Weekend fun, replayed

As I was following my little family crew out of church this morning, I thought about how quickly time is going. They won't stay The Family Circus ages much longer.... Miles will eventually get hair (I hope?) and no longer be like PJ, and my Billy, Dolly and Jeffy won't be little and innocent forever.

Most of the time I want to try and perserve these moments as much as I can -- and I realized that's why I love keeping this blog/record so much. By writing about what is happening I get to live the events a second time, making the memorable moments twice as long. It's my feeble attempt to preserve these fun times!

So.... in light of that, here's what we did this weekend.

Since Miles had an ear infection on his actual birthday, last Tuesday, we didn't party much. So when we got together with some friends on Friday night, we thought it would be a good time to make up for it. We celebrated Miles' first birthday, as well as our friends Donna's and Amanda's birthdays this week.
While we were there, our world was transformed into a winter wonderland of snow, and the next morning we woke up to some unusual (for here) beauty. This is what I saw from my bedroom window:

We also awoke to a very long to-do list of projects/chores that needed to be done around the house. So we decided to go out for the day.

While Strider frolicked with the neighbor kids, Pete took Rayna and Colsen to Lowe's for their kids' building time. They brought home some kits to make jewelry holders, and the construction process was fun for them as they banged away. It also helped to contribute to the "distressed" look of our dining room table. We're saving all kinds of money by doing this ourselves instead of buying a fancy antique. :)

Then in the afternoon we headed up to Nonna and Poppa's house where they greeted up with open arms, and Valentine cupcakes. What more could we ask for!

Today, Valentine's Day, has been a fun, festive day full of little surprises and joys. One of the best parts was waking up to a little handmade valentine card made by Strider, with a little chocolate attached.

And tonight, before heading out to youth group, Pete made us a special dinner. With one child yelling constantly in his high chair, another one constantly humming, another shredding up his napkin, and another calling out the bad manners of his siblings, the meal was not exactly romantic. But it was made with love, and we had wine (the adults I mean), so it was good.

I feel loved and blessed... twice over now.