Too Much of a Good Thing . . .

. . . can be wonderful! Or so said Mae West, adding to Shakespeare’s bawdy pun. When we refer to the good things in our lives of late, we’re thinking about the wonderful excesses life has afforded us. Whatever the excesses we’ve had this week, though, we’ve enjoyed them all.

We celebrated Eliza’s birthday on Monday with balloons covering her bedroom floor. 

Then, while Mike and Landon were out at work and school, Hallie and Hillary took Eliza out for some girl time before school, which included getting Eliza dressed up as a princess, getting her ears pierced, taking her to the Disney Store, and going out to lunch. Too much!

The celebrations continued with presents and the rest of the cake from Sunday.

We’ve had a warm spell this February. We did get some heavy dew early in the week to water the wildflowers. Mike’s ride to work looked a bit like something out of the English countryside, what with the wildflower-covered fields and the low clouds clinging to the emerald hills. Too much!

To our friends up north and back east: We send you these photos to warm your hearts until the winter chill subsides. The conditions we’re experiencing are fleeting. These hills will return to their drab dryness by April or May, just in time for spring where you’re at. Send us pictures of your colorful spring when it comes, will you?

Our ward’s Primary presidency dropped off a surprise for Landon on Wednesday. He’ll be getting baptized this November, and now he has some material to help him get prepared.

Eliza put together her present of a Hello Kitty-themed Mega Blox set with the generous help of . . . her mom. That's right: Hallie and the girl bonded over construction blocks, cuz that's how we do things around here.

Of course, they also played dolls, crab walked, swung on the indoor swing, painted by numbers, and played with transfer tattoos. In all, a fine way to spend a girls' morning in.

Eliza had a Valentine's Day party at school, and she brought us home a little something.

By Thursday, the weather had warmed up enough that Hallie decided to take the kids to the pool – The Pool! – after Landon got home from school. OK, so they went to the hot tub because the actual pool was still too cold, but still. Too much!

On Thursday while Mike went up to work, Hallie and Eliza looked after baby Sawyer until Shad got home from work.

Landon made Eliza a gift in class. Such a thoughtful kid. 

On Friday, we celebrated Valentine’s Day with a party at Landon’s school. The kids did a valentine exchange, which meant too much candy – maybe not quite such a good thing. Still, the kids had fun.

Hillary had the kids do a “secret” project after Landon got home from school.

(Valentines for Mom and Dad)

The weather continued to heat up into the weekend, which (again), is a wonderful thing. Well, maybe too much. A little wet or chilly weather wouldn’t be the end of the world, now would it? Then again, we couldn’t justify launching water balloons if we didn’t have this weather. Our regrets to those digging out from the ice and snow.

Mike, our resident friggatriskaidekaphile (lover of Fridays the 13th and the number 13 generally), took note of the day and date with pleasure. Here is a link to some facts about the number 13 for your entertainment, unless it’s all too much for you to take in.   

Valentine’s Day Saturday started off pretty mundane with morning cartoons and cleaning, a little too much of the former for the parents’ taste and of the latter for the kids’.

Things livened up in the afternoon and evening, when we went to Grandma and Grandpa M.’s for dinner. We played a dice game called Toss Up. Between the game and a rollicking chat about #hashtags, we had too much fun for our own good.

On Sunday, Mike taught Landon’s class a lesson about the temptations of Christ, and Eliza gave her first talk in Primary. 

To quote from the Bard again, “Though she be but little, she is fierce!” Too, too much.