This year for Christmas, my sister and I gave my mom tickets for “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway. And, after much anticipation, we got to watch the play this weekend! Just the three of us—no kids and no husbands—headed downtown for a quiet lunch and pure enjoyment of a musical.
Ben and I have made it a point to never celebrate Valentine’s Day. Call us silly, but we just didn’t want to be forced into a Hallmark Holiday. Everyone has to protest something, right? Some people it’s Wall Street, and us, it’s V-day. So, it was a perfect time for the boys and I to have a little surprise for Ben.
We made very special Valentine’s, that were created in several phases. Phase one: with friends Brock and Jayden they finger painted/sponge stamped big pieces of construction paper. Next I cut the painted murals into smaller hearts. Then the boys and I glued them onto red heart dollies and Seth and Sam decorated them with stickers. We even got festive and added glitter. Finally I glued a smaller picture of the boys in the middle of the hearts of them posing next to the chalkboard with “Happy V-day, love Seth and Sam” written on it. Everything was purchased from the dollar tree, and the stamps I just cut out of sponges that I had on hand. Probably under $5 for about 15 cards.
Then I planned a very special menu for us: shrimp stuffed tilapia and asparagus wrapped in bacon; for dessert I made Oreo balls and chocolate covered strawberries (Ben’s favorites).
When Valentine’s Day arrived, we first delivered treats and Valentines to our neighbors. When I told the boys that we were going to do this, Seth asked, “We get treats too-like Halloween?” I can’t believe he remembered that far back! It was hard to describe that no, this was not the same process as Halloween. We were only GIVING the gifts. Then to complicate matters, Seth and Sam received beautiful Valentines the mail from their cousins, Miriam and Aidah. Seth and Sam thought they had to give THOSE Valentines to the neighbors. “No, no boys. We RECEIVED these cards. So we keep them.” Very complicated, as one can imagine.
After delivering and chatting a bit too long, we rushed into the house, I threw a movie on for the boys so that I could make the special dinner. Plus, the plan was that we would be all dressed up for Ben. So, with dinner cooking I threw on his favorite dress, curled my hair, put on make-up, slapped dress shirts on the boys, and decorated the table. When Ben opened the door, Seth and Sam yelled, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” and handed him their cards. He then saw me, and the candle-lit table and smelled the scrumptious dinner—oh it was magical!
It’s a funny thing about being a homemaker…for some reason purposing to do special events like this is difficult (at least for me!). It’s much easier to piddle through the days on a slow routine. But I tell you what, the joy of doing a surprise like this for the man of your house is PRICELESS. Later Ben told me with a huge grin that he felt “like the king of his castle.” And he should—because he is. And I should do things like this more often. Because not only did it make his day, it made mine. It was so fun to have a special dinner as family and break out of the routine.
And even though we’ll probably never forget it, I even documented it through pictures (surprise, surprise):
Phase 1 of cards: making collages with Brock and Jayden 
Phase 2 of card making: stickers and glitter
I couldn’t decide which photo I like best, so we did cards with both
Seriously, how cute are their expressions in this one!
Even the boys got to eat on adult plates. And I pulled out the wine glasses for Ben’s Pepsi and my water :) High class if I do say so myself.
Me and my boys: pure joy! 
Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Sam, Mommy, and Seth
Weekends are something we really cherish in the Morris household. Most of the time we love to be home, all together, cuddling in bed when we first wake up, eating a slow breakfast (that always includes bacon), playing lots with daddy, doing a few home projects—just relaxing. But sometimes we love to get away for the weekend, especially when it includes seeing much-loved family. And that’s what we did last weekend: the boys and I picked Ben up from work on Friday afternoon and we drove over to Maupin to see Caleb play a basketball game. That night we sent Seth and Sam home with Ben’s parents to Dufur, and Ben and I stayed with Nate and Holly, sans kids. Woo hoo! I wonder how many times we commented, “It’s just so quiet!” It was quite magical to be able to stay up late playing games, and not have to worry about being tired in the morning when the kids wake you up (we slept in until 9:30).
We all met up in Dufur on Saturday afternoon for another basketball game. Luckily the boys weren’t alone with grandparents that night, because they got the inevitable cold (we seriously get sick any time we’re on a trip) and woke up just about every hour that night. Ben was my knight-in-shining-armor and slept on the floor between them so I could get some sleep. Then on Sunday the whole family got to watch the Superbowl together at Nate and Holly’s house. Besides the colds, it was a wonderful weekend!
Here were a few highlights:
-Seth and Sam playing on the court after Caleb’s games. I watched Sammy line up perfectly on the free throw line, take a few dribbles and shoot—just like Caleb. I also got to help Seth share his basketball with another little boy; and although he shed a quiet, crocodile-sized tear, he still gave it to the boy. I was so proud!
-Watching Levi play the drums in the pep band…Seth and Sam have been doing a lot of drumming now just like uncle Levi!
-No potty accidents the entire weekend! I think it is now safe to say we’re potty trained!
-Sammy yelling out during a Superbowl commercial (that contained a girl in only a towel), “NAKEY GIRLS!” Yep, that’s why we don’t watch many commercials around here.
-Watching Seth and Sam play with Nate and Holly’s dog, Gracie. They just love her.
-Having a break from the boys. Thanks grandparents!
The boys and Gracie
Rare family photo. Unfortunately Ben is the only one looking good…seriously, horrible angle for my chin(s) and just as unfortunate, this is Sam’s new “cheese” smile.
It was a beautiful evening. Coming from living in the city, sometimes it just so nice to see lots of open spaces.
And Seth and Sam have been having tons of fun playing in the HUGE box that Daddy’s new tile saw came in (have you ever noticed that men have to get a new tool for every project?) So far it has been a boat, a car, a place to play instruments, a house, a football field, something to use tools on…to name a few. Even Wesley, the boy I watch a couple days a week, got to play in it this morning. I’m planning on milking this box for all it’s worth as a toy!
Isn’t it every boys dream to see one of these up close?
Every child has one, right? That thing they are weirdly obsessed with for only God knows why.
For Seth and Sam, it’s alarms. Fire alarms and carbon monoxide alarms. It all started when they called them the beepers. Despite several warnings not to touch “the beepers", they inevitably did, causing a loud and startling beeping sound. This caused them to always stay far from the beeper, which unfortunately is plugged in next to our dining room table. Then, it turned into a full blown fear of the beeper. Every once and a while one of the boys would suddenly run screaming and crying to me, always pointing back to the beeper. Despite continual reassurances that it cannot hurt them, they were stilled scared. Most kids are scared of dogs, loud noises, heck, even water—but this?
One night after one of these silly outbursts, I rashly told the boys that when they are scared to just point at the alarm, and say, “No, no beeper. No beep. You don’t hurt me.” Well, that stuck. So now while they have mostly conquered their fear of the beeper, we hear some pretty funny conversation with this object.
The fear turned into an odd noticing of alarms every where we go. I kid you not: Seth especially points out the fire alarm in every single house we visit. Oh, and every single restaurant. And every store. Perhaps he is destined to be a fire fighter. Regardless, I feel much safer knowing that the boys are ever vigilant in fire safety.
On a completely different note, I have another basketball story. The boys are starting to recognize letters quite well. And in the Morris household, the “B” stands for “buzzer” (what they call the scoreboard from basketball games). No, not boy, baby, ball, or block: buzzer. Maybe it’s more surprising that it doesn’t stand for basketball, or in the theme of this post “beeper.”
