A Valentine Experience

We enjoyed the lovely 70-degree weather on Valentine's Day. I took the children out on a wagon ride (good exercise for mommy, too). I thought my parents might enjoy some photos of the children, so I grabbed my camera. Here's what I had to go through to get a good shot:

Gary shows he is not in the mood for picture-taking. Kari wants to know when he will stop crying.


Gary drinks his milk eagerly and looks as if he's saying, "Don't rush me." Kari looks to say, "Mommy, how long do I have to pose in this wagon?"


Finally! Here is a great Valentine picture of the children which I used to make a homemade Valentine card for Larry. I just got a glimpse of how a professional children's photographer feels. My hat's off to you!

The children enjoyed their wagon ride. We stopped by their Uncle Lee's place and walked by their pond. It was breezy, but very sunny; a wonderful day to be alive. Through proflowers.com, I sent Larry a bouquet of flowers to his workplace yesterday. He received them and said they brightened up his area.

I made a nice Valentine's Dinner: stir-fry garlic shrimp, garlic bread, orange-glazed pork loin chops and chocolate chip ice cream pie with a chocolate rice-krispie crust. I was trying a new recipe with the pork chops. Larry said that they were tender and juicy. He ate every last bite. Then he lovingly told me not to use that recipe again on him. I guess he doesn't care for the citrus flavor on his meat. I'm glad he tells me things like that because if he hadn't, I probably would've made it again and again. He enjoyed everything else on the menu. His favorite, of course, was the ice cream pie.

Side note: I was a bit peeved with UPS; although I paid for 2-day shipping and Larry's Valentine present was supposed to arrive on Wednesday, Feb. 13th, it didn't arrive until Friday, Feb. 15th. I already wrote UPS an intense letter of my disappointment in their service. Instead of delivering the package to my address, they delivered it to a business establishment. I am mystified by this.

After dinner, we presented our Valentine cards to each other. The children enjoyed ripping up their envelopes. They are also fascinated by the heart-shaped mylar balloons around the table. Then Larry presented me with a beautiful diamond heart necklace! The man is spoiling me!

It's not just the jewelry; it's the thought behind giving me the jewelry. He works hard to provide for our family, loves our children to death and is sensitive to our needs. He's building a house for us and he does that after he's finished working for his company for the day. He's not perfect, but he shows our love to us in so many ways and I feel very blessed by that. This paragraph sounds like something I should write for Father's Day, but like so many other days, moments of appreciation shouldn't be devoted to just one day out of the year.

It has been a good week altogether. I don't celebrate my birthDAY. I celebrate my birthMONTH. Looking forward to more celebrating!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This past Tuesday, I celebrated my birthday. We need not go into how OLD I am, OK? I married late, had children late, and I just feel ancient sometimes. I think children have a way of zapping the energy out of you, which causes you to feel old. Does that ever happen to you?

OK, where was I? Oh yes, birthday. Everyone was at work, so I didn't have any babysitters and Larry was coming home that night after work. It was raining buckets that morning and early afternoon. I decided I still wanted to go out and celebrate by myself, so I got the children and myself ready and we headed off to the larger town of Nacogdoches, about a 45-minute drive from my house.

As we approached the town, the sun started shining through the gray clouds. There was a new shopping center I wanted to check out there, but first, I had to satisfy a growling stomach. We went to this Szechuan restaurant. Since Larry's not a big fan of Chinese food, I thought this was the right time for me to go. It was nearly 3 p.m., it wasn't crowded, and the lunch meals are usually cheaper than the dinner meals. Perfect.

There were a few people in the bar section watching a soap opera, but there was no one in the dining area. Kari and Gary had ample room to walk around and stretch their legs. Kari liked the fried wontons and the coconut drink. Gary enjoyed the wonton soup and fried rice. Their General Tso's Chicken was very good. It was worth coming here again and checking out the other entrees.

I enjoyed celebrating my birthday with my children. I only wished Larry was here, although I don't know what he would order in this Chinese restaurant. He is such a finicky eater.

Thought you might want to know what my fortune cookie message said.


Hmmm...ever had a fortune cookie message that really did come true or was it it so generic that it SEEMED like it came true? Just food for thought. No pun intended...hahahaha.

After checking out a few shops, I wanted to beat the afternoon traffic and make it in time for Larry's arrival. Since Larry didn't have time to cook, he brought home a delicious pizza from a local pizzeria. Lately, we've been checking out pizzerias and rating them. So far we like the one in Longview called Pietro's. Yummy!

Larry presented me with a beautiful amethyst necklace. I was so touched by his thoughtfulness. Amethyst is my birthstone. Last year, Larry didn't have a job, and he felt bad that he couldn't give me anything. Money is still tight with our house-building and switching from a two-income family to one-income, but the Lord has been good to us. So have our families.

Perhaps I've reached an age where I don't really want much...just good health, being surrounded by family and friends and building a better relationship with God (praying more, reading more, exercising the spiritual self) so I can be a good example to those around me, especially to my children.

Larry's mother plans to throw a small luncheon party for me this Sunday after church. It'll be family only, a small intimate affair. Knowing what a great cook she is, I look forward to sampling what's on the menu.

I'll continue this later and let you know how my Valentine's Day went. I need sleep!