Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's celebration started in January when I bought these mailboxes in the dollar aisle at Target. The boys were excited to put our names and addresses (ages) on them. We have had a lot of fun over the past month putting little treats and notes in each other's boxes. Every time the kids see their flag up they get so excited to see what's inside. They have left a lot of 'surprises' for Jon and I as well including green beans, keys, phones and anything else they could find around the house! They have also left plenty of notes telling us how much they love us which is the best gift of all!

Jake and Nathan each came home from school with a bag full of Valentine's from their friends. Jake's school wouldn't let them bring any treats- just the cards- which I think is so lame. I know it's good to be healthy, but it's Valentine's Day and they are in Kindergarten- I think they'll be fine!

Jon and I went out on Friday to celebrate both Valentine's Day and his Birthday. We went to dinner and then to see Avatar in 3D. I'm surprised to say that I actually liked it- it was very entertaining!

Valentine's morning we had pink colored heart shaped pancakes for breakfast.

We then went to church and to my parent's house for dinner. After dinner Carli decided that she wanted all of the cousins to come up and sing a Valentine's song. No one knew what she was talking about, but they played along and all sang whatever they wanted while Carli sat happily playing her guitar! Notice Nathan covering his ears because it sounded so bad! It was hilarious!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our family and friends!

We love you!!!

Happy Birthday, Jon!

February 13th was Jon's 32nd Birthday! The kids were really excited this year to make it a fun celebration for him. We started the day with the traditional balloons being thrown on him in bed while singing Happy Birthday.

The boys then gave him his first gift of the day- a new football- since ours has been missing for some time and Jon keeps complaining about it! I think Max was the most excited!

Nathan made 5 cards that were all exactly the same. He thought it was so funny every time Jon opened another one and read that it said the same thing as the one before it. Jon got a good laugh out of it as well!

Before Jon woke up the kids and I went downstairs and decorated with signs, balloons and streamers. I think this was the funnest part for them. Jon gave them a good reaction when he walked down and saw it.

Nathan wrote 18 of these signs for Jon and taped them all over the sliding glass doors!

We made Jon breakfast in bed, but he decided that he wanted to eat with the rest of us so we all ate together downstairs.

Later that day Jon had to go in to work to see a patient. While he was gone my friend, Heather and her husband, Brian and son, Shea all came over to visit. Brian played with the kids while Heather and I talked and caught up on each other's lives. It was so good to see them and to let Shea and Max play together. We tried to get a picture of them, but even with Nathan's help this was the best we could get. At least Shea looks really cute!

When Jon got back we gave him his big present- a new barbecue! So for dinner he barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and Nathan helped him sautee some shrimp on the side. It was all delicious!

Jon then opened the rest of his gifts which pretty much comprised of clothes- his favorite! He asked that his last birthday gift be that I don't make him try them on that night! He seriously hates shopping and trying on clothes.

When I asked Nathan a few weeks ago what he wanted to get Jon for his birthday, he thought hard and then told me that he wants to get him an alarm clock with big numbers like the one I have. I told him that Dad already has an alarm clock, but apparently Nathan didn't think it was big enough. So I finally convinced him to just give him my alarm clock and that we would share it. So Nathan wrapped it up and was pretty excited to give it to him! Jon was a little confused, but acted like he loved it!

The day ended with one of Jon's favorite cakes- cinnamon cake! The boys picked these candles out at Target, but I would not recommend them. They melted down before I could even get them all lit! At least they made for a good picture!

The next day we went to my parent's to celebrate all of the February birthdays. Carli did her birthday spotlight for Jon which is always a highlight for everyone! Overall I think it was a good birthday for Jon!

Here are the top 5 things I love about Jon:

5- He is a hard worker. I love that he works hard to provide for me and the kids. He also works hard to keep the house and the yard nice.

4- He is funny and random. He always says the most random things that make me laugh!

3- He is a great dad. The boys LOVE him. He is so good to always play with them whenever he is home even if he has had a long day at work.

2- He loves to go out and do things. I love that he likes to go out every weekend with me and that he loves to travel. He definitely lives life to its fullest.

1- He is good and nice. These seem like simple things, but they are the most important to me. Jon is just a good person. He puts my happiness before his own. I love how much he loves me.

Happy Birthday, Jon!

I LOVE YOU!!!

We're not in Kansas anymore...

I got up early Friday morning to go running and just as I was heading out the door the phone rang.

"This is the Sheriff's Deparment. Dr. Draper's dental office has been broken into."

Are you kidding me? Jon was very calm, but I was a little more worked up about it.

He cruised down to the office to survey the damage.

Apparently it was just a smash and grab. They kicked in the front window (which faces a courtyard away from the street) and grabbed the cash drawer. They also went through all of the drawers looking for narcotics. Luckily there were none to be found.

