Happy Valentines Day!

All those who received a dozen long stem roses, I am so happy for you. But, move over because I have you all beat! Look at the wonderful flowers I was given this morning -

What makes these flowers so special is that they were made by my oldest. My sons are not crafty or artistically creative. Oldest will spend 5 seconds coloring and 5 hours building with Legos and has always been like that. So for him to think of making these flowers on his own is amazing. He made a tulip, a rose, a daffodil, and a black-eyed susan. The "water" is tissue paper, and he even decorated the vase.

There will come a time when my sons will painstakingly try to impress a girlfriend on Valentines Day. They will think of me as a mode of transportation so that the "impressing" can happen for her. But today, I get to enjoy the fact that Valentines Day is all about making mom feel special. For now, I am the girl that matters.

So you can have the florists' boquets of roses. I have the BEST boquet right here!

The Big Dig!

After more than a day of snow - who knows how much because of all the blustery, blowing wind - the big dig begins. We have drifts of 5-6 feet! The snow blowers are blowing, people are shoveleing and chiropracters are drooling!

This picture is what we found upon opening our garage. The little boy who lives in the house in the picture spent the night. Hubby had to shovel him a path to get home!

Please say a pray for all the power crews, road crews, and emergency personnel that have to be out today in the mid-Atlantic. There are also people in cars that are stuck on major area highways, please say a prayer for them too.

Where we are, the wind is still blowing. The sun is shining however which is welcome, oh so welcome!

The snow is so pretty. In this quantity it is a little unbelievable. But to hear the kids out playing and having a terrific time is wonderfully comforting.

Time to make some cocoa! If you have it, enjoy the snow!

Uncle

I love snow. However, I am crying "UNCLE"! Three snow storms in less than two weeks. Blizzard like conditions. Can we be done for a bit? We received at least 12 inches of snow yesterday and last night. Then the wind started blowing and at that point, the measuring stick becomes quite useless.
Today was even too blustery and cold for the boys to play a whole bunch outside.
If the snow could stop long enough for the road crews to clear all the roads and for the power crews to restore power, that would be terrific. I pray that road crews are safe, power crews are swift and safe in their work, and that the homeless find a place of respite in this bitter cold.
If you are in the mid-Atlantic, stay safe and warm!

No boys

The boys were in Florida this past week so the house was very quiet. They went to Kennedy Space Center and had a great time. As a bonus to seeing all the great stuff from NASA, they also saw alligators, armadillos, and a pig!

They also went to Sea World where they fed the dolphins and sting rays and then stopped in St. Augustine.

While they were gone, I worked. For fun I tackled a very special project. It has to be a secret for now as it is a present for one of the ones who are not home. It was good to have this secret project to do because it focused my attention on getting the project done rather than the boys being gone. And, dh was busy with scout stuff and work so he wasn't much company.

I couldn't wait until the boys got back. But, they're being gone was good too. Not that I had doubts, but their abscence confirmed to me that my life is on the right track. Being a mom to two wonderful boys is exactly what I want to be doing! Sacrificing career and income is the best thing I can do at this point in my life. My income right now is watching my two beautiful boys flourish, watching the world through their eyes is a God-given honor and blessing, not to be taken for granted. I missed them so much and could not wait to give them great big hugs!

That said I am so thankful to my in-laws for letting the boys go on this trip with them, for giving the boys an opportunity to see some really neat things. I remember going on a couple of trips with my grandparents, and love those memories. So I hope that the boys will hold fond memories of this trip because they are with their grandparents.

The boys are home now, enjoying ALL of the snow we have and anticipating all the snow we are going to get. They house is full of boy noises. Ahhh, bliss has been found!!

A very long term project

Inspired by Lucy at http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/ and my dear friend that I am meeting tomorrow, this past year I have been consumed with crocheting. There seems to be no turning back for me now.

In addition to the crochet block-a-month and a bag that I am making the pattern as I go, I am working on this little lovely, I mean big lovely:

It is wide enough to go on our bed which is between a double and a queen size. So even though each color is done in two row increments, those two rows can take a long time! The bad thing is that this afghan has become too big to tote around everywhere. If it is to be worked on, it must be done at home. But oh it is so nice and warm to hook under!

I am using Reynolds Lite-Lopi Icelandic Wool which I bought here:http://www.yarn.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/categoryID/106ECA8A-86A4-46C8-A3E8-DED3B28F6B8D/productID/22AB37AF-E64F-4DC3-8C02-07EF4DC3E112/. They had a good deal going because the colors were being discontinued, woohoo. The price was good. But when I found I was a few skeins short, it was difficult to find the colors I needed. Until Ravelry!

I went on the Ravelry site and looked in people's stash(don't get mad, I!). There is an extremely gracious woman in Reno, Nevada who has sent me the yarn needed to complete one of the blues in this afghan. I am so grateful to her and am impressed by her generosity.

Have a fabulous day!