A Gift

I mentioned in the last post that I'm not big on Valentine's Day, but there have been some good ones.  Ten years ago Hubby and I celebrated our first Valentine together.  It was special and we actually went out and did something.  We ate at a cute little restaurant and got dressed up.  Then we wandered through a local park after dark.  There was a pond, ducks, and a lot of people attending a wedding in the park...all wearing wedding dresses...even the men.  That part was odd, but memorable.  Fast forward six years and I got to surprise Hubby with the news that we were expecting Pumpkin.  He wasn't particularly surprised, but it was still a neat memory.

Today wasn't going to be one of those days.  Today Hubby had a demo for work and I had big plans to homeschool, grocery shop, and finish cleaning the house for our social worker to come down tomorrow.  But those plans changed a bit.  During the night Pumpkin got sick and I spent a pretty sleepless night on the floor in her room.  In the morning I did my best to juggle cleaning up messes from Pumpkin getting sick, entertain Mooky and do some of those last minute cleaning things.  The weather was unusually cold and the day before my mom and I had discussed the possibility of rain.

Well, it rained, then it hailed, so much so that the whole yard was covered in white.  

And it kept right on hailing, until it finally turned to big, soft, beautiful snowflakes.  It was a winter wonderland!  Mooky couldn't contain her excitement; Pumpkin was just sick.

And that is where the gift came in.  We got to stop the business of normal life and enjoy a few moments together.  Mooky went out in the snow for a bit all alone and I watched her from the window taking in each of her smiles and shrieks of joy.  

She asked me to join her for a snowball fight so I suited up and braved the "cold" {it was just cold enough to snow}.  The snow was still falling heavy and thick.  It was like a dream to stand out in it.  We had so much fun chasing eachother all over the yard and throwing snowballs.  Hubby's demo was finally over and he took a turn outside with Mooky.  They built snowmen and once again I was given the chance to marvel at Mooky's joy.

{Mohawks!}

But I was also able to sit and have tender moments with my sick Pumpkin.  To cuddle with my usually very active monkey and stare at her beautiful face while she slept peacefully.  

I couldn't have asked for a better day.  I loved the chance to slow down, change our plans and experience my family.

Now the kids are finally down and Hubby went into town for pizza.  I'm off to finish that cleaning.  Happy Valentine's to all!