Valentines Day 2011

What a treat we had on Valentines day. We woke up to a bright blue sky, a shinning sun and the temp in the mid 30's. Oh it was glorious!!! Rebecca and I even went on a walk after dropping the kids off at school.
I LOVE valentines day, but this year I was very much in the midst of winter blues and doing anything for it really was such an effort. Luckily for me I must have foreseen that I would not feel like doing anything the week and days before so I planned ahead-WAY ahead. Last February (after valentines day on a super sale) I bought heart plates and bowls and last fall I found some red SF jersey's for the boys and had them waiting for today. A few weeks back I went shopping for valentines to do during our snow days, so we were done with those last week. I did wait too long to do anything cute for the teachers, so they got some homemade snickerdoodles.
Corrine was super excited about valentines Day and she made each of us a special valentine that she put on our chairs the night before. She gave us each 2 pencils that fit our personalities, playdoh, a handwritten valentine and some money from her purse. (This is a big thing because she is saving her money to help buy a bigger house. She is such a thoughtful girl.)
I like to give the kids something on valentines day because I LOVE my kids, I LOVE to shop (and find great deals), I LOVE to give presents and it's fun to say "I love you." The boys got their matching SF jerseys, and a dino dig egg. Corrine got Squikies and food erasers. Rebecca got a Curious George stuffed animal and a Curious George movie with 8 short episodes-perfect for the van!




Last fall I bought a certificate for Blackstone for $20 for $40 worth of food. It expires in a week and we still hadn't used it, so Johann, Rebecca and I went out for a nice lunch today.
The kids came home with their valentines and sat at the table showing off what they got, making some trades, and digging into the sugar. Then Grandma Smith came over with valentines treats for them.


Rebecca loves to take all the stickers off a sheet and put them on herself, then take the massive sticker off her shirt and put it on the hardwood floors. If I notice it before she does it I can redirect the stickers to paper, if not-it makes for a good picking off job for me!
I like to make a nice dinner for valentines day, but since it's during tax season we usually change the date and have it Sunday night when Johann can be home with us. This year for our family dinner we had a roast with veggies, and homemade cheesecake with homemade raspberry sauce. For the kids and I on valentines day we had heart shaped pasta with sauce and salad and store bought (don't gasp too loud!) cinnamon pull apart dessert.


And we finished the night off by playing outside together after dinner at 6pm!!! Yikes that's late for it being light enough and warm enough to play outside in February!!

I'm off this week to go get some valentines cups and placemats to go with our plates and bowls so I can be ready for next year when I know the winter blues will be heavy but I will want to do something fun for Valentines day.