Valentine's Day

When I was in school, making a valentine box was part of the school party.  Now kids have to make them at home, which is sad news for my kids because I'm not very creative. It was a little sad to think I only have one kid left in elementary school who needed to make a box.  Boys aren't crazy about hearts, so Ryan wanted to make a Valentine's box that showed something he liked.  We saw these glittery music stickers and he immediately chose them.  I thought it turned out so cute--one of the best Valentine boxes I have ever seen!  Ryan liked it so much he wants to save it for next year.  We'll see if it stays in good shape and hopefully we won't forget where we put it when next year comes.

I decided to make sugar cookies this year.  When Britta came home from school, she wanted to try putting names on them.  Pretty cute, and pretty tasty!  Happy Valentine's Day to my family!

Melissa and Claire's Winter Visit

Melissa found out about a month ago that Southwest was offering 50 percent off their flights, so she and Claire planned a trip to Denver.  We were so excited!!  Claire was so happy to be here!  They arrived on Jan. 24 and are staying until Feb. 1.   Yay!

She is such a happy baby.  She had lots of smiles for us, especially in the morning when she first wakes up.  Maybe she will be a morning person.

Claire likes to play on the floor with her toys.  She has such big eyes.  Most of the time I think she looks like a Palmer, but in this picture I can see some of Melissa's Dad.

Claire loves to stick her tongue out and she does it a lot!  She has so many cute outfits.  I think she looks especially good in bright pink.

She loves to stand up, her legs are pretty strong for only being 4 months old.  She is really wiry and agile, and I bet she will walk before she is a year old.

Britta loves to play with Claire.  Being an aunt is a lot of fun!

Claire was really interested in Blake's ipod.  I hope he's not teaching her how to play video games already!

Melissa and I did a couple of projects while she was here.  We organized all the piano music, I've been wanting to do that for a long time.  We have acquired quite a collection over the years with all the different teachers the kids have had.  Melissa is learning to sew (Austin gave her a sewing machine for her birthday last year), and I suggested she could make a levi quilt.  We went to the store and she chose some pink heart flannel.  Then she cut out all the squares and here she is sewing them together.

Here is the finished product!  It turned out so cute.  The flannel is really soft and cozy.

Claire likes it too!  "Great job Mom," she says.  It will be fun to take on picnics or out in the backyard.

We also started a 1,000 piece puzzle.  Britta saw this in a magazine and fell in love with it.  She wanted to order it so bad!  It was quite challenging and harder than I thought it would be.  We had a lot of fun laughing and talking while we worked on it.  All the different kinds of candy made our mouths water.

Claire is very interested in books.  The Palmers are big readers, so this comes as no surprise

We have had such a fun week!  Claire is simply adorable.

Claire's winter hat is so cute--I love the double pompoms.  We were getting ready to leave for the airport and I just had to take a few last minute pictures.  Love the expression on her face. I can tell she is going to miss us!