Valentine's Day

We knew that Valentine's Day would be short with RJ working and having FHE. We also knew that it would be another holiday the kids would monopolize. We therefore decided to make it a weekend event. We kicked it off friday with a fancy dinner (inspired by Fancy Nancy). We had lasagna, salad, french bread, sparkling cider (homemade) in wine glasses, and the kids made and decorated a cake with chocolates and candies. We also made a boquet of "flowers" out of paper with pictures of us at the center of the flower. We ate by candlelight and the kids enjoyed making toasts.

On Saturday, I played basketball in the morning. RJ did a session at the temple and volunteered to help clean afterward. RJ bought me a pot of pink flowers with a sparkling heart stuck in the soil. We had chocoalte chip pancakes and bacon for breakfast on Sunday and went to church.

Monday, Hunter ran up to my room and woke me up with an enthusiastic cry, "It's like Christmas!" RJ bought us each a stuffed animal and left us a love note on the table. My love letter was rolled up in a botttle with a red ribbon. At the end, he told me to pick some women to go to Time Out for Women with (in April). I'm so grateful. What a good gift. We picked up Famous Dave's for dinner (since they were having a valentine's special).

A couple weeks previous, we made and decorated boxes that we hung on our doors. We placed valentines in each others' boxes over the weeks and on Monday we sat down to look at our valentines. The kids made us bracelets and colored pictures. I wrote a note for each child, colored them a picture that reminded me of them and gave them some candy. RJ and I also bought each of them a book. Hunter really likes David Shannon and Mo Willems so we gave him a book called David Goes to School (which he can read). McKenna got Fancy Nancy and Reagan got a board book about colors.

I was so excited about RJ's gifts. I made my usual "Remember When" list and we laughed together as RJ read it. I also worked really hard on turning my blog into a book. He sat and read the whole thing that night! It was a really special day.