Total damage was $300 in stolen cash, $500 for a broken window, $150 for new blinds and $150 for new signage.

Jon wasn't allowed to touch anything until CSI came and took fingerprints. We're pretty sure that they aren't ever going to catch whoever did this which is so annoying. They broke into the Yoga place next door as well and took all of their cash. What is wrong with people? I guess we're lucky that they didn't take anything more than just the cash and that they didn't cause more damage. The whole experience is just so frustrating- I'm amazed at how well Jon handled it!

Valentine's Party

This was our 3rd annual Valentine's Party and I think it turned out really well! We did a Cafe Rio style dinner and thanks to everyone bringing food it was all delicious. I made the desserts complete with black bottom cupcakes, heart shaped peanut butter cookies, Rice Krispy Treats, mint brownies and cake balls.

After eating we played the 'Not So Newlywed Game' which is always hilarious thanks to everyone's answers!!! We literally had people lined from our couch to our oven in the kitchen- it was cozy, but somehow we all fit!

The tinsel you see hanging from the light in this picture was put there by Jon since people kept hitting their head on the light. It was definitely tacky, but prevented a lot of bumped heads so I guess it was worth it!

Not a good picture of Jon and I, but it was the only one we took so it will have to do!

The guests included...

Claudia and Matt

Amanda and Matt

Kim and Eric

Rachel and Josh

Stacy and Tonya

Sunny and Clay

Scott and Annette

Carly and Tyler

Erin and Matt

Dave and Robyn

Matt and Ani

Josie and Eric

Craig and Jamie

Cortney and Steven

and last but certainly not least,

Fawn and Bobby

Thanks everyone for coming and making it such a fun night!

Until next year....

Christmas in January

I'm obviously way behind on blogging so my goal is to get caught up this week. We'll see how it goes!

A couple weeks ago we got home and there was a big box on the doorstep. The boys were excited when they realized it was Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Draper in Utah!

Max was more interested in playing with the box than his actually gifts!

Jake loved his new horses. He just kept saying that horses are his favorite animal. Grandma knows Jake well!

Giraffe's are Nathan's favorite animal so he was excited to get this giraffe limbo game!

He's actually pretty good at it!

Max eventually got tired of the box and played with his new toys.

I just had to throw this picture in since it captures pretty much how the kids are most of the time... CRAZY!

I didn't get a picture of what Aunt Heidi got us, but she gave Jon a battery tester, I got a new Bumble watch band that I LOVE, and the boys got a new game.

Thanks so much to Grandma and Grandpa and Heidi for all of the fun gifts! We love you!!!

Lawning the Mow

Nathan is in a really fun stage right now. He comes up with the most random things and sometimes mixes up his words. The other day Jon was mowing the lawn. Nathan saw him out there and said, "Oh, I need to go help Dad lawn the mow!" I thought this was just a one time mix up but when they were finished he told me that they were finally done lawning the mow!

A couple weeks ago Nathan's preschool had a Mexican Fiesta where they sang songs, broke eggs filled with confetti on each other's heads and broke a pinata. His preschool is always doing the cutest things and Nathan loves it!

Nathan and Jake are finally starting to play pretty well together. Here they are giving their Jeep a car wash! (Nathan has told us that he really wants a real Jeep when he grows up!)

Jake has always been really aggressive and just recently Nathan has decided that he's not going to take it anymore. So anytime Jake hits him he just starts beating him up back. It's kind of sad because Jake just cries and cries since he doesn't understand why Nathan is hitting him and because I'm sure it hurts since Nathan hits so hard. It's hard as a parent because I have to tell Nathan that it's not nice to hit, but on the other hand I sort of want him to put Jake in his place and make him realize that it's not okay to hit him anymore. Jake has laid off of Nathan a lot lately, but has now focused most of his aggression on Max! Poor Max. He's got a few years before he can fight back!

Today Nathan's preschool did a Valentine's performance. Nathan is such a cute little Valentine!

The other day we were driving and here is the conversation that Nathan had with me:

N- Mom, I think when I am a dad I want to have 2 girls and 2 boys.

M- Yeah, that's what I wanted too!

N- I'm going to name one of them 'Trey'. That will be for a boy.

M- How'd you come up with that name?

N- I don't know, I just like it. I think I will name one of the girls 'Emily'.

M- That's a good name.

N- And the other girl 'Daisy'.

M- What about the other boy?

N- I'll let the mom pick the last name.

M- That's nice. Who is the mom going to be?

N- Whoever you want, Mom. You can choose. Who do you want?

Wow. If only he still feels this way in 18 years I can pick anyone I want for him to marry! The only criteria will be if they are willing to name their kids Trey, Emily and Daisy!

I love you a lot, Nathan. Please don't grow up too fast.