Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day! Even when I haven't been in a relationship, I still love to celebrate it with family and friends. I woke up to a great breakfast with my family and tonight I'm having a nice night in with the boyfriend. We decided to avoid all the crowds at the restaurants and make a fun dinner at home.

We're also giving each other small little gifts, so I decided to make a homemade card to go with it using supplies that I had around the apartment. I used white and turquoise card stock along with a fuzzy felt heart and a cute little message. You don't have to spend $5 on an expensive store-bought card to get your message across!

I used another little pink fuzzy stickers to seal the envelope too :)

I'm also giving him his Chocolate Covered Brownies and Blondie Balls, using his favourite Protein Brownies. We kept a budget of $30 for gifts because it really feels like we just did Christmas gifts, so I picked up a few little odds and ends that made me think of him. I like keeping it simple and just spending  time with each other is more important than any gift.

While catching up on this week's TV shows (love Valentine episodes!), I decided to tidy up the apartment and add a few little sweet touches for our Valentine's Day dinner.

While digging through my gift wrapping supplies, I found these red heart doilies to tape over the frames. Simple art that can be taken down as soon as the holiday is over.

Another little touch I did, was rearranging the bookshelf to get all my red and pink toned books together. Usually I have it in a rainbow pattern, but it seemed fun to change things up for a bit!

Even the candleholders got a little update.

I stuck felt heart stickers on the outside that are easy to remove later on.

And on the inside, I nestled a little red tealight on a bed of white rice.

I can't wait to get home from work tonight to make a fun dinner and enjoy a nice evening cuddling up for a movie night with the guy I love. I couldn't ask for a better Valentine's Day.

Hope that you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! xoxo

\

Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.

 {Robert Browning}

And another week goes by....

I can't believe that the first week of August has passed already.  This year really is flying on by at a faster than alarming rate.  I'm not sure what I think about that - actually, I'm not having any time to think at all!

So this week has been yet another good one in the life of the Pollards.  We have had lots of fruitful days, fun days, social days, and just a minor blip at the end of the week.  That blip soon passed after a nice much needed snooze, and giving myself a good mental kick up the backside upon waking.  I have learnt from that blip though.  I have learnt that I have some amazing friends, both online and in real life that care about me greatly.  For that I am well truly thankful and feel exceptionally blessed (and I must admit it took me quite by surprise!)

Right, on with the details and of course the pictures!

Workbooks have certainly seemed to have been making a comeback in our household.  For reasons I cannot fathom, and actually I don't feel the need to fathom the why's , but my children have taken a liking to them and who am I to argue.  Well, only 3 out of the 4 children have been hit by the workbook bug, but I'm not nit-picking over the details :)

We've been shopping for shoes - and of course, for 8 year old princesses, only pink and sparkly ones will do...

Experiments have been looked at and analysed...

Games have been played...

Blackberries have been picked...

Smiles have been seen...

T-shirts have been dirtied...

and nature has been explored...

and much admired...

On Thursday we had a lovely day socialising with friends. Lots of chatting, laughter, tea drinking, and kid's chatter and play = a perfect day, and one that I think of fondly.

I shall leave you with a picture of our newest addition to the family. Meet kitten (yet to be named). We love him to bits already, he is such a character!

Tomorrow we are cat goodie shopping and insurance organising :)