CRAZY WEEK!!!!

I feel terrible that a week has gone by and I haven't posted anything about Jordan and Cody's birthday! So a shout out to Jordan who turned 14 on the 16th and to Cody who turned 6 on the 18th. I already posted about celebrating their birthdays at Medieval Times...we had a blast. On Jordans actual birthday we went out to dinner and she had a friend spend the night. Yes, it was on a school night - but we had no worries, since her friend that stayed over loves sleep as much as Jordan. She turned the big 14 - which is great for her because that means she is old enough to attend Stake Dances!!!! Lucky for her - there was one Saturday! This was crazy for me to see that she was old enough to go to the dances. I kept telling her that dad and I were going to chaperone, but she wasn't too excited about the idea. I took her out and she wanted to spend her birthday money on a new dress....she did a great job picking it out! She had a friend curl her hair and when it was all said and done she looked absolutely gorgeous! I was dying that I couldn't be at the dance. My friend was the DJ, so I kept telling her I was going to have him dedicate a song to her from her mom. (okay - not really). He did make an announcement and let everyone know it was her first dance. I showed up about 10 minutes before the dance ended and got to catch a glimpse of her dancing. Yes, I got a little teary eyed...she had a great time....danced with a lot of different boys, met new people, and had a ton of fun! One of her good buddies, took his camera and took some pictures for me....thanks Jared! Wow - we are onto the next stage....am I ready for this????
Cod-man turned the big 6! You know what that means....DISNEYLAND!!! Yup..he will be heading off to Disneyland with grandma and grandpa over spring break. He is so excited he can hardly stand it. For his birthday I took him to the Disney store and let him pick out some "must haves" before he headed off to Disneyland. I always feel bad for Cody because it seems that with Valentines Day and Jordans birthday - by the time we get to his birthday we are all partied out...I asked him what he would like to do for dinner (thinking please say stay home) and he said he wanted his favorite dinner.....SUNDAY DINNER! Wahoo! A nice dinner at home! When I asked him what he wanted for dessert, my sweet, non-high maitenance little guy said, "M&M cookies." So that is what he got. A cookie with a candle in it! I can't believe my baby is 6 and the last one of my clan to head to Disneyland. Can't we just freeze them???? I'm so excited he finally get's his turn. He will have a blast! Jordan and Cody - we love you and hope you had great birthdays!!!!
Just in case last week wasn't busy enough - Rick and Paige went to a Daddy-Daughter Dance at church. Paige was the cutest 50's girl around - not to mention her good-lookin date! They had a great time just the two of them dancing the night away. Yes, last week was busy, but a lot of fun for everyone!

CUPCAKES 101

This past week Jordan has been coming home with information on picking her classes for next year. This makes me panic for a couple of reasons....first this means she will be going into high school next year! WHAT??? And second I only have 4 1/2 short years until she leaves me. AHHHHH!!! All of a sudden I have gone into panic mode. Does she know how to do her own laundry? Does she know how to clean? Can she cook? Can she take care of herself? As we all know whether she knows how to do these things or not, she will for sure figure it out on her own right? But as a mother, I want her to be ready and prepared and the thought of only 4 years left to make sure she is a master at all of this terrifies me! So - lesson #1...BAKING! Jordan signed up to bring cupcakes for the Honor Society bakesale. I explained to her that she could go ahead and make them herself. I wasn't home last night, and when I got home I was very happy to find out that she had taken it upon herself to make them. I went upstairs and Jordan said she made one batch and that dad mentioned I could make the rest. When I went downstairs to check out her work, I can see why Rick may have "kindly" suggested I finish the job. All I could do was smile....how cute! She really tried. It cracked me up....the cupcakes barely came to the top of the baking cup. All I could think of was....people are really going to pay 50 cents for these? She came downstairs and I explained to her that it really was okay to fill the cup 3/4 of the way full. We both giggled. We tasted our fair share of the batter and it was super yummy....so at least she can read the directions. We figured if they didn't look good, they would atleast taste good. This morning when she came downstairs and she saw my cupcakes next to hers, she laughed again and asked if we could just take mine in to sell. No worries!!! Once I got them all frosted with sprinkles on them - they ALL looked great! So hopefully we have cupcakes out of the way and we can move onto the next lesson!

Valentines Weekend!!!

