Be Mine

There are two bright spots in the otherwise asshole of a month that is February - Henry's birthday and Valentine's Day. We're coming down off the high of Christmas and birthdays, and settling in for the long stretch of blah before spring breaks through and makes us all feel human again.

Cold weather people we are not.

So, even though Valentine's Day is a ridiculously manufactured holiday aimed at lining the pockets of chocolatiers and teddy bear stuffers, we indulge. The first sign that Valentine's is drawing near is the arrival of a package from Mama Erin and Papa John.

Katie says those are Elmo gloves. It's almost impossible to get her to be normal for a picture, and Julia's gotten into the habit of doing this head tilt thing, like she has a horrible crick in her neck, or a goiter she's trying to hide.

The little monkey got a little monkey, holding a little monkey.

And speaking of little monkeys - this was in the paper this past weekend. It is one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen.

The girls worked on their class valentines.

While Henry fed the dog.

For his help, Henry was put in the stocks for the remainder of craft time. He wasn't happy about it.