Our Valentine’s Day

 

Yesterday was a busy day that ended in a wonderful evening.  The kids and I got groceries and worked on a special surprise for Daddy all day.  He was very surprised and was teary-eyed when he thanked us and told us how blessed he was to have a family like us.  It was very sweet.  His reaction made all the stress of the day seem tiny.

I made spaghetti with Italian sausage, Caesar salad, warm french bread and 7-Up with cherry juice and cherries in it.  We drank from glass glasses and ate with red plates that normally only the adults use.  We had napkins with pink and red hearts on them folded nicely with matching (!) silverware placed nicely on them.  We sprinkled “I Love You” confetti and hearts with Hersheys kisses all over the table too.  we placed a red candle from my room in the center and it was beautiful.

During the week I had asked each child to tell me why they loved each person in the family and I wrote it on a colored index card.  Yesterday we filled about 30 pink, red, and white balloons with helium (a science lesson!) and tied the love notes to the ribbons.  Once we were all settled in eating, we read each love note.  I had written about 15 for my hunny, so I read those out too.

For dessert I had made each person their own little chocolate heart-shaped cake with pink icing around the edge and heart sprinkles in the middle (in the shape of a heart, of course).  We also dipped strawberries in milk chocolate and placed one on each dessert plate.  We made a big plate of the remaining strawberries to share.

After our meal, we made a fire and watched Charlie Brown’s Valentine Movie.  We also got each of the kids a gift.  B got a little address PDA from Justice for Girls, C got a spin art kit, and A got a Grave Digger Monster truck (like the one he saw at Monster trucks with Daddy last month).  I gave my hubby a set of pillow cases (clue #1) to tell him that the kids are sleeping at Grandma’s tomorrow night, a card with the words scrambled to let him know where our reservation is for dinner Friday, and a gift card for a movie after dinner.   I arranged to pick up the kids the next morning at Grandma’s restaurant and have brunch with the in-laws.  The kids gave me a beuatiful Wilow Tree teacher angel.  It was so thoughful.  I’m glad they enjoy homeschooling so much.

This is the first year I really went all out like this.  I think everyone really enjoyed preparing for the evening and I know Daddy was very proud.   I think it was most special because of the love notes and it was especially good for the kids to see that after 11 years of marriage their daddy is still so important to me that I would happily spend the day doing this for him. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!