My Sweet Valentines!!!!!!
This time of year always tends to be a bit busy for the Peterson Family! We get to celebrate 3 great things all within one week!!! Valentines Day on the 14th, Jordans birthday on the 16th, and Cody's birthday on the 18th! PARTAAAAYYYY!!! The weekend started with the Annual Valentines Dance at the kids school. We have a great time...the kids get all dressed up and hit the dance floor.Paige was very excited about her special date! We got to have Maddie for the night! A few years ago Rick and I tried to go out to dinner on Valentines Day and we vowed we would never do that again...we are not crazy about waiting 3 hours to eat...so since then we decided we would make Valentines Day a family affair! We make a nice dinner for the kids, have some sparkling cider, and their most favorite part.....eat by candlelight! (That way we still have a little of the romance factor:-)
With two birthdays in one week, we decided this year that we wanted to do something together as a family. We surprised the kids by taking them to Medieval Times. They had no idea where we were going and when we got there they were so excited! It was so fun to see Cody watching so intensly. And Paige kept saying, "this is making me nervous." They loved the "battle" between knights! The kids were so excited about eating everything with their hands, and Cody's reaction was priceless when the waitress said his drinking choice was PEPSI! You should have seen his eyes light up! Mom and Dad joined us for the party...mom, just kept saying how cute our night was. (I have to say I agree with her!) We had such a great time cheering, eating, and cheering some more! The kids couldn't believe that our knight actually won the whole battle!!! (I planned for that to happen! J/K) This was so fun...the last time Rick and I were there was before we were married. When I came to visit him in Dallas he brought me to Medieval Times for one of our very first dates! My how time flies!
Happy Birthday Jordan and Cody! Thank you for letting our whole family celebrate your birthdays together! There is definately more to come on the birthdays....so stay tuned for the next post! Jordan was lucky and did get an "early" surprise from her miamaid class at church. On Saturday while I insisted on Jordan coming and helping me clean the car, a group of girls from church came and "heart attacked" her room. She came home and went up to her room and there were balloons all over her floor, treats on her bed, and signs all over her wall! Jordan was so excited and definately surprised!

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!!!!

When I think of Valentines Day many things pop into my head. The colors red and pink, sugar cookies, hershey kisses, conversation hearts, roses, candles and sparkling grape juice. This past week my kids have been getting their Valentines ready to hand out to their friends. It took me back to a time long ago when I too would get Valentines ready to pass out to my friends. Back then it was just a simple printed card and I would add some conversation hearts in an envelope. I do remember reading each heart oh so carefully to make sure the right person got the right heart. How embarassing if I gave the wrong boy a heart that said, "I love you" or "kiss me." Back in those days we would hand them out at school, but the really fun part was waiting until after dinner when it was dark, piling into the family station wagon and delivering Valentines. We would place them on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and run. As I look back, I'm not really sure why we ran because the Valentine was signed with my name on it. I guess it was that brief element of surprise that made it all so exciting. BUT....Most of all when I think of Valentines Day one word comes to mind.....LOVE!!! As I think about the past 33 years I realize that there really is many kinds of love...
"ELEMENTARY LOVE" - you know when you were in the third grade and you just KNEW that you "loved" that cute boy.
"TEENAGE CRUSH" - sophomore year and the cutest, most popular boy in the entire grade!
"FRIENDLY LOVE" - this is that guy that was great and perfect, but as hard as you tried to make something work - you knew all you ever would be was really good friends.
"WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS LOVE" - this is where you tell your father that he just doesn't understand! Because he doesn't know him as well as you do. (I'm not speaking from experience :-)

Finally - my favorite.....TRUE LOVE. Finding this kind of love isn't easy for some. For me it took awhile to find, and was even a bit unexpected, but I'm so glad I found it. My TRUE LOVE'S name is Ricky Dean!!! You know it is true love because it never goes away. This kind of love still loves through the dirty laundry, dirty bathroom sink, hormonal moments, and bad days. This kind of love is forgiving and at the end of the day cuddles next to you and wants to hug and kiss you. This kind of love makes you vanilla shakes at midnight, gives the best massages, and does the dishes just because. Once you find this kind of love you seem to find other types, such as; "INSTANT LOVE" - this is what you feel when you hold your baby in your arms for the first time. "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE" - as your children learn and grow so does this type of love. And finally, "COMPASSIONATE LOVE" - the love you feel when your child has had a bad day and you just - well, love them!
My TRUE LOVE has taught me so much and made my life so happy! My TRUE LOVE is who I think about on this special holiday. My TRUE LOVE is eternal!
Because I was lucky enough to have found my TRUE LOVE.....I have this!



Whatever ever your phase of LOVE is on this Valentines Day, I hope it is wonderful!

My Little Artist

Many of you know already that I have a rising artist on my hands. These are Paige's latest paintings. The first one she did was a painting from a picture my sister gave me.

This picture is of my neice Rylie kissing a snowman.
This is the painting. I thought it was amazing!!!
This painting is a picture of a landscape Paige found on a cover of puzzle box. I love that Paige loves art. Last week I was able to go with her to the Dallas Art Museum as a chaperone for her class. If you would have asked me about "art stuff" one year ago, I would have probably made a funny face and passed it by. I am grateful to Paige for introducing me to art. I am learning to love it. I even know names of some painters and Paige and I can walk through the museum together enjoying not only each other but the beautiful art! Paige I am so happy that you have found something you are passionate about. Keep going sweetie, I'm so proud of you!