My Sweet Valentines

As I detailed in an earlier post, Valentine's Day is a special anniversary for me and Paul. We normally like to spend the evening together with some sort of special date - and we've done everything from a fancy dinner out, takeout and a romantic comedy, to cooking a fun meal together after the kids have been put to bed. Whatever our plans may be - we always enjoy one another's company reminiscing and laughing. Except for perhaps that Valentine's Day two years ago where everyone had the stomach flu. That was gross.

While we reserve the evenings for romance, the morning and day are spent with our other two Valentines - the kids!  The night before, Paul and I decorate the table to make it look all pink and obnoxious in honor of "love day" (as Matthew calls it). We then set out valentines at each place setting - the little Ninja Turtle valentines that Matthew made, a couple small gifts for the kids, a love note from me to Paul, and a love note from Paul to me. Then, I love to cook a special breakfast for the family as soon as we get up. I am crazy and like to personalize the dishes to suit the taste preferences of each member of the family: Cinnamon French Toast for Matthew, Fruit and Yogurt Smoothies for Emma, and Eggs Benedict for Paul. Everyone tries a little of everything and it's a pretty darn delicious meal!

After breakfast, the kids opened their valentine's gifts. Emma received a Winnie-the-Pooh wooden puzzle. She's been starting to get into puzzles because she watches Matthew put them together all the time. She loved it. Pardon the shirtless child in the pictures. She was all sticky and gross after breakfast so we just let her run around half naked.

Matthew received (and I warn you that this sounds very lame) a Ninja Turtle Pez dispenser. Matthew has been eyeing the Pez dispensers at our grocery store for over two months, especially the Michelangelo version. Since he has never had Pez and does not yet realize that Pez is the worst tasting candy on the face of the earth, I figured he would love to receive the desired Michelangelo dispenser and plenty of refills for Valentine's Day. He loved it. We are limiting him to three packs of Pez per day (which is excessive in and of itself) and even after gobbling the candy down, we've found him playing with his dispenser as if it were actually a super-cool, fun, innovative toy. So, I think he's happy!

Other than that, we did some exercise as a family, gave the kids a bath, built a couple puzzles, and watched the blizzard that has been dumping snow on us since the wee hours of this morning. It's really nice to just enjoy spending time together doing nothing really too spectacular except enjoying one another. This holiday is a great reminder to us that we should be showing those close to us how much we care for them on a daily basis and not just one day out of the year.

Paul and I are looking forward to going on a special date tonight and the kids are really, really looking forward to spending time with the babysitter!!

How did you spend YOUR Valentine's Day?