We got the kiddos some candy of course. They were very excited even though Luke doesn't seem to be in this photo:
We bought Josie a Valentine's dog. She is obsessed with Flash (our dog) and follows her around the house saying "puppy dog, puppy dog". In fact when Josie gets out of bed in the morning the first thing she does is go and find Flash. She looks at me from the crib "puppy dog?" It's adorable. So we bought a big fluffy adorable dog for Joce. Well, it didn't go over so well. She was not in a very good mood on V-day. See, there's proof: 
So when we gave her the puppy she cried and ran away. Later she went over to the dog, picked it up by the top of the head and threw it. She did that about 10 times that day. She wanted nothing to do with it.
But now the puppy is in her crib and she loves on him some. Not as much as I thought, but some. What a funny girl.Thanks to Mom and Kelly for sending Valentines to my kiddos, they were thrilled! Love back at you both! :)
Here's the view down to the street. Look hard, you can sorta make out the cars down there:
Michael and I:
We're a little out of focus because our picture taker had been sent to the grog more then a few times! That's why I was laughing, it was quite hilarious watching him try to work the camera. Speaking of the grog...Michael took some pics of the bowls as well. At a dining out there are 2 grog bowls (toilet bowls) at the front of the head table. DISCLAIMER: For those of you military related---no knocking me for describing the grogs and mess. I am trying to put it easily and not getting into the bigger details. Thought others might want a little info on the grogs, especially since we took photos of them! I can just see Michael rolling his eyes at how I'll describe this. Oh well, my blog :) Okay, back to the grogs... Those who break one of the "mess" rules are sent to the grog. It's also a time for you to call out others on their behavior and send them to drink. Different parts of the squadron add different things to the leaded and unleaded grog. When you are sent you have to address the President of the mess, fill you glass, address the mess, drink it all down in ONE drink and then put the glass on your head to signify that you finished it all. The leaded version had scotch, beer, some fluorescent green liquor (so gross), vodka, and other fun stuff. The unleaded one was full of strawberry soda, cranberry juice, jalapeno juice (ugh!), O'douls and even some cocoa puffs. You know it's bad when people are chewing with their grog drink. Yuck. It was pretty interesting to watch everyone go and get their 'punishment'. I won't say if Michael had to go or not but he did. I won't say fully why except for those military readers (i.e. his bro so he can make fun of him!!!!), Michael had no R.M.O. He and about 40 others!!! Drink it up guys! The grogs:
Here are pics we took of each other. I knew my sis-in-law Belva and Heidi would be upset it they didn't get to see my dress. Here you go girlies:
On another military note---this is Michael's LAST week as a captain. He pins on Major this Friday afternoon, Feb 27th! We are pretty excited and I am very proud of him! Congrats honey!
Hilarious moment! Gabriel ran over from the slide and jumped onto this alligator, he was wrestling it. He won. The fact that the alligator doesn't move helped a lot! Crazy kid.
And this is my favorite pic from the day. What a gorgeous angel baby girl!
Luke going up hard. He scored 3 times that game:
Talking with coach at halftime:
Kaden and Gabriel do a pretty good job at the games. Kaden wants to play so badly but he can't until 1st grade. Thankfully a teammate's brother brings a Nintendo and during some of the game they all play and watch each other. It's pretty darn cute to see them all huddled around each other. It's also nice for Michael and I because we get to spend a lot more time actually watching the game. See how cute:
A cake made by me much to the dismay of my hubby, Kaden was happy though, so that is good :) He and I had a good time putting the sprinkles on the top! 
Moon sand came in the mail from Aunt Belva and Uncle James--boy was that a HUGE hit!
Thanks to everyone for helping make Kaden's birthday a happy one! Grandmom we are so glad you could be here to celebrate with us! (There will be pics to come of all the other stuff we did that day. And CUTE pics at that!)
Peter gives me a thumbs up. He knows after presents comes cake and ice cream! Yum!
Cousins watching Gabriel open his gifts:
Daddy reading the cards for Gabriel:
Cake time. Gabe wanted Mickey Mouse, makes a Daddy proud :)
Singing happy birthday:
Blowing out his candles:
Let's get these off so we can eat!!! :)
My Momma flew in late Friday night :) Saturday morning we got up and went to Luke's 9AM basketball game where he scored 6 points I might add! Woo Hoo! We went straight to An Affair of the Heart (that huge craft fair). We sat down for lunch right away. Here is Mom enjoying her Indian Taco---it's the best, trust me!
We stayed downtown until about 4 and then took the kiddos to a park to play. Kaden chose McDonald's for his birthday dinner. Surprise! We had dinner, opened presents, and ate cake. Yum. We all played some Wii before the kids hit the hay. Afterwards Mom, Mike, and I had some Chinese food and watched Psych. Then we jammed on Rock Band for an hour or so. Mom has some mad vocal skills I tell you!! SO fun!
First real photo:
K-man's 2nd:
Sweet 3 year old:
Preschool photo:
Getting ready to fight the dark side, July 08:
My Mom arrived safely last night WITH my camera! I will be able to take pics of Kaden's happy day!! I'm so excited! :)