Anytime.

I'll take a day like this again.  Anytime.

How did I love today?  Let me count the ways:

1.  It was sunny out!
2.  There was a high of 43!
3.  These two things made me feel like spring may actually be a possibility again someday (after next week when the high is back to 12 again, that is)
4. My son jumped out of bed this morning, early, and set to work on finishing his chore chart.  At 7:15, he was happily dusting.  By 8, he was independently gathering trash.  I love chore charts.
5.  We got to spend the morning eating snacks and chatting with our wonderful friends as our children ran and played with balloons.

6. I went for a 10 mile run with a friend who I don't spend nearly enough time with.  It was only supposed to be a 7 mile run, but who notices street signs while you are talking?  So we ran 3 extra miles, meh.  We're tough like that.
7. This evening we left the kids with my mom and got dressed up and went out like real grown ups, with dinner and drinks and dancing, even.  A wonderful night at the West Shore Chorale benefit celebration of John's 30 years as our director.  I love that man, and its such a pleasure to be part of this group.  Plus, it was a grand excuse to wear a ballgown.

Tomorrow, the temperature will drop.  Life will be back to normal, with work to do and kids to corral.  But there could be another day like today, anytime.  And I'll be ready.

February so far: the highlights reel

Things that have kept me too busy to blog for the first 16 days of this month:

1.  Getting two kids in and out of boots and coats, constantly
2. Olympics!  They only come once every 4 years!  Must. Watch.
3. Making Valentines and cookies
4. Spending most of my awake time working or driving to work
5. Hosting houseguests
6. Hosting Soup
7. Taking art classes and having drinks with friends
8. Keeping up with the laundry
9. Going to Lake Farmpark, the zoo, the museums, winter festivals...
10. Frittering away all remaining time on Facebook

Some pictures to remember it all:

There is a lot of snow here.

A superbowl party for the kids.  The day before the superbowl, so the kids could watch Fireman Sam while the adults drank pop and ate too many appetizers. The real point of the superbowl, right?

A snowy visit to the zoo:  On a snowy Sunday we braved the zoo with the Perrys.  Children ran and cavorted and the animals were noble and beautiful amid the white.  A grand idea...

A great weekend visit from friends Fiona and Anthony last weekend, complete with their little ones.  Keely, at three, quickly fell in with our two and they are all fast friends.  Liam, at age 9 months, made my baby-loving heart ache just a little with his wonderful, snuggly self.  The happiest baby I've ever met, I think.  It was an absolute joy to have our friends with us for the weekend.  They left five minutes before our Second Sunday Soup guests began to arrive; it was a rich and beautiful weekend of friendship indeed.

We toured our friends to the history museum and the Art Museum-- handy that several of our favorite places in Cleveland are only moment from our house.  Here are the troops at the Planetarium.

A night out with mommy last week:  Playtime at the JCC and dinner out at McDonald's.  Simple pleasures, and easy together time with my ever-growing little ones.  Ivy carried out a drama loosely based on Tangled (you see her below dressed to leave the tower) but with a happier twist:  the real parents came back to stay at the tower with Rapunzel and her "bad mother".  Jack, meanwhile, practiced his soccer moves by kicking a ball at various objects.  They are each so very themselves...

Beautiful snow-kissed sunny morning drives.  It is such joy to have sunrise greeting me on my way to work again.  This picture doesn't capture the way tree branches were frosted white and glittering with rose-gold light.  You'll just have to trust me.

Girls night out:  A group of us local moms seem to be forming a bit of a club, enjoying a "Mama Speakeasy" night of drinking last month at a friends house, and last week going for a silk painting class at Hessler on the Heights followed by drinks at Katz Club.  I managed to stay out til 12:30 on a Thursday!  Crazy girl that I am.  The fog I waded through for the next few days is a testament to the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be.  But it was worth it.

Valentine's Day:   With our weekend-of-hosting to start the month, this lovely little holiday seemed to sneak up on me.  Got our decorations up in fine time, cookies made and shared, but the making of Valentines with our two kiddos was kind of rough.  Note to self:  next year start at least two weeks early.
We pushed back our family celebration to Saturday morning and had a lovely special day breakfast with our cards and treats.  Tiny packages containing 5 dollar bills from Lulu were the hit of the morning, along with Nat's brilliant paper airplane Valentine for Jack.

February's festival:  Brite Winter fest, a cold but charming gathering of beer and bands and few oversized games in the West Side Market District.  Jack loved the skee ball and life-size angry birds, Ivy and I loved the charming vintage shop we wandered into to stay warm (she left with a new pair of clip on earrings so her night was perfect.) We enjoyed the festival until we lost all feeling in our feet, then had a wonderful dinner at the local hookah bar.  Its our tradition-- and a fine one at that.

Day of playdates:  we spent Sunday watching our littles play with their friends, hosting Lillian and Naomi for a few hours then having a lovely dinner with friends Eric and Sarah.  We are so spoiled in the riches of friends we have.

It has been a good month so far.  A cold month, and a snowy month, and a busy month, and I am very tired.  But snuggled in with my dog and some Olympic bobsledding on the television, yet another coating of snow falling on the world outside, warm and cozy at the tail end of a three day weekend-- I am also very content.

A snow day tomorrow wouldn't hurt, though.

Valentine

 Many apologies for the lack of posts, dear ones.

You see, February has whooshed in, all snowy and full of houseguests and soup suppers and lots and lots of this:

and this:

And this too:

 And its been about all we can manage to keep up with the dishes among all the extra glitter...

There is much to love even in the heart of this long, long winter.  February has brought more snow to be sure, and more bitter cold mornings-- but also more sunshine, and a little more of it every day.

Much to celebrate indeed.

Recap of The Month So Far to follow shortly, sponsored by the three day weekend.  Do check back soon.