All things Gale: Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Leo is Elena's Valentine. They seriously love each other.

Jason and I spent our first Valentine's Day together at the "hostel" Chalet Martin in Gryon, Switzerland. It was one of the seven hidden wonders of the hostel world.

This was the "hostel" - I call it a 5 star hotel.

The view from the rooms.

Things have changed a bit since then so I have to improvise to make it a little special for Jason. We don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day, but once in a while we'll throw the other a card or grab a nice dinner.

Jason's gift to me this year was a morning sans babies. So I spent it in prayer at the abortion clinic where Carhart is offering late-term abortions. I am a Feminist for Life and hate that this loser is local. If you are local and feel so inclined, meet us up there Monday through Wednesday from 8-10. The outpouring of support from passers-by was pretty awesome. For every 10 cars, one beeped and gave us a thumbs up! There were about 80 of us today. I'll be there next Monday morning with Jason and the kids. The pressure on the clinic may eventually force Carhart out of there, we hope. Just last week, a girl asked the group for information regarding her other options and chose to skip the abortion!

Anyway, before I ran out for my morning of freedom, I prepared these Yeasted Waffles from Annie's Eats. They were...interesting. Jury's still out on this recipe. Jason loved them and the kids liked them. I wasn't a fan. The yeast flavor was overwhelming. BUT - I gave them another try this evening and microwaved a square to see if I hated them. I must not hate them...I went back and reheated the rest of the waffle!! So, I'm going to try them again before I deliver my verdict.

You prepare the mixture the evening before and let it sit out on the counter. When you wake up, it will look like this! I was a little nervous we would get sick but the yeast/warm milk combo must have worked some magic.

Now lunch - that's a whole different story. The man slaved for 2 days straight to put in my amazing new floor. He deserved a feast! And a feast he GOT! Jason had to leave for work at 1 pm so I put in an order for the Famous Dave's Feast for Two for lunch.

Famous Dave's is kinda special for us. They catered our wedding :) BBQ and cowboy boot mugs. Does it get better than that?? Yes it does: 3 kegs of homebrewed beer from our local brewery. Our wedding was awesome!

All of that delicious food was just a smoke and mirrors act to distract Jason from the fact that I haven't put the laundry away in 2 weeks...I think it worked. He was too full and contented to notice he was digging for socks through 3 baskets of overflowing laundry.

St. Valentine gave the greater Washington DC area a gift: The most beautiful weather we have seen in many months. 55 and sunny! We took full advantage.

Interested in getting your "hams" on a little hat like Elena's?? Check out the The Lovely Crow Etsy shop!!!

Elena recently learned how to scale large mountains

and how to get back down again!!

But this is the best part. Elena realized that she wanted to be on the sidewalk. But it was down a very large "hill"...er..."bump"...well...a slightly angled grassy patch.