Art and Valentines

 My eyes are gloriously tired.

Yesterday ended well; I felt especially aware of how my son is full of good intentions, and Michael was just plain awesome in helping me with the kids. When I left the house for some time alone, my mood had improved drastically! I ended up buying birthday presents for Ender. In fact, everything I bought was for him (except for some Grasshopper cookies). 

(Those are definitely for me). 

TODAY... 

We had a truly wonderful Valentine's Day. 

Our cousin babysat the kids while we went to the temple in the morning (THANK YOU!). Even though I forgot my bag (miscommunication-- totally thought Michael had it) and didn't realize until we were AT the temple and had to go all the way back for it, it was reallyreallyreallyREALLY wonderful. 

I think being in the temple is romantic. 

After our lovely temple visit, Michael took me to brunch. That food was delicious! And then guess what he did? Oh besides kissing me, of course. He bought me a present... a present that is perhaps one of the COOLEST presents ever. A Bamboo Splash pen. 

It's a sort of pen for drawing in a program on your computer instead of using your mouse, so you get your beloved hand-drawn effect (plus some wicked awesome special effects) right at the computer. 

I have been playing with it for a long time! :) 

THAT is why my eyes are so tired. 

Computer screens can be so bright. 

Aaah! Dismembered legs!

Something happened to the skin color in saving...woops!

Those are a couple from one of the art programs; there's another program I played with, but I haven't yet figured out how to convert the files so I can share them. I did a couple sketch-looking ones that are fun.
So you know what this means for me? It means I will be drawing so much more! And sharing my drawings! And learning more and more, too! These doodles are what I've figured out so far with some of the tools, but I think I'll be getting better all the time.

Today was a peaceful day in other ways, too. After picking up the kids, I put Scarlett down for a nap and did some crafts with Ender. I very rarely do that! I usually just show him how to do something and let him go at it. But for Valentine's Day, I wanted to give him a little more attention. When it wasn't windy enough for his kite, I sat with him to make some paper pinwheels. That was fun, and it progressed to making hearts and Valentines and paper circle fan things and making a mess with glitter. We both really enjoyed it!
Ender and Scarlett made Valentines for us while we were at the temple, too. That was just SO sweet. I'd scan them, but my scanner's being funky lately. For Michael, Ender wrote "Dear Dad" and then drew a perfect little rocket. Scarlett had her hands traced (and then gave her drawn handprint a high-five).

Oh, goodness-- she's growing up! We took the kids to the bookstore on campus, and Ender asked me what the sprinklers were in the ceiling. When I explained that they make fires go away, Scarlett said "Where's it go?"
I practically shrieked in her face, I was so excited. She asked me a question that related to the conversation in a FULL SENTENCE! And several more times today, I felt like I knew exactly what she was saying, like when she asked me to sing a specific song to her, or when she was explaining that my phone wasn't working for her. Oh man. Kind of makes my heart burst in both directions...my baby's growing up! It's crazy that she's definitely not such a baby anymore, but I'm also really enjoying the way she's growing up. She is very fun. I kept staring at her tiny face today with absolute adoration while sharing my dinner with her. I guess I have a Mom Crush on her. :)

Our day was so nice. When we were packing the kids in the car to go home (after having a leisurely stroll around campus and the bookstore), Ender asked Michael "was this sort of a date?" Yep! A date with the kids! And it was really, really fun.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!