Party Heart-y

Yesterday was packed full of parties, sweets, ice skating, a sister's only Valentine's dinner...and did I mention sweets?! I'm thinking we need a vacation to recover. Anyone got any good ideas as to where I can unload all the candy we acquired throughout the day? It can't stay here. We like it too much which is a major problem! It seems like all we did all day is party. I suppose that's the beauty of Valentine's Day, right?

The morning started with Towns passing her goodies out to her friends at school. Shortly after, it was time for a field trip to the ice skating rink for her class party. She's only ice skated once before which was almost two years ago with her cousin Keaton. She caught on really quick during that skating trip, but I wasn't sure how she'd do since it's been a while. She wanted to start out holding on to the trusty bar as she skated around...
Then the Jonathan in her came out...
Dare devil!
It took some convincing but I finally got her skating on her own. She only did a little of this...
But she never once got upset about busting it. She laughed every time she fell. And trust me, she had some hard falls! For some crazy reason, I let her talk me into skating with her...
I'd be willing to bet she's been on the ice more than I have in the past few years. The things we do for our children! The highlight of the morning was giving the kids a push on the 5 gallon buckets Mrs. Pace brought. Oliver's mom started it off...
As long as they remembered to keep those skates off the ice we were good, but believe me when I tell you it wasn't so good when they forgot. As in adult going head first over the bucket and the kid because their skates would stop us in our tracks.
And then I had the bright idea to get them going really fast and before we let go, we gave them a huge spin. They loved it. J wasn't there, so I had to take over the role as the irresponsible, wild parent. I mean, someone had to do it. Hearing them laugh and scream was all worth it!

Towns is turning into a photo fanatic and wanted her picture made with everyone. Josie, Oliver and Conner were the only ones who would stop long enough...
The hour and a half time slot allotted to the kindergartners ended up being a little bit more than their poor ankles could handle. Case in point...
Blondie found a place to rest, and you can tell by the look on her face she was over it. There were 5 and 6 year olds laying all over that place. We didn't let that stop us, though. Shine's mom used to figure skate and us parents spent the rest of the time learning any move she could teach us. Talk about a sight...kids sprawled out on the bleachers while the adults acted like total crazies on the ice. I couldn't pass up a picture Mrs. Lindsay and Jonica trying out their spin move...
Which ended in Jonica lying flat on the ice. We peeled her off and kept right on at it!
I think the children were rather embarrassed by us, but we wouldn't be parents if we weren't slightly embarrassing at times. We snapped back to reality and remembered what we were there for. So we fed everyone hot dogs and cupcakes and called it a day...
One more of my sweet Valentine...

We ducked out of the skating party just in time to make it to Cate's Valentine's party. They were feasting when we got there and were hyped up on cupcakes. Therefore getting any sort of organized group shot was completely out of the question! Cate and Ella are a sight for sore eyes when they're together. They carry on conversations that are anything but what you'd typically hear from three year olds. Where they get it from, I'll never know...
Just to hear them talk to one another, you'd think they were 25 with a husband, a job and ten kids. That's all they talk about!
Mrs. Connie had them sit in their spots on the floor to get ready to go to the gym for PE so I seized the opportunity to get a picture while they were still...
We didn't stay for PE, though. We decided to meet Emma and Conner and their moms at the Mex for lunch. Ella left at the same time, and it was a perfect time to get just one last shot...

After lunch and a quick trip to the park, it was time to get Bebs from school. The girls were oh so excited to see her and always act like it's been a month since they parted ways...
B's assignment in Spanish was to make a Valentine's card for someone. She made one for Towns, and even though the child couldn't read a word of it she thought it was absolutely made of gold...
Buggy wanted to know where hers was which made Bebby feel bad...so she gave her a little extra lovin'. Right before she pointed at me and gave me this "you're so weird" face for taking way too many pictures...
Except when she says it, she says it with Cate's pronunciation which is more like "who so we-ahd". Love her!

J had arranged for Bethany to babysit while we went to dinner that night. Dinner turned out to be a complete nightmare when we lost our spot on the waiting list at the Japanese restaurant which ended in us being gone for three hours. On the bright side, three hours of face time with J is rare these days so it was very much enjoyed. Since we wouldn't be at home to spend time with all the girls, I thought it would be fun to have a VIP Private Sister's Only Valentine's Dinner which came with invitations, naturally...
The VIPs ready to get their date on...
At that point in the night they were rushing us out the door. It wasn't long before B was begging us to get back home, though. Bless her! Those two little ones are a handful. Especially at night time. I made it up to her with a late night trip to Target tonight because she was having "green tea withdrawals". It's sad when the people at Starbie's start ringing us up before we've even gotten all the way through the door!

Perhaps my favorite part of Valentine's is the underlying thought that it's the last holiday of winter. Towns is so big on holidays and can identify the seasons by them. She knows that fall is Halloween and Thanksgiving, winter is Christmas and Valentine's, and thank the good Lord above now that it's over...spring is just around the corner! Can I get an amen?!