Chocolates, doilies, bad guys, and SOCCER! Not to mention a marriage proposal.

You just gotta love Valentine's day when you have kids in your life. the pressure for significant others to make the day special can really make it not so special... but with kids my goodness. Helen and Logan brought me breakfast in bed. Frosted Flakes with milk and a can of Pepsi Max place in my coffee mug. I felt the love. The home made cards and even the little valentines from a box. My 2 youngest boys gve me (and Rob) some that they made in Royal Rangers on Wednesday night. They had characters on them from Little Soldiers... I've never seen it but I absolutely love these cards. Nate chose one with a bad guy on it (of course) and a maze (of course too) on the back that he thoughtfully did for me. Logan chose a good guy (of course) with a crossword on the back that HE filled out for me (using the answers that were given if you turned the card upside down). The letters were all backwards which worried me until he explained he didn't know how to spell the words so he had to look and that is when I understood that by looking at them upside down they very well could be backwards. I love that the boys' valentines had no frills or doilies. They were so obviously from them it was fabulous. I did get doilys from the girls. Helen even made a valentine for her siblings. (this was huge and very sweet of her) Rob gave me a chocolate Dove Rose, a package of Lindt Chocolates (he DID read the 25 random things about me on Facebook!) and a lovely card. He also got 4 of the kids heart boxes of chocolates. Justin does not like chocolates so he will get a special treat the next time we are out. I had made brownies though so he did get to enjoy them. (He DOES eat some chocolate things... I never could figure it out)

Today was the first day of Indoor Recreational soccer. From 3 - 9:30 Rob is at soccer. I did help coach the under 6 kids. I love these kids. They are so much fun... and to be honest I am scouting for my summer team. I like a balance of kids who "get it" with the kids who are interested and want to play but just never played before. Attitude is a big deal with me too. I don't like having mean kids on my team. Parents are the other big thing with me. I like to have nice parents who support their kids, encourage them to play and are not TOO competetive. Yes, I know I'm out scouting for a team for under 6 year olds but I'm not that competitive. I like having a team that wins some and loses some games. It's hard playing a team that yours is running allover. It's sad for the other team and hard to play against. It's also hard to be the team that gets trampled on. It's not fun to lose all of the time. It's more fun going into the game fairly evenly paired and seeing what the kids have learned from the practices. It's an awesome thing to see a kid actually put into play some new skill that you taught them. It's awesome to see some kids just kick the ball for the first time. That FIRST goal a kid makes... the look on their faces! Watching a kid that was timid or just didn't seem to "get it" last year and then you work with them and they mature and suddenly they get it and start really playing. They LOVE soccer and you had a part in making it FUN for them. That's cool.

Our youngest son has been talking about marrying me lately. He proposed to me again today at soccer. I just love him and his plans. "I want to marry you mommy"... what a sweet thing to hear. That's one of the wonders of having 5 children. Between them all we get to hear so many amazing things. I love hearing "huggy" when a child has their arms outstretched. The awkward "I love you mom" from my oldest son as he leans over me (I'm usually on the computer when he says it) and gives me a hug that doesn't always qualify as a hug but more like this leaning in close never really touching awkward thing he does that I just cherish.

I'm tired again... what a busy day. Oh but before I go I forgot to mention LUNCH. Logan has started watching Jon and Kate plus 8 with me during the day sometimes. He is quite taken with all those little kids in one family. They showed the Valentine's one yesterday. So today he mentions lunch and in his very evasive way mentions heart shaped food. You know like on that "KAREN AND JAKE plus 8" show. So off I go to make heart shaped panakes for lunch. I didn't have a cookie cutter handy and thought I'd just cut them with a butter knife into the desired heart shape thane I found a heart shaped tube bread loaf that I sprayed with PAM and used it to cut the pancakes after they were turned over. The children were delighted, Rob was impressed and I was just happy to be able to come up with a way to do it for them. I ate the left over pieces from the cut out hearts. (they were just as good)

I am tired still and now I want to go hang out with the 4 kids that are here (Rob and Justin are still at soccer). Happy Valentine's Day.