From Our Hearts...

When it came time to take down all of the Christmas decorations, everyone in the family was a little sad- we love the way the house looks at Christmas- warm, home-y, festive. We have 2 trees- the big live tree in the family room, and a small artificial tree. The big tree gets all of the traditional Christmas ornaments and stuff we have been collecting over the years- like the macaroni and bread dough ornaments that the kids made in the second grade. The small tree, however, gets dressed in silver and white- my Martha Stewart, House Beautiful, HGTV kind of tree. Since it was dressed in wintery colors, I wondered if maybe we should leave it up for a while longer. Then, the kids did something wonderful....

They decided to decorate the little tree for Valentine's Day. Oldest daughter made quilted hearts and decorated them with buttons, and youngest daughter cut out about 100 little paper hearts from scrapbook paper and strung them on embroidery floss. And the little tree was dressed for Valentine's Day. We get to leave it up for another 4 or 5 weeks.

My own heart was full- I can't explain why. But the fact that my girls did this together, and so beautifully, just makes me feel warm inside.

So, from our hearts to yours... have a Happy Monday.