Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite little holidays. In the middle of a long, cold, winter it seems so bright and cheerful with it's pinks, reds, hearts and flowers. It even makes the snow seem more beautiful...

This year we had a little Valentine's dinner with Grammy and Grampy. It was a lovely and fun filled afternoon - exactly how Valentine's Day should be. The kids were happy to be spoiled by their grandparents, and we were all happy to have an excuse to have three or four desserts...it's Valentine's Day after all!



And it wouldn't have been Valentine's Day without adorable shirts for the adorable kids.
Without a doubt, the best part of this Valentine's Day was when Ahren secretly handed Zachary my Valentine, and told him to go give it to me. Zachy came running into the kitchen, box in hand, shouting, "Hey Mom! This is for you! It's a clementine!" The only Valentines I need are right here in this house with me every day. How lucky I am to have such an amazing and loving husband, and two beautiful children. To me, everyday is Valentine's Day.

Comparison shots

These shots were all taken within about a month of each other (with exception to the one of Ahren and Zach raking). The top is February 3rd, the bottom is December 26th...fun to watch the snow melt.

Watch the swings reappear...






There are large green bushes under there...watch them grow...







Hopefully we'll be seeing this progression in real life very soon.

Winter

New England is not known for it's easy winters, but this one has been especially challenging. I don't mean to harp on the snow, but it's been out of control. We did have a lull for a couple of weeks, that brought some warmer temps and some rain, which resulted in quite a bit of melting...but then yesterday we got another 6 inches or so - just a friendly reminder from Mother Nature that it's not spring yet.

However, two wonderful things have happened - 1) Gigi and Poppy returned from their month long trip to South America, relieving me of house sitting (including shoveling) duty and 2) Our treadmill finally arrived. For the last month I have felt like a ticking time bomb (Ahren and the kids may argue that I stopped ticking weeks ago, and was really just an extended explosion since then). Not getting out to run has been very hard on me, so the first steps on my new treadmill yesterday actually made me cry tears of joy.

So, now that I'm feeling back on track - less overloaded, and able to get some exercise, I feel like I can't let this winter go without posting my last batch of snow pictures. It's hard to give an accurate number when it comes to our cumulative snow totals in North Andover, but I will tell you that it has been a very snowy winter. We are very much looking forward to things warming up and melting away. Spring is going to be welcomed very warmly in this house!