Today was our second snow day in a row here! This came as a major shock to my system as our little private school (The Die Hard Academy) almost NEVER has ONE snow day let alone two in a row. This is one for the history books, because I do not remember it before and doubt it will ever happen again. I already knew with all three kiddos at home I was not going to get any real work done, and I readied myself for some cabin-fever to come.

We had a lazy little Valentine’s day. I made red, heart shape pancakes with strawberry jam in between them. We watched cartoons and later we made heart decorated chocolate brownies for dad, who had to work. My husband came home in the afternoon with a card and a single red rose for me. He also brought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner (ahhh love!). On days like today it makes me glad I can stay at home with my children now. That was not always the case, and I missed so much before.

Knowing the things I missed when my kids were smaller, when I was out working everyday away from them, has made me think about their birthparents. Today I found myself thinking of things they have missed that are just part of everyday life here. They have never made them red heart pancakes or bundled them up and sent them out into the snow. None of them have had a chance to tuck these kids in for a nap, or try to wake them up at the crack of dawn for school. Even pushing them screaming in a cart around the busy Wal-Mart (as I will in the morning) might seem like a treasure of time for their birthparents who miss even the smallest things.

I kind of like days like today when we are forced to slow down to a crawl and really (really) see what is precious in our lives. Sometimes this kind of day has to sneak up and make us take them time, because we don’t do it often enough for ourselves. The true beauty of the snow day for me was not all the fluffy stuff and the break from school, but the time to stop and appreciate my life. And on Valentine’s day no less! A double reason to remember the people who have blessed my life with all this love.