Photo Dump Wednesday: Valentine's day 2017

This year, J and I decided to take the day off to celebrate Valentine's day and I am so glad we did because it was a very nice and relaxing time. 

J often gets something for the girls for Valentine's day. This year, since JOE has been talking about unicorns, he asked me to look for one when I went shopping. I sent him a picture to choose and he chose the colorful one. Of course JOE was over the moon when she got her unicorn. Although, she told her dad she'd still like to get a real one to put in our backyard.

JOE has been learning to write. She can write her own name and often, if you spell out the word for her, she can write it. I got a card for J from the girls and JOE was really excited to sign it. Check out my little JOE. Growing up TOO FAST!!!

Meanwhile, the night before Valentine's day, JAE's PAG doll wasn't feeling well so JOE promptly jumped to action and put her on bed rest. Follow her adventures here.

A while back, J sent me a shirt with a similar saying and thought it was so cool. So for Valentine's day, I decided to make one. Yes, it is corny but he LOVES his shirt and he has worn it several times. Keep scrolling for a picture of him wearing it.

And since I am all about DIY stuff, I also decided to make some items for J from all his girls. 

First, we did this one. It was pretty easy.

1. Get 3-packs of rolos.

2. Remove the outer wrapping. And cut another sheet of paper to the size of the removed wrapper. I used black colored paper because that's what I had at home.

3.  Use some tape to tape it around.

4. Get a pipe cleaner of your choice. I went with orange for fire even though I really wanted black. However, we didn't have any in the pack we had at home.

5. Wrap it all together with tape or a ribbon and put the pipe cleaner in the middle. I used tape to keep it more secure. 

6. I then used MS Word to do the sign and just cut out the background using my Cricut. But you can use a pair of scissors.

Final result. 

 We also made tootsie pop flowers for him. 

Basically, we cut out the flowers on cardstock paper and inserted holes in the middle. Then put the pops through them. JOE helped me with this one and she absolutely had a great time doing it.

Then we had another joint project. I love that the girls are now at an age where they can help in the kitchen. J loves chocolate covered pretzels. So we made some. 

We got some pretzels and melted the chocolate. I put the chocolate in a bag and cut a tiny tip. JOE added the chocolate to the middle of the pretzels while JAE put the hearts in there. I had to help her with some because at first, she was eating them. Then she forgot to put some hearts on there which caused the chocolate to harden before she added them. Then for some of them, she added more than one heart. 

Though it doesn't look perfect, I LOVE the end results and so did J.

 We also made something for their child care provider. These are just smartees candy in a bag. They also gave her some of the chocolate covered pretzels and a mug. I forgot to take a picture of that.

 More PAG doll adventures.

And a new dress for JAE's doll. I plan on introducing the guardian version for little girls in the Spring so stay tuned.

The morning of Valentine's day, JAE decided to wear her Catboy costume and run around the house. 

My little superhero!

JOE who was eating breakfast at the time wasn't feeling it. I told her to smile and this is what I got. My little diva!

These were some of the heart cards JOE made for me for Valentine's day. She also added "heads" to the handmade card to signify each member of the family and how much she loves us. My very thoughtful little girl. 

I worked out the morning of because I wanted to enjoy the day without being too concerned about every morsel of food that went in my mouth. I am glad I did because this is what I saw when I came upstairs from working out in the basement.

He knows me too well :-).

My favorite coffee. Kona Hawaiian Coffee! YUM!!!

We got ready and headed out for the day. All smiles!

We didn't really have a clear plan for the day. We knew we wanted to visit a couple of sites we'd talked about in the past so the first stop was the new MGM casino that opened last year.

It was drizzling and a little cold so we didn't stay outside for too long. But I did manage to capture the MGM lion.

Then we went inside. I enjoyed touring the facility. 

There is a Sarah Jessica Parker shoe store there as well. This was on the way there. Really cool so I had to get a picture of it. 

Then in the center, there was this display. The pictures don't do it justice. The woman in the middle is made of roses!

How cool is this? The colors are just so beautiful! That's talent right there.

We then decided to visit the casino. I am NOT a gambler. I don't have a good  understanding of the games and because of that, I cannot justify spending money unless I know I'll get a return on my investment. 
Anyways, so I tried my hands at the nickle slot machine. Yes, they have those! :-P. I put in a dollar and quickly realized why I don't gamble. Needless to say, my loss of $0.81 was enough for me. I decided to leave when I got down to just 19 cents.

J and I decided to make our way to Rosa Mexicana not too far from the MGM area. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their guacamole and couldn't wait to order it. It never disappoints. J doesn't like guacamole so this was all for me me me!!! I couldn't possibly finish it but YUM!

J...always working...it is the nature of his job. I won't lie and say it doesn't bother me. Sometimes it does but I also know that the news and crime doesn't stop happening because he is out of the office. 
Regardless, we still  had a good time. 

J ordered a rice dish and he enjoyed it. 

I ordered a Salmon dish and it was absolutely DELICIOUS!!!

I didn't get to the side and half my salmon so I took it home too. Yes, I never finish my food but I save it for later :-D.

Usies..

We went to a different place for dessert afterwards but I forgot to take a picture of our delicious dessert. 

Later that evening using my Valentine's day gift from the girls. :-D.

I have been introducing more "neutral" gift items that are just as cute but without the African Print. They are still very unique and perfect for your little one or as a gift.

JAE has now learned to climb out of her crib. This is a classic situation of second child syndrome. When JOE did this a few years ago, I screamed and ran over there. However, seeing JAE do this was different. Don't get me wrong...my heart skipped a beat. But then, I watched her and got up from my bed just incase she loses her grip and falls. I wanted to make sure I'd catch her in time. She didn't. :-). 
Notice she sent Doc and her blanket ahead of her.

I have been really doing my best to hit my daily 10K steps each day. One Saturday while J was playing his game, I decided to take the girls down to our partially finished basement to play the Wii. Yes, I still have a working Wii. It was so much fun that by the time all was said and done, I was SWEATING!

I LOVE my floral bouquet this year. So beautiful and still blooming 2 weeks later.

We have a rule where the girls get time out according to their age. JOE is 4 and gets 4 minutes and JAE is 1 so she gets a minute. 
A couple of weeks ago, they were misbehaving and both got timeout. Timeout is often observed on the steps. However, we noticed that when they are together, they can start playing and get into even more trouble so we have been separating them. 
Well, JOE was NOT happy about her timeout. Check her out looking like she was actually serving time. 
And then there is JAE who couldn't care less! Home girl was chil-laxing!

After serving their time, they were ready to play again. 

And this is how they often play. Sometimes, they play too rough and need time out. SMH. JOE lets her sister play rough with her and then comes crying to us :-/.

So yeah...I think he loves me. Check him out wearing his Valentine's day shirt :-D.

And we finally got our pink Sunday. Well, I work a blue and pink dress :-D. Here's our Sunday car selfie.

JAE is still back facing. This particular Sunday, JOE wanted JAE to be in the picture. Well, guess what I caught my little girl doing? Going into the diaper bag to try to get another bottle. She had already had one...:-/. My fearless child!

We made it to church and this post won't be complete without one of JAE's signature selfie :-D.

Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to be kind to strangers!