Love Day

I've always wanted to be one of those mom's that makes every holiday insanely special for her children.  You know...decorating like crazy, crafting the whole month long, baking all sorts of sweets and just making every little holiday over-the-top wonderful.  The real me is a chronically exhausted procrastinator so, up until this year, I have just made do with a holiday door hanging and a store bought candy or two.  This time around, I really wanted to try harder.  I wanted to start making traditions for my kids that they could look back on twenty years from now and say, "remember how fun Valentine's Day was when we were little".  I didn't go as crazy as I would have liked but, I had fun making this day special for the kiddos.  And, for the first time ever, someone else made it very special for me, too.

When 'The Littles' came down stairs, they headed right for the kitchen table which was covered in goodies.  And a toothbrush for those who have teeth and cavity prevention to worry about.

'Munchkin's' Love Monkey.  And boy does she love that monkey.

For 'The Boy'. 

The mailbox was a craft for us to do that morning.  And, of course, every single one of those candy hearts was gone by the time breakfast hit the table.

I woke up to a surprise, too!  The Hub's and I have never- in eight years- exchanged more than a card for Valentine's Day.  He had already left for work super early but left behind the sweetest gift ever.

A Spa Day for ME!!!!  Thank you, baby!

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast.

And had a fun craft time.

'Munchkin' napped while 'The Boy' and I made cookies for Gigi.  The three of us hand delivered them on our way to a Valentine's Day play date party.  It was such a beautiful day and the kids had fun running around, soaking up the sunshine.  They also loved all of the treats, of course. 

'Munchkin' and her Valentine, Owen.  They played so nicely together.

For a moment.  True love has it's ups and downs, darling. 

The kids all picnicked on the lawn.

We celebrated Natalie and Cade's birthday.   My sweet nephew and niece were only born two days apart.

After the kids had enough sugar fun, we headed home to make 'The Hubs' a special dinner.  We rarely eat red meat at home so filet mignon was a special treat.  He eats it so much when we are out that we had to cut back at home so he wouldn't get premature heart disease.

Oh, baby!  Brown butter?  Yes, please!

Our dinner.  Note the little hand in the upper corner.  It was delicious and full of children laughing, whining, and eventually, sitting with us for cookies.  We wouldn't have it any other way.

The next day, 'The Boy' had his Valentine's party at school.  He came home with a special hat and a bag full of treats.  I remember when I was filling out that endless stack of papers almost a month ago and reading that the school preferred that mom's didn't bring in sweets and candy for the kids.  Apparently, I was the one who took the information to heart and I sent 'The Boy' with good old fashioned paper punched out valentines while he came home with a sack full of candy.  Don't believe everything you read.  Lesson learned.

He put his valentine's in and out of his mailbox for a week and then woke up one morning and said, "Mommy, this is trash".  And into the can it went.  Of course, I pulled it out of the trash can while he was napping later on and stuffed it into the big box of kiddo crap that 'The Hubs' would throw away if he only knew where to find it.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope yours was lovely!