Asher is really into Valentine’s Day this year. I blame school and also this blues clues Valentine’s Day book we received in a huge box of secondhand books when he was born.

In the book (which is awful by the way) Blue makes cookies for her friends to show them how much she loves them so guess what Asher wanted to do for his friends?

I wasn’t gonna get into all that but Matthew was up for it. With Asher’s love of cooking we thought it would be fun to bake cookies for his class- since Valentine’s Day happens to fall on a Tuesday/school day. Not knowing if we’d really feel like doing it in the end, last week I made one of his art projects Valentines because I am a genius always in need of a back up plan.

We had these blank cards so I cut them in half and then cut random heart shapes out of index cards while he was playing with his trains. I stuck tape to the back then Asher stuck all the hearts onto the cards himself.

I laid out red, white and pink paints and he went to town with his little valentine making factory.

He painted every inch of every card and I did that thing where you peel away the heart and it leaves a blank heart underneath. I love how every one came out differently because of all his random paint mixing.

They were really cute! I popped each cookie into a bag and tied the card onto it.

The best part was the fun we had making them and no, I’m not even kidding. I got to do the part I like and Matthew did the part he likes. Asher got to do it all AND give them out. It was a pretty fun way to introduce a fun little holiday. Happy Valentine’s Day!

We had our little latke party on Saturday but I only took 1 pic. Its Asher and Tim doing Channukah sticker crafts.

Not sure who had more fun (Timmy)

Besides the latkes and insane amounts of food, including Matthews first ever brisket Asher received a few gifts. Without meaning to there was a bit of a musical theme as Danny and Jen got him a real drum and then Ramona showed up with a kazoo.

oh the kazoo. Its currently missing. as in -

“Mommy, can’t find my kazoo. IS MISSING!”

I think it might appear sometime after the new year, maybe when I’m away for work.

Tonight being the first night of Channukah we lit the menorah and he was pretty excited and wanted to light ALL the candles.

He got to open the first of his 8 gifts, which in reality should have been the last because it was BY FAR the nicest of the things we got him but we’re heading out of town and its also the heaviest.

Its this year’s Hess Truck and man, if you are still looking for a gift for a 2.5 year old truck lover go get one. He played with it until bedtime.

and it was awesome.

Listened to Little Liza Jane on repeat throughout the entire meal. That album is perfect for a Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier this month Matthew got to light Kelly Clarkson unplugged for VH1 and I have to say, it was just about the first time I ever really wanted to go to work with him.

Its already up online and it airs tonight at 11.

Other recent work (will air in the spring but click links for more pics)

live from the artist’s den: Iron and Wine

live from the artist’s den: The Fray

I’m back at work too this week and all I can say is that it’s not nearly as exciting. I was thinking about doing a post on formatting spreadsheets but I went with what Matthew’s doing instead. You’re welcome!

After years of hosting we decided to keep it simple.

We have a reservation for 3 at The Farm on Adderley.

Moms, hug your boys.

We got in Saturday night after a hellish 12 hour journey and Sunday morning we started prepping for her birthday party. We got our 2 best people to handle the decorations.

Matthew was nominated as head chef and he and Theresa turned out an amazing spread of: sliders with his special hamburger sauce, potato salad, veggies with tzatziki, artichoke dip and corn and black bean salsa. All homemade, even the lemonade and iced tea. YUM.

Happy Birthday Theresa!