Happy Valentine's Day

In the Kennedy house, Valentine's Day extends way past the 14th. It seems that we've been celebrating the holiday all month long. Last Saturday, the 7th was the Kernersville Daddy Daughter Dance. Before the dance, Emmy posed for our annual Valentines photos. She loves her Daddy so much!

Similar to last year, the Daddy Daughter Dance was just a few hours after one of Emmy's basketball games, so we hustled home for Emmy to shower and transform into a pretty princess. This year's dance was a masquerade with the theme "Behind the Mask." After chatting with a few other moms, I realized a mask would be essential, so I scrambled to borrow one from my coworker Jennifer. She had the perfect mask to match Emmy's pale pink dress. We took a few photos before they left, and then Boomer did a great job capturing more memories while they were there at the dance. Emmy saw several of her classmates and teammates. I especially loved the side-by-side comparison of Emmy and Darby, who posed for a photo after their basketball game and then again just three hours later in their beautiful dresses. While Boomer and Emmy were at the dance, Eli and I were invited over to the LeBaron's house to watch the Duke vs. UNC Chapel Hill game. Eli fit right in with Emily's boys, Sawyer and Silas. It was a fun night for all of the Kennedys.  

The Valentine's fun continued on Friday, the 13th with parties in both of the kids' classes at school. They came home loaded down with a haul of candy, trinkets, and other goodies. They took their time inspecting their inventory...and consuming some of it too!

As for today, the actual day of Valentine's, the kids woke up to their last messages from Grammy on their doors. All four of the grandkids have had special messages for each of the days in February. And on this final day, all four of them were dressed in their uniforms for games. How fitting for the winter sports season that we are in! The rest of the day included a full schedule of basketball for the Kennedys. Eli played at 8:30AM, and then Emmy had two games: 11:40AM and 2PM. Granny and Paw Paw were able to come for Emmy's games, and we enjoyed spending the day together with all the people we love. It was a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Update 2/17/2026: Boomer and I squeezed in a Valentine's date on Sunday the 15th while Emmy and Eli were at Awana. Boomer arranged for my mom to pick up the kids afterwards at church, and he even made a reservation. We ate in downtown Winston at Tuscani, an upscale Italian restaurant in the Bailey Park area. We decided to get the tomahawk special for two, which came with salads and two sides. We chose the fettucine alfredo (I love a restaurant that has pasta as a side dish!) and the truffle mac-n-cheese. It was a delicious meal, and we were still home by a responsible 7:30PM...it was a Sunday night after all. I am so glad that we were able to steal a few moments together during this crazy season of life. 

A Winter Pause

Well as predicted, we got a second round of winter weather, and this time it was a surprising 8" of white, fluffy snow! It was quite different than the ice from last week, and it is the most snow Eli and Emmy have ever seen. The flakes started falling early Saturday morning, and they continued coming down for over 12 hours. It was a beautiful scene to watch from the window, and that is exactly what we did on Saturday. It felt like living inside of a snow globe. On Sunday, when the precipitation stopped, we bundled up to play outside. With temperatures still below freezing, we were sure to have on lots of layers. The kids enjoyed making snow angels, throwing snow balls, and going on a walk to the neighborhood park. Sunday church was of course cancelled and so has school this week. When the kids have not been playing outside, we have continued with our remote learning, played the Wii, and baked up some cozy treats. Emmy has been an eager helper any time I am in the kitchen. We have also used some of the time at home to get a jump start on our valentines. Eli chose a class set of race cars, while Emmy wanted to make her own this year. I'm glad we had the snow days to work on them. These last two weeks have brought a welcome pause from the busyness of life. As we begin to add back school, games, practices, and other evening and weekend events, I know I will look back on these days and cherish them for the slowness and togetherness they brought.