Happy Valentine's Day to you! <3 XOXO <3
We've been having a fun time getting ready for and celebrating Valentine's Day around here. We made these little cupid's arrows for some neighbors and friends for Valentine's. Thanks to Family Fun magazine for 99.9% of my creativity! Lol! JK, I can be creative, but it's fun to have some quick easy resources so I don't have to use my brain.
We had so much fun sending out Valentine cards to family and friends. Emma was so particular about which kind of Valentines we sent to whom. It was fun watching her address most of them and sign her name on them as well. She was a busy little girl! And, we got some very fun cards and packages in the mail from some family and friends! The kids (and me, too, I can't lie!) were so stoked to get some swag stuff from the grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins, and friends too! Thanks to those of you who sent them, it was awesome!
For breakfast, I made Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. The kids were excited that the milk was pink! It was the cupid's, I'm pretty sure they did it! And, I'm going to share the recipe for the Belgian waffles. They're super easy, but sooo darn good! I'm not sure how good they are for your heart, but they sure taste mmm good!
Belgian Waffles
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 c. heavy cream
4 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp. salt
Beat cake mix, cream, egg yolks, and salt for 2 minutes. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into batter. Bake in waffle iron until golden brown.
Little Lucy loved the waffles. She loves everything, in fact. There haven't been any foods she really hasn't liked.
Lucy is a little sugar fiend. She loves the stuff. I can't blame her! When her sucker was gone, she went around looking for more, and got fiesty when I'd take it away when she'd try to crawl around with a sucker in her mouth.
Cal always makes such funny faces! It looks like he's eating something nasty in this picture, not a sucker!
Emma and Cal had so much fun at their school Valentine parties! Emma loved writing up Valentine's for her class mates and stuffing them with suckers and gum. She gave out Little Miss, Mister Men cards. When she got home, she immediately wanted to check out all of the Valentines and candy she got. Cal had a fun time at his preschool party as well!
We always have a themed family Valentine Party. We just found it was hard to find a babysitter for actual Valentine's Day, so we thought we'd make it a family affair every year, and then Dave and I can go do our own thing another time. Emma wanted to do a heart-themed party this year. So we did! We had Chicken Sausage Creamy Baked Pasta for dinner. I cut the sausage to look like hearts. We had a spinach version for Lucy, Cal and I, and a non-green version for Dave and Em.
We also had a Italian bread loaf ring in the shape of a heart. Sorry, I'm definately not a culinary photographer, but you get the idea! We also had salad, and "love potion" to drink.
After we had dinner, we made these heart finger puppets out of fun foam, pom poms, googly eyes and markers. The kids did a cute job. Emma wanted to put girl hair on hers. Cal did his smiley face all by his little self. I think he did a pretty good job! It's fun to see those little milestones, he's starting to get better with his motor control. I was excited.
They also made this little sign craft Grandma Di sent them in her package. They knew the perfect place to hang it. Good job, guys.
Dave sent me flowers! What a good husband, he never forgets to do something cute. They were on our doorstep the weekend before Valentine's Day. They came on a good day when I felt terrible from being sick. I love daisies and it had a cute note with it, too. It made me feel happy. Thanks, hon! I love you, too! I gave Dave a personalized calendar I made online with our pictures with a "year full of dates" for Valentines Day. I wrote down a list of date ideas and we're going to go through and write down the days we're going to do our monthly date (it used to be weekly and hopefully will again someday, but for now once a month is what works for us), and our temple trip. Then I'll make the arrangements and hopefully we'll have a great year of dates! We still haven't penciled them in, we need to do that.
We played some games. We played "You Melt My Heart". I made some heart-shaped ice-cubes, and we had a contest to see who could melt the hearts the quickest. Dave won! But we all had fun.
Here's a sweet Valentine Emma made for us! I also found a valentine picture from her in my underwear drawer about a week ago from her. It was so cute!
We played another little game I made up. We got a towel that had hearts on it, it was like "I have a little doggy", where you go around in a circle and touch everyone with the towel. But we said instead, "I have a little heart and it won't beat for you, and it won't beat for you, but it will beat for you!" When that person is tagged, they have to try to chase down the person before they get back into their spot. Lucy kept trying to put the towel on her head and thought it was pretty funny!
Finally, we went on a heart scavengar hunt throughout the house. The first clue was "Go to the place where we usually part, that's where you'll find your first heart." And the clues led us all over from the mailbox to the stove and everywhere in between.
At the end of the scavenger hunt were their prizes. Cal got a WSU hat. He said "YES!" and was so excited! "A Washington State hat," he exclaimed. He loves wearing Daddy's, but it's a bit too big. This one's perfect for him. He wanted to wear it to bed and wears it all of the time.
Emma got a pretty new dress (she needed some new dresses for chuch). She was happy, it is a good "spinning" dress (when she spins, it poofs out). And it perfectly matches the new dress shoes she got for Christmas. Score!
Lucy got a set of headbands and hair things. Can never have enough of those!
I'm so grateful to be blessed by the love of so many! I feel the love of my Savior and Heavenly Father each and every day in so many ways, and I'm so lucky to have their love. It keeps me running when I would otherwise feel empty. I'm grateful for the love of such a good, kind, fun husband. I love him so very much and am so glad he's mine for always! He always loves me for who I am, no matter what. I'm grateful for the way my sweet kids love me. Even when I was sick last weekend, I just couldn't take their whining and the many big messes they made that day, and my not feeling good anymore and I just started crying and went upstairs in my room. They all came up (and Dave, too) and gave me hugs and kisses and told me it would be alright. It made me feel better! I'm grateful for the unconditional love of two great parents. They've always been there for me and I love them so very much! My in-laws are also fantastic and I love them, too! They don't really express their love out loud, and don't do P.D.A.'s (public displays of affection, like hugs and stuff) much, probably because it's a family full of boys, but I know they love me. My mother-in-law Sue has always hugged me and tells us she loves us, which I know has been a stretch for them, but I'm grateful they do love me as one of their own. My siblings? What can I say? Could I have better brothers and sisters? I think not! I'm so happy they love me, especially after all of our adolescent fights over clothes or who was better at something. Also my brother and sister-in-laws, they're the best as well! They have loved me from the beginning, and I love them back. Sweet hugs or nice words from my nieces and nephews, they're so full of love, and I love it! And then, my good friends. I am so blessed to really have the best friends ever! My awesome besties who call me just to check up on us to make sure we're doing okay, who send nice notes in the mail, who do nice things for me just because. So happy to have them, they make me feel loved for sure! Happy Valentine's Day to you! I love you all!
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