My favorite Valentines

We had a great, low key Australian Valentine's Day! It's like Grandparent's Day in America. Does anybody really celebrate that? (No offense, parents.) It was fun to enjoy the day without all the commercialized craziness.
That morning Mike surprised us with pink heart pancakes! And pink milk. I could have done without the dyed milk, but the kids were elated. (I recall an occasion as a child being allowed to play with food coloring and our own glass of milk. "Just remember, you have to drink the milk." my mother said. In the end my sisters and I drank the milk that probably had a good quarter cup of food coloring in it. Ulch! But we loved it!)
I sent the kids to school with pink heart cookies! Since we didn't have to buy and address a gamillion Valentine's Day cards, I was content to make cookies for their classes. I wish I'd taken a picture of all 60 of them in rows. They were so pretty!





For dinner that night I made heart shaped pizzas for my Valentines!





Bridget really enjoyed sucking on a cucumber.


















After we got the kids down (even Bridget!) Mike and I went to the temple to do sealings. What a perfect Valentine's Day!

School starts!

School started last week! Lydia is in Year 4, Isaac is in Year 1 and Evelyn is starting Kindy (preschool)!


Evelyn is going to the same Kindy that Isaac went to when we first got here, which I love! Here she is by the cool kid sink.


And here's where I left her playing happily at the water table. And I cried. I didn't think I would, but I did. Silly mother!


Because Evelyn is at Kindy half the week, I get some time with Bridget all to myself! Babies are so fun! She woke up with funny hair this morning. A little tuft at the top.


Bridget is growing and is adequately doted upon by her siblings.


A smile!










I had a birthday, shout hooray! For my birthday I had brownies and mint ice cream; an appropriate summer treat. I don't know how many more summer birthdays I'll get. And I baked those brownies outside in the grill. I'm getting quite good at baking with that thing. Anything to keep the house cool! Here I am with my favorite presents: not only are they great kids, but they're showered and pajama-ed! Doesn't get much better than that!
Happy birthday to me!