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- Happy Valentine’s Weekend! Do you have anything special planned with the people you love the most?
Derrick & I aren’t typically “big” Valentine people – we don’t go all out with elaborate gifts or fancy dinners – we do usually cook something a little more special at home & set up candles for dinner (and that’s about it).
Since Valentine’s Day is on Monday, Derrick proclaimed that he wanted to have our Valentine’s meal today (since Monday means going to work all day & having to wake up for work the following morning).
AND THEN – he surprised me by suggestion we feed the kids dinner, put them to bed – and then making our own special dinner to eat by ourselves. I don’t know about you, but with two very talkative small children, that sounds absolutely delightful.
If you’d like a stroll down memory lane, you can go back & see past Abby’s Saturday Valentine posts here: #286, #186, #134
PS: if you’d like the inside scoop on how I made this photo happen – if you look super close, you’ll see there is actually peanut butter on Braelynn’s nose! Abby is typically super affectionate with the kids anyway, but I guess she just wasn’t feeling it while I was trying to take this photo (can’t perform on command), so we decided to give her a little “help”. - Earlier this week (before the snow melted) Braelynn went sledding with Auntie Ellen & the cousins! We were all invited to come, but I had a wedding meeting & wasn’t able to, so Ellen just picked Braelynn up & took her along with the girls! They had a blast! Braelynn’s been talking about it all week!
- And then, in true south western PA fashion, yesterday felt like spring! Temps hit the mid-50’s and the kids were running around in their rain boots & vests (instead of snow boots & coats). It put us all in the “spring must be right around the corner” mood – and then we woke up this morning and it was snowing/sleeting/raining (barf).
- This past Tuesday was my favorite day of the month: our monthly Tuesdays Together meeting!! I know I talk about this every month, but I just love our little group of creative entrepreneurs!! It’s so good to get together and talk about something other than potty training, My Little Ponies, Mario, trucks, and building blocks!
- So, I feel like Braelynn “grew up” this week – maybe it was the sledding with Ellen (and her being the “big” cousin). But so many things have just “clicked” in her head this week!
For example: she was outside yesterday & jumped onto the swingset. She began pumping her feet and swinging and the next thing I knew, she was squealing in delight because she was swinging so high. She called to me to show me that she was swinging – I said, “Braelynn, you knew had to pump your feet & swing yourself last summer.” “I know Mom, but now I can swing myself SO HIGH.”
It just clicked.
She decided she wanted to make herself breakfast this week – so (under close supervision) she cooked herself some scrambled eggs. She did all the steps all by herself and was so proud of herself for doing it! (We had a very strict talk about how she cannot use the stove unless Mommy or Daddy is there to help.) But, she’s capable of more than she’s been giving herself credit for.
It just clicked.
She’s been gaining huge amounts of confidence in reading, sounding out words, and writing them. This means she now brings me notes all day long filled with little messages. (My favorite one this week was: “Mom U R de best”.) We’ve been working on learning to read, alphabet sounds, and writing letters for 2 years now & she’s had a basic understanding of the alphabet for a long time. But, something about the last few weeks.
It just clicked. - AND THEN – Braelynn had a test this week in school.
As a bit of backstory: she had a very similar test about 2 months ago & I was super impressed by how well she did. It was a reading/spelling test & was rather long, so I broke it into two parts & administered it over two days. Two months ago, I knew she wouldn’t be able to handle the entire test in one sitting (and she couldn’t – I could see her drifting/losing concentration toward the end both days). But she still did super well.
Fast forward to this week: the test was similar in structure, but was longer and with more challenging words. Again, I broke it into two days, not wanting to overwhelm her.
Again, she did amazing! I was so impressed by how much she’s learned!
But what I was most impressed by, was the fact that I probably could have administered the entire test in one sitting. She was concentrating & engaged the entire time – I could see that she wasn’t drifting off & was really plugged in.
And that impressed me even more than the ratio of right-to-wrong answers. - I began my “February Favorites” series this week! (I love that title!) This week I blogged my favorite roller coaster photos & portraits from last year. This coming week (which is conveniently “love week”) will be my favorite engagement & wedding photos! Stay tuned!
- It dawned on me yesterday: my best friend, Naomi, is responsible for some of the most major pieces of my life.
Think about it: I was interested in photography, but not really sure about it when she asked me to take her & Paul’s engagement photos. I had (quite literally) ZERO clue what I was doing, but I knew that I had found something I loved. That session (if you can even call it that) was pivotal in my journey to becoming a wedding photographer.
Derrick & I met at Paul & Naomi’s wedding – if she wouldn’t have asked me to be her Maid of Honor (and Paul ask Derrick to be his Best Man), we might not have actually connected the way we did on their wedding day. And well, the rest of that story is history – as we’ll celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary in 2 months!
AND THEN – she was the one who really planted & watered the seeds to the idea of my NEW business!
In other words, I think I owe Naomi my first born child or something. - But, speaking of my new business (!!) I’m OFFICIALLY launching everything on Monday!! I’m throwing open the doors & cutting the ribbon & welcoming in the world!!
Come follow along on Instagram – that’s where all the fun is going to go down!
