One of my most vivid memories about the kids as they were growing up (because they're oh-so-grown-up right now!) is feeding them. We have pictures of the kids eating their first bowl of cereal; pictures of them eating their first bites of baby food; pictures of them with "solids" all over their face and hair. (I'll try to insert some pictures here) But, do you have any pictures of your kids feeding you? Me neither. But the thought did cross my mind tonight as we were eating dinner. Here's why...
As you feed/fed your baby(
ies), think about what you're doing: lifting the spoon into your child's mouth and opening your mouth when you expect or hope they do too and closing your mouth to help them close it too. Well that's what happened tonight at dinner. I asked for a bite of ice cream from C and he scooped up a bite for me. As he brought it up for me to eat, his mouth went open as mine did and closed as mine did. I thought it was so cute! But, I'm his mom, so it's supposed to be cute, right? Of course I did it again so I could see it. I felt like the roles were reversed from about 3 years ago! Then I tried it with A, which was a little more difficult-she's not as willing to give up her ice cream-and it was the same with her! It was my own little experiment.
Oh how the roles get reversed! Has this happened to you?
It was very fun for them because they got to go to the Children's Theater and they went to a class with her. I thought it was a great chance for them to do something different and be with their friend too! It was so cute because the 3 of them walked in together, holding hands.
The whole idea of going and doing something on their own is new to me (and them) because I'm so used to being with them and their friends together. It's not often that they get to go off on their own!
They had a great time making shadow puppets and playing!
So Valentine's Day was yesterday, and our kids rose to another unofficial holiday. How is it that they learn that at such a young age? It happened with Halloween, too. I thought it was funny that with today being President's Day, J said to the kids, "Do you know what day today is?" They said, "Monday!" "Yes, you're right, but it's also President's Day!" A: "What do we pass out on President's Day?" Funny...
The kids already had their party at school where they got valentines from all of their friends. That was pretty fun, seeing them open their valentines. They're pretty good at recognizing their friends' names, too, so they knew who they were from. C didn't care for the princess valentines and always thought they were for A. And of course all they wanted to do was eat the few pieces of candy that came with some of the cards. We've battled that on and off all weekend. Oh well-Mommy & Daddy can easily make the candy "disappear."
We made valentines for the Mammas and the Papas before church. Then it was onto a lunch with my mom & dad. The kids ended up with an ice cream treat from Mamma Jo 
while we were at their house. Back at our house we ended the night with a heart-shaped pizza and making brownies.
I asked C & A who their valentines were before they went to bed last night. C said Daddy was his valentine and A said I was hers. But then they both said that Mommy and Daddy were their valentines. It was pretty cute. I hope that whatever you all did you enjoyed your day with people you love!
This was a recommendation from a friend, so I was glad we had found it when we decided to go there. It was also because it was the first place we found after leaving our hotel! 
Are you surprised? I think not! I got the chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate fudge and chocolate chips. Yup. All chocolate. It was the best.
and got some chocolate. It was this cute little chocolate place that had chocolate in all shapes. I just couldn't resist! These restaurants were in 
I love my husband for the fact that he referenced "The Princess & the Frog" movie when talking about where he had hear that word before. Beignets are a donut-type pastries that come with dipping sauces. We had a custard sauce, syrup, strawberries, sugar and chocolate. Delicious!!
We didn't go all out for dinner, but if we would have, I'm sure we would have loved it! Instead we went for the appetizer/sandwich route and had wonderful peanut butter pie!
Tasty.
So Chicago is a great city to go to, even in the winter. Yes, it may have been cold there, but there was hardly any snow! Plus, all you really do is eat your way through the day, so there isn't really a reason to plan any real activities. 
It's in the Old Town neighborhood, and thanks to my friend Lisa, we experienced a "neighborhood night out," if you will. We ate at 
Pretty incredible, right?! We thought so too.
We spent a few hours there (with free February admission!!), seeing so many incredible pieces of art like this one:
I didn't even know they were all going to be there. After the Art Institute, we made our way to 
Then it was off to find a place to watch the Super Bowl. Of course I was most concerned with being able to hear the commercials. I think I caught most of them.
Let's just say that the zoo isn't the best place to go during the winter, 
but we still saw quite a few animals. Most of the animals were inside. We found a few of our favorites...
Then it was off for some lunch with more stuffed pizza. The airport called next as we tried to get out before we were snowed out of home! Luckily for us, we made it.
We did this last year, too, but this year was a little bit different. All of the 1.5 million meals packed will be going to Haiti. Yes, that really is 1.5 MILLION meals! Crazy, huh?! Actually, I just checked and to be specific, there were 1,527,768 meals packed in 5 days with 7,000 volunteers. When we went on Saturday, they told us that the first meals packed by our church on Wednesday were already on a semi truck on the way to Florida where they would be put on a ship to Haiti. Now that's making an immediate impact!
Dried vegetables... 
Soy... 
and Rice. This is the mixture that is in each bag. 
