Raine was up early, so she gave Daddy the valentine she made for him before he went to work.

I took a photography class on Tuesday and have been anxious to try out what I learned. So I set up the tripod and got out my remote. Here are a couple of my favorites. (Thursdays are “Carter day” since Raine is in school but Carter is not. We have so much fun together reading books, playing ball, and running around outside.)

Carter can’t pass a dandelion without picking it for me. I get so many “ye-yow fowahs” every time we go outside . . . and I love every one of them! (Not that I keep them, but it is the gesture that melts my heart.)

All tuckered out!

Valentine hug!

After a yummy red dinner, we exchanged valentines. Here is Carter giving Daddy the valentine he made.

Here are some photos from my birthday the other day.

Daddy made doughnuts for breakfast . . . yummy!

Here is my birthday portrait, drawn by an up-and-coming artist named Raine.

The kids made birthday cards and were so excited to show me their work. I treasure these little symbols of love. They are such perfect expressions of their personalities.

Opening presents.

After dinner at Carrabbas, we enjoyed these cupcakes that my sweet neighbor made for me.

The rest of the evening was spent being silly.

Another year older, another year more satisfied with my life!

This time of year is cowboy time around these parts. The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo gives us all a reason to dust off our cowboy boots and practice our drawls. This year it started with the Stock Show parade on January 19.

This parade is 100% non-motorized.

We always love the longhorns — or “Daddy cows” as Carter calls them.

It’s a fairly long parade!

Then there was western week at school, January 29.

“Hi, cowboy!”

February 8 we made our way down to the Stock Show and Rodeo for the main event.

We had great seats and . . . we . . . were . . . excited!

The bronc riders started us off with style.

Whiplash the cowboy monkey was a hit.

And the bull riding was a real nail-biter! (Except that not a single one of those cowboys managed to make it to 8 seconds. Those bulls were really fired up.)

After the rodeo we were off to the petting zoo, funnel cake, and other stock show must-do’s.

These two kids couldn’t get enough of the animals. We went through all the barns twice and they still wanted to see more animals. I don’t know how they kept going after almost 7 hours and no stroller. Needless to say, we had to carry them in from the car and they didn’t wake up until morning!