VALENTINE'S DAY!

We spent Valentine's Day at home, very low key, just hangin' with the babes. And you know, even though I'm a hopeless romantic - I'm sure this comes as quite a shock - it was really wonderful. I made heart shaped pancakes and pink milk for breakfast, Todd brought home a potted tulip and a card about pirates and booty (I'll leave the deeper meaning to your imagination) and Pizza Factory took care of dinner. Todd is admittedly a slacker in the romance department, so after over 12 years of marriage I've come to realize that maybe the chocolates, the flowers, the love songs really aren't what I need. Now am I saying that you shouldn't put effort into your marriage , of course not. It's important to make each other feel special and valued. But you know what, I have a husband that still says "I love you" at the end of every phone conversation, that holds my hand in the car, and thanks me every night for dinner as if he's pleasantly surprised that I cooked. So maybe that is romance. I'm grateful for my little bitty Valentine's too, being a Mom has given me the gift of experiencing true, unconditional love in a way that I never had before. I know one thing for sure, I still have a lot to learn about love.

In 1 Corinthians 13 the bible says this about it - I'm taking some liberty here with the wording.
Love is patient, even when I've been asked the same question 17 thousand times
Love is kind, and not just to the people who are good to me
It isn't jealous or stuck up
Love is happy even when someone else gets what I want
It's not rude or selfish, it looks out for the interest of others over my own
Love doesn't get angry or frustrated at the drop of a hat, or just because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed
Love doesn't remember the wrongs suffered or keep track of what other people have done to hurt me
It isn't happy when someone gets what's comin' to em
It always protects, it always trusts, it always hopes
Love presses on, it perseveres no matter what
LOVE NEVER FAILS

Now don't laugh at me, but I wanted to give a shout-out to Costco. Their online photo service has literally changed my life! If you know me at all, you know I LOVE pictures, in fact it's kind of sick. I don't know how many years were shaved off my life standing in line with both of the kids going buck wild while I tried to sort through my digital pictures on a little screen. And then there's the waiting in line to pick them up, and if I just fell in love with certain pictures I'd have to go again and order reprints. So then this beautiful thing came into my life. . . Now I can order pictures from my comfy little chair in the office and the best part, they mail them to me for FREE! Wallets, enlargements, color, B&W - they do it all. So every other day or so, I see a cheery little package on my doorstep, and I tear into that box like a mad woman so I can pour over pictures of my beautiful kids. You're probably thinking "yah Laura, welcome to the 21st century." Yes I'm slow, but better late then never.

Ella all day keeps the doctor away

So I took Ella to the doctor with me today, Dawson was napping so we slipped away for some girl time. It's what Ella refers to as "just the 2 of us together time." And we had our usual talk about expected behavior (this habit was formed after many embarassing outings) if she were to accompany me to my appointment. And like any other self-respecting mother, I offered a bribe of ice cream. As soon as we got to the elevator she began visiting with the folks waiting with us. When the doors opened, Ella walked in and then held her arm out across the door, stopping it from closing on anyone too soon. This got quite a response from these people, they thought that was just too much. As we rode up she began asking people "do you hear that sound...beep, beep, beep?" and telling them that the elevator reminded her of a cave. So mind you, we've been in this elevator only long enough to go up 3 floors and these complete strangers already know her name, age and of course, that elevator is a lot like a cave. So we arrive in the waiting room and she says hi to a lady sitting next to us. The lady responds kindly and Ella picks up a magazine and says, in a regal voice as if she were offering a glass of fine wine, "would you like a magazine Maam?" So this lady is cracking up and just then the phone rings at the front desk. The receptionist answers and when she is finished and hangs up, Ella loudly asks "SO WHO WAS IT?" I'm telling ya, this little lady is one-of-a-kind. Needless to say she earned her treat, payment for the smiles she inspired. Ella leaves a lasting impression on everyone she encounters, we're just working on what kind of impression that is...