My new (used) car!

Ever since Dave and I sold his Subaru WRX wagon when we moved to Philadelphia, we have been living off of only one car.  Sometimes this was easier (in Philly where we biked a lot) and sometimes it was harder (in NJ where they look at you like you have 2 heads for walking vs driving across the street for a meeting).  Our move to Massachusetts, however, demanded we get that 2nd car given my commute is 25 mins.  With our rent significantly lower, we were able to do this financially and with the help of Mary watching the kids from morning to night on several days we were able to do this in a more practical sense.  This was the first car I was ever involved in the showroom, salesperson hullabaloo and I am not looking forward to doing this ever again.  So without further ado, here is my new car:

It is a 2013 Hyundai Sonata with about 10K miles.  It is Dark Grey and my favorite feature (it is the GLS so it doesn't have many) is the bluetooth phone capabilities.  We were able to snag a bumper to bumper 10 yr warranty for not too much extra, which will come in handy I'm sure.  I was waiting awhile to post this, so I can include a picture of me with my car, however given the extra snowy winter this is the best we're going to do unless I waited for Spring:

Dave likes to call it Gracie but I am slow to name my cars.  The name must reveal itself to me like The Crystal Ship, which was named due to a gas fill up while The Doors sang "the Crystal Ship is being filled" from within.  How is she doing Maria?  Oh and Bridget, never fear the Holy Ghost is still doing well (she just got her windshield fixed the other day) and that is now Dave's car with the 2 car seats.  

Tell me in the comment section what was the first car you had/bought? How did it feel to have your very own car?  Given Dave's love of driving and the fact that we only had 1 car for so long, I didn't do a lot of driving and had trouble sneaking to shop for presents.  Mia even said, "girls can drive?!" once when I drove her somewhere without Dave.  This, of course, broke my feminist heart.  But now, with my own car, I feel free as a bird (after I spend an hour shoveling her out of the driveway- ugh!).

Valentines Day

If you wanted to know what the essence of who Mia is, read on.  I think this blog post captures Mia quite nicely.

This is what our Valentine's Day morning looked like.

Ever since the day after last Valentine's day, Mia has been making Valentine's day cards for us (Gavin, Daddy and Mommy).  I have dutifully tucked them away with notes reminding me of who she said they were for and what holiday they were for (she would also make Christmas cards).  

Weeks before this Valentine's day we went to the library and Mia got this book out, which depicts a bunch of animals decorating a Charlie Brown-like Valentine's day tree.

During the weeks leading up to Valentine's day, Mia worked feverishly making still more cards and wrapping presents up (her wrapping paper is some tissue paper her grandmother brought her and her presents are a mix of "treasures" she has found on the ground, as well as toys/books from around her room).  

Here is the tree (with her presents underneath). 

"I love mommy because she is my best friend" ~Gavin

"I love mommy because she does lots of nice things for me and she takes good care of me" ~Mia

Dave's cards and conversation Jelly Belly's

Mia giving presents to Gavin.

Mia's card and chocolate (Gavin got the same)

I skipped my morning swim at the YMCA and we all had a relaxing, heart-waffle breakfast.

I love how ambitious, creative, thoughtful and hard-working Mia is.  I love how supportive Dave is for taking her to cut down a branch and help her make her vision come true and I love watching Gavin eat chocolate at 6:30am!  And to all of you blog-readers out there, I love you too!  Happy Valentine's day.