February Welcome.

Pure sweetness. Browsing through some old photo files from previous Februarys, I ran across these shots of my kids doing some of our typical February activities. For us, February is all about hearts and flowers and red and pink and chocolate and handmade cards and conversation hearts and stuffed animals and L-O-V-E and hugs and snuggles. I know, it sounds kind of sappy. Like we could single-handedly support the gift industry this month. But I love the idea of taking time to celebrate love and relationship and warm-fuzzies. Yes, of course, we should celebrate love everyday. But, let's face it, in the world in which we live, that rarely happens. We're too busy speeding along to stop and just be with the ones we love. To savor our relationships. To know--really KNOW--those around us. Sometimes we just need a reminder to celebrate the simple joys that come along with loving and being loved. Like construction paper hearts. Later in the month, I'll share our annual tradition that I have come to cherish nearly more than any of the many holiday traditions that we have in our family.....the making of homemade valentine's. No six dollar cards for us. We prefer the construction paper, hand-stamped, glue-smeared, made-with-love variety. And yes, while my husband may appear to be a big- manly, football-coach who is all business, he does have a very sensitive and creative side and--GULP--has been known to pull out my stamps and scrap supplies for this occasion. I have the photos to prove it!

And, of course, Valentine's Day and love are all about RED. So, this month on this blog, I am going to highlight things in my home and scrap room and life that are red in color. I thought this might be a neat way to give you some additional insight into what makes me tick, how I like to embellish our home, and how I've splashed red in every room in our house. But for tonight, I have cupcakes baking and a son wanting another rendition of "The Napping House", so that's all for now. It's OK to let the love bugs bite this month, but don't let the bed bugs bite.