pictures of a savannah sparrow than we had, we flipped the coin again to decide between birding or going to a playground. 

Birding again. 

I just love how you can really see the "horns" on this horned lark.

The kids started complaining about being hungry so we flipped to decide to get fast food or not for in the van.  Fast food, it was.
The kids ate while watching the movie for the second time and Jeremy and I ate while birding.
Next, birding or playground?  Flip.  Birding.  Sigh.  Jeremy and I decided to be nice so we chose a birding spot with a playground.  The main birding spot in the park was under construction so we stuck mostly to the playground.  When we got there we decided we'd stay for about half an hour.  We stayed for more than an hour.  It was fun.  There was wind, there was rain, there was fun.

 

Aaaaaaah!  It's so windy!

Then we went home.
The End.