A sweet day

On Valentine's Eve though all I really wanted to do was crawl under the covers as soon as the girls went to bed, I told myself it's worth it to make the day special and exciting for the little people in this house, especially Emery. So I headed out to the craziness that is the Dollar Tree on Valentine's Eve (seriously, almost all of the junk was gone! and the lines were crazy long!) and grabbed two ballons and a Valentine stamp set, knowing full well we'd have our share of sugar the next day.

As expected, the ballons and stamps at the breakfast table were a huge hit, as was the money Henny sent, with instructions to go have a treat! Off to the donut shop we went, which also had been hit by the craziness that is Valentine's Day. All that was left were a few lonely apple fritters, a handful of glazed donuts, a potentially very messy cinnamon twist and some gnarly-looking pumpkin thing. 

A girl after her daddy's heart, Emery selected the apple fritter and I secretly was thankful that it looked huge enough to share without anyone feeling like they'd been shortchanged. Anna Kimball was openly ecstatic to participate in any kind of donut/fritter eating at all.

Then we visited with a friend at a coffeeshop and she so kindly took our picture ... while the girls so sadly didn't cooperate with their best smiles.

The rest of the day was spent delivering some Valentine's treats to friends, napping, enjoying the warm weather and sun and forgetting to take pictures. BUT, the day's sweet finish did earn a picture - my Valentine got me my very favorite dark chocolate malted milk balls, also referred to as "grown-up candy that you wouldn't like very much" to inquiring toddlers.

A very merry Christmas

We're moments from leaving for the airport - an easy excuse to post photos, but without captions.  Use your imagination :) ... it was a fabulous time with family and Emery was delighted with her first Christmas!

The house smells like a pickle jar

Let"s hope the turkey doesn't taste like one in the end. Let the brining begin!

Easter in Annapolis

I wish I had taken pictures of how beautiful Annapolis looked over Easter, especially compared to how gray Detroit still looks, although signs of spring are slowly beginning to appear.

However, my camera, and my family members' cameras only had eyes for my nephew Tucker.

Fortunately, I'll be in Annapolis this coming weekend as well, so maybe I'll snag some memories of spring to post on my refrigerator while I wait for the real thing to finally arrive.

Until, then, I'll be looking at these!

Happy Valentines Day?

What is wrong with me? I have a Valentine today, and a wonderful one at that. He washed my car, bought me tulips and has been extremely appreciative and supportive all day long.

Yet, today, of all days, I am reminiscing over my single days, and in particular, my single Valentines Days. The ones where my other unattached girlfriends and I would all band together and commiserate over our situations. We'd probably enjoy good food, red wine, chocolate and a quality chick flick. We might even wear black, but the mood wasn't dark.

Of coure, we all wished we had been whisked away to a candlelit dinner somewhere romantic with someone very special. But there's a sort of tradition and fun in flouting Hallmark's mandate in a way, although I guess by virtue of the fact that we all banded together on that day, we weren't exactly ignoring the commemoration.

I realize that things always look a little better in hindsight and maybe I'm making these Valentines Days out to be a little rosier than they actually were. Probably.

So I guess it's a good thing I'm being whisked away to a candlelit dinner in 30 minutes. If I can't commiserate over my singleness anymore, I might as well as well make the most of the mandate!