To My Little Valentines

 Z & M, 

I cannot believe another year has passed and we are celebrating Valentine's Day again! I feel like I just wrote the February 2021 blog post and now here we are with you at the ages of 8 and 6!  I am LOVING having both of you with me every day at our school.  I have the best memories from my own third grade year when my little sister joined me for elementary school.  It has been so wonderful to get to see you in your classes from time to time and have the same schedule.  It is hard for me to believe that in less than 2.5 years, we will have to establish a new routine when Z heads to middle school, let's not think about that just yet! ;) You both are doing an awesome job in school, getting good grades, modeling good behavior and continuing to excel in making new friends.  Zander, you are in the AG class this year since your test scores in 2nd grade identified you for academically gifted services in reading and math.  You continue to impress me with your ability to solve any math problem in your head and your quick memorization of all of your multiplication facts!  You are a good reader as well, although I do wish you would slow down from time to time to really process what you are working on rather than trying to finish first to move on to the next task! haha  Maddox, you are reading books now too, blending letters together like crazy to make words and sentences!  Just last night you told me that 6 +3 = 9 and didn't appear to use your fingers or anything to add those two numbers together!  Z & M, I love your optimistic personalities.  Your faces light up when you are telling a story and your voice level increases by a few decibels too as you strive to convey your thoughts.  You both love to go swimming in the wintertime at the YMCA.  You are loving basketball during the winter months after trying and enjoying soccer in the fall.  We are going to have another spring season of baseball before you both decide what you might want to focus on, although Z, you are already saying you want to do soccer instead of baseball so I guess we will stay tuned on that one!  You both have great speed when running which helps for each sport you are involved in.  I love how both of you have worked so hard to memorize verses in AWANA.  You both have finished your books for the year and have started into the extra credit books, not wanting to let a week go by without going after the added challenge!  Life with you is far from boring.  You keep me on my toes and are constantly moving from one thing to the next.  I hope you both know how much I love you and how thankful I am that I get to be your mommy!  Zander, you have decided to have a little girl in your class as your valentine this year.  Maddox, you proudly said I am your valentine.  I will take it as long as I can! ;)  Always remember how much your daddy and I love you!  Not just on Valentine's Day, but every day, we are thankful for the family we have and the love we are blessed to share.  

With all my love,

Mommy

We stopped for Chick-fil-a chicken minis for breakfast this morning, complete with a heart shaped tray!  I made tacos for dinner and I think the day overall was a success especially when you factor in all the sweet treats that were sprinkled in throughout the day! ;)  Grammy made us all feel special again this year with hearts on our doors for all the reasons she loves us!  The first door is Zander's, then Maddox's and finally ours!

The boys worked on their valentines one night while I was cooking dinner.  Maddox gave each of his classmates slime and Zander gave each of his classmates pop-it bracelets!

We celebrated the 100th day at school last week! I cannot believe that Maddox has already been in kindergarten for 100 days and we are over halfway through the school year!  Zander, being in third grade now, didn't really want to dress up.  He opted for sweatpants and a sweatshirt, the typical attire of Great Grandpa Bobby! ;)

Maddox and his BFF, Mollie, looked too cute in their 100th day attire!

This is what happens when I try to work after school and Maddox grabs my phone! He loves taking selfies!

Linds and I fit in our first 10 mile run of 2022.  We have a half marathon the first weekend in April so we had to up the mileage with consideration of the basketball schedule!

The boys had another great Saturday on the basketball court!  I love watching them play any sport (although I think football is off limits)! ;)

On Saturday night, we went with the Kennedys and Williams family to see a hockey game!  We had never been to a hockey game before, so it was quite an experience!  The boys loved when our team got a goal and Zander loved getting to throw a puck on the rink during one of the intermissions!

Burke got a new bed and so far he loves it!  We are hoping he will sleep more at night if he is a little more comfortable.  Stay tuned.....

We watched the Super Bowl at Grammy and Grandpa's on Sunday evening after AWANA.  The Rams won the game and we were all winners with the yummy food we got to eat! :)