A Truly Love-ly Day...

Hope all of you had mah-velous Valentine's Days! We did it "low-key" this year--got the kids some goodies, got each other some goodies, got some really special goodies from the girls, went to church and was inspired about love, then came home to watch "American Idol," Alabama basketball, and "Lost." A bit atypical (can't remember the last time G and I didn't go out on Valentine's Day), but that's okay. We will make up for it when G is feeling all better. Besides, every day should be V-Day, don't ya think?

Some great memories from yesterday, though. Thought I'd share some pictures that really communicate the joy and love...

One of G's fave candies is Toblerone, so I bought a big-honkin bar for him and altered the wrapper (it then said, "You R the One" lol) . . .



Got a lovely garden rose plant from G. This will definitely go in the flower garden come Springtime. (Will it get here quickly, please?) . . .



Always have SO much fun picking out stuffed animals for the girls. This year I did PERFECTLY in picking out the ones that fit their personalities. When they saw them all together, they immediately picked out which ones were theirs . . .







A fun group picture (love how Scout just jumps in to act as goofy as they do). . .



Made some really yummy heart brownies, and S helped me bake some of these easy frozen Val-Day sugar cookies . . .



It was SO cold last night, so after we got home from church Gary got a crackling fire going. It felt and sounded so good (sheesh, these pics make me realize howI need to clean. Please ignorethe ashes on the hearth. lol) . . .



But the BEST part of the day was the homemade surprises given to us by the girls.Delaney had helped make valentines with Sydney the night before, and Gary and I both got one (btw, S kept saying it was Happy Valentine's Day...notValentine's Day...it was too cute) . . .



And the BEST was the coupon book that all three girls made together for us. McKenna came up with the idea (she loves to scrapbook and is always working on some sort of project) . . .



It had 10 different coupons for us to redeem . . .



and had this sentiment at the end. Both Gary and I teared up. It means so much when your kids tell you that they appreciate you, and they are saying it on their own. Made my day. . .



I hope that your day was filled with similar realizations. And I hope that you all realized, whether you are in marriages or have children or are in tough situations or in none at all, that there is love all around you. It can be in the wonderful friendships you have, or with a sister or a brother; it can be simply in the joy of living and enjoying simple pleasures every day; and it can be in the knowledge that God loves you no matter what!

Now, I CANNOT let this post go by without mentioning my Valentine's Night tv watching. I watched the Bama-Florida basketball game downstairs in the den and ran upstairs during commericals to get American Idol updates from the girls.

Alabama had me believing for a while there that they would come through and beat #1 Florida (we were ahead by 18 at one point), but the Gators ended up being too strong in the end and we lost another game. It's starting to get depressing!

There are quite a few guys and gals that made it to the Top 24 that I still don't know anything about, so next week will be good to hear them sing more. But right now I'm really digging Chris--aka the Jack Osborne look-alike (he can really sing!), Brandon, and several of the other guys. The guys, in fact, are impressing me more than the girls right now. What do you think?

And then.... Holy Cow!!!! What about "Lost" last night??!!! It just blew me away with the whole Desmond-time trippin' thing and the revelation that he's just trying to save Charlie.AND, I got online and found several articles that revealed through interviews with the show's producers that there really is an over-arching plan for all of these things that we've seen through the three seasons so far; it really is all going to come together! I know it's lost some viewers, but I still really love this show!! What do you think?

And finally. . . I got like 35 comments on yesterday's post and will have the girls draw a name from them this afternoon. I will announce tomorrow who my RAK winner is!

Happy Thursday... and stay warm!! (It's still SO cold here!!)

It's SNOWING!! and Happy Valentine's Day!!

Okay, okay... I know that all of you friends from up north who are sick and tired of getting feet and feet of snow will laugh at me hysterially, but we are SO excited because we are getting snow right now! We have literally had no snow for probably five years and last year we had maybe a bit of flurries that lasted for 30 minutes and it has actually been snowing since about 7 this morning (it's about 9:30 right now!). Yes, it's just a dusting but it's more than we've had in forever and I just know that Delaney is giddy at school right now (she loves snow and cries at every winter's end when it hasn't snowed)!!

This is what it looks like on my hot tub on my deck right now and on our front porch bannister. Don't laugh, Phats and Cinderella and all you other northern snow bunnies... we're actually excited about this much snow!!





(Crazy Southern weather that we live in--yesterday around noon it got up to 60 degrees and then we had tornadoes last night. And today, snow!)

A funny little update already: Yep,the snow has already stopped!And it's all but disappeared from everywhere (I guess that's what happens when the ground is so hot! SO, my little photos there are more special than I thought. They may be the only pics of snow we have all year. Pretty pitiful, huh?LOL)

And now... how about a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all of my sweet blog friends. I love you all and am so glad we've become friends! I hope you have a wonderful day today!!!

I am about to head out to the store to buy some Val Day goodies for the girls (yes, waiting until the LAST minute!!). I had some fun things I had planned on making (some altered goodies, that I don't think I have time for now), but this past week kind of changed a lot of plans. But we will still have a good day!!! (And a White Valentine's Day is probably the best gift of all for my family! LOL)

Gary and I usually go out on Valentine's Day on a date, but I think we will skip that tonight. The girls have church and we're actually having dinner up there tonight. So, we will probably try and skip the rush-rush of finding a restaurant and go out tomorrow night instead. (Besides, the Alabama basketball game has a HUGE game tonight against #1 Florida.We will most likely get a butt-whipping, but you never know! Personally, I don't want to be stuck at a restaurant while I'm missing the game! So, part of my Valentine's Day will be spent in front of the tv! lol) Right now, I'm just so happy to have Gary healthy and at home with us!

(Which leads me to an update: we had an appointment with Gary's neurologist yesterday who basically just told us that he couldn't find anything in his tests that revealed why he had a stroke and that he would recommend that we go to a stroke specialist. I thought that was good news--that another doctor with more expertise might give us some better insight. In the meantime, G is supposed to take aspirin every day and try to take it a little bit easier. He's still frustrated with his speech sometimes, but he is resting, which is pretty rare for him!)

Now, with this being Valentine's Day, we all may be in a sappy mood. So I thought I'd share the poem that is listed today on AOL as the #1 love poem of all time. It listed 10 different poems--a lot of familiar ones by Shakespeare and Shelley and Lord Byron. Great poems!! But the #1 was the one I expected--Sonnet #43 from "Sonnets from the Portuguese" by Elizabeth Barrrett Browning. Still beautiful after all these years!!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

And now, in closing, how about a RAK? I don't think I've ever given anything away on my blog before, but I kinda feel like spreading the love today! So, if you will comment on my post today (all of you regulars, speak up like "regular" and all of you lurkers--make yourself known!), I will draw a name from the comments and send you a fun Valentine-themed creation that I have made! What can you comment about?

Comment about anything from my post today, or
Comment about what you're doing for Valentine's Day, or
Rub it in about how much snow you already have had this winter, or
Just anything!!

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!! You are loved!!!