It Was a Merry Valentine's

Dear Friends,

Thank you for coming by on yet another snowy day, and for all of your dear comments that truly lift our spirits and put a smile on our faces. How nice to know that we are loved :) .

Our Valentine's celebration, which was Saturday, consisted of making and sending LOTS of doll valentines, as well as the girls' annual in-house restaurant dinner for Mr. Graham and me. This year is was Chinese stir-fry, complete with chopsticks! We must say that we enjoy eating foods that have had love cooked into them, as opposed to being prepared by someone who just sees it as a job :) .

The table was beautifully decorated by AnnaMarie and Audrey~
with place cards and menus for all.

Evangeline did her own decorating with the left-over Baby's Breath~

After dinner was a little dancing time~

With a twirl for every girl (Unfortunately, it was nap time for Master Franklin)!

Mr. Graham kindly ordered these for me, after just a few hints :) ~

And we found a Mother's Magazine for only $5 on eBay, too! So much better than the $20 most folks want for them~

Today has been a "How do we go back to normal after having so much fun?" day, with lots and laundry and dishes, ad infinitum, but after re-grouping and getting some fresh air, we feel ready to "Do our best and leave God the rest". And having it sunny for just a few hours DID help, too!

We'd like to leave with you a gem found in our "new" Mother's Magazine (This month's theme seems to be laughter), which we REALLY needed to read today~

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The mother who laughs and teaches her children to laugh bars the door against a host of unwelcome intruders. If you want to see what gloom does, go down into some cellar and watch the pale sprouts of things reaching pitifully towards the light--spindling, unnourished, unwholesome. Note the dead-looking stalks and bulbs lifted from the garden in the fall and laid there to keep from growing. Then come up to the radiant sunshine-flooded bay-window in the sitting-room or library and see what light and cheer are good for. Don't make your family live-metaphorically-in the cellar.

The mother who laughs makes an atmosphere of courage for everybody to live in. The great thing that everybody is wanting, anyway, is courage. The father wants it, for out in the world where he lives mostly, discouragements fly thick as midges in August. The big boys and girls want it, for the lightest-hearted and most buoyant among them have their heavy moments when dark thoughts of the universe seem the only possible ones to entertain, till the drear mood passes. The very servants and house-helpers need it, for the clouds of household emergencies are big with trouble, till somebody laughs and scatters them. And oh, the little ones, they live on joy and laughter. 'Laugh, and say, "No matter!"' begged a little fellow who had broken something; and the sensible mother did laugh for love and pity.

~Mrs. A. B. Bryant


Love,

Marqueta