these kids

LADIES MAN

yesterday was a particularly cute day for the wells boys. we started out with jack's sports class (he's currently on the basketball rotation, not the easiest sport for preschoolers!), made a costco run and had his friend emery over for the afternoon. playdates with 3-and-a-half-year-olds are increasingly becoming my favorite thing. they seem a bit more volatile than ever, BUT they are hilarious too. i love eavesdropping on their little conversations ("did you see frozen?" "yeah, with my mom." "i like markers." "me too, what is your favorite color?") and watching them actually interact, without needing as much supervision. after hours of toys and bikes and the park, i put finding nemo on and the two kids piled onto the couch like this. HA. young love?

ANATOMY OF A SELFIE

while those two were gallivanting around, huddy took a nap and hung out with me. at the park, i tried entertaining him by showing him his image on my front camera. these pictures are the result -- from ambivalence to interest to delight. third one down on the right is my very favorite. those gums!

i really love these boys. 

valentine's day 2014

i LOVE valentines day. i've come a long way from hating it as a single person, to tolerating it as a married person, to now pretty much being obsessed with it. i was offended this year by friends who thought it was silly to treat it like a major holiday (even b questioned me when i asked why people had to go to work that day) but hey. having kids and making valentines has turned me into a valentine zealot and i am perfectly fine with that.

we kicked off valentine week by decorating sugar cookies in memory of my dear friend jen who recently relocated to nor cal. she used to host a cookie party each year and i miss her, plus i love cookies, so friends came over & we did our own this year. yum!

jack's awesome preschool had a little party the day before v-day, so we spent one very chaotic morning putting the finishing touches on his valentines (free printables from the internet with dollar section pencils washi-taped to the back, thank you very much -- practically free) and cranking out jello jiggler hearts before dropping it and him off at school. he is the cutest.

our actual valentines day was kind of crazy. i made a valentines day breakfast before we skipped off to seattle -- a friend had called late the night before to offer us tickets to the seattle symphony's kids series, so i couldn't pass that up! we enjoyed a valentine safari from orchestra members, then headed back for a play date, target run, lunch date and doctor appointment (hudson had an ear infection).

by the time we finally got home we were all wiped out, and b worked late, so i scrapped my v-day dinner plans and we laid low. not super exciting. but my FAVORITE part of all this year was the valentine swap i host on my stationery blog. this is the fourth year i've done and this time was by far the most successful -- more than 300 people signed up from all around the world and everyone seemed so enthusiastic. i always add my address when i send out swap partner information, just in case people have an extra val to send me, and i got a tonnnnn of valentines in the mail this year. it was so delightful to open my mailbox every day and find a stack of pink, red and gold envelopes with my name on them. i don't have good ideas very often, but this swap thing is definitely one of my better accomplishments.

sunday snow

last night b and i watched captain phillips (intense!) and when it ended, i checked instagram and saw a bunch of local friends posting about snow. it had been sunny most of the day and i'd been totally engrossed in the movie so i didn't even think about a weather change. i looked outside and gasped so loud b thought someone was breaking into our house -- it had totally snowed!! haha. we got about three inches and woke up to a winter wonderland.

hilariously, it was enough snow to cancel church! after living in utah for a few winters, i find this hilarious -- but there are tons of hills around here and facebook informed me that a bunch of friends got stuck / slid out / freaked in the snow so i guess it was a good call, though in our area all was fine and clear.

jack was suuuuper pumped to play in the snow. we spent at least a good hour out there, making a snowman and throwing snowballs and exploring. his favorite thing to do is make a snow angel. b has taught me the importance of having proper snow attire and i give him full credit for making sure jack is good to go -- between his snow pants, boots, "football gloves" and down jacket the kid doesn't know it's cold outside even when he's rolling around in snow. he was SO happy out there today. 

it worked out nicely to not have to go to church, actually, because i ended up taking hudson to urgent care. the poor little bug caught jack's cold last week and has developed the WORST hacking cough ever...he's so, so sad and doesn't even want to crawl around, so you know he's not feeling well. poor buddy wouldn't even smile for the camera phone:

i included this photo also to commemorate his sweet little hands. see how he's holding onto me up there? that is the default huddy hand position. ever since he was born, his little hands have grabbed onto mine any time they are near and i love it. i always feel bad when i have to pull my hand away to do something else. anyway, turns out he has RSV and we are hoping he gets better soon. :(

all in all, a fun day to spend together with family. but i can't wait to get back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. ;)