St. Valentine's Day

We had a beautiful, quiet St. Valentine's Day. The cold cold weather broke brilliantly and it was in the upper 50s/lower 60s!! We all went outside with just sweatshirts on!

This is the perfect time for the young children, like mine, to play with snow. When there are just little patches around for them to dig in and pick up and feel (and taste). Much better for my little guys than trying to trudge through 2ft of snow!


And a frozen sand table is just as fun as a defrosted one apparently! The sand table and all its toys were literally frozen in time. Claudio and I realized that this winter came on so fast and strong that literally we were outside playing one day and the next we had a blizzard.

So everything was sort of left and frozen in some late fall assembly..

It was SOO nice to soak in some warm sun! And Anna very excitedly kept pointing up and saying, "Sun sun sun!!" It was as if the world came alive for this one day.

It was cold again today but the forecast shows that tomorrow and the rest of the week are going to be even WARMER!!! Even this snow loving momma is excited for a little respite of sunshine, warmth and outdoor play!

After outdoor play Ben and I got to business making some Valentine cookies. I have actually NEVER made cookies that were cut out and decorated! So I had a mix for gingerbread cookies that happened to not have any eggs in it.

And I whipped up some frosting with confectioners sugar and milk with the tiniest bit of red food coloring to make a pale pink.

And Benjamin was in charge of the M&Ms

Ben seemed to really like these cookies. He will very rarely eat any homemade baked goods, but he ate SEVERAL cookies!

And speaking of Ben. He is scheduled for an Upper GI on Friday. Prayers please for him. I feel fairly certain that nothing will be found, but I am just worried about how he will do with the actual test. He is afraid of doctors and all that stuff on the best of days. So prayers for our little guy!