Love Day 2011

Valentine's Day was great this year, full of our favorite traditions.

My hutch was my favorite ever this month.  I love the pink in there.

The kids valentines.
We ordered 50 ( just enough for both classes) Valentine silly bandz from Oriental Trading Co. for $4.99.
Each pouch had a Silly band, Mini Chocolate Bar and a sticker.  

That evening we had a yummy family dinner, read our love notes, and revealed our secret pals to each other.  Do you want to know what I love about Secret pals?  It gets my 5 & 7 year old to think of someone else other than themselves.  The whispering, the planning and the anticipation of waiting for your pal to discover what you left them.

During the week, Cole had an incident with a ball and my glass lamp.  Shattered all over the floor.  I tried my best to keep my cool and remind myself that yes, it's just a lamp but I must have let my disappointment show too much.  While I was out that evening,  I came home to a replacement lamp (from the garage) in place of the broken one with a cute note from my secret pal (Sadie).  She thought of it on her own to do that for me.  My heart was so warmed by her thoughtfulness and I was beaming with pride for what this secret pal tradition has created.

Following dinner, we had yummy

"Fundue!"

(as the kids like to call it)

We look forward to this evening all year.  We need to do it more often!

We always spend Valentine's Day together as a family.  I can't think of a more perfect way to spend the day with the ones you love.  

I also love the fact that we avoid all crowded restaurant craziness.  

Our Anniversary is in March, we celebrate alone then.

I asked Cole what he was doing when I found him like this and his reply was,
 "I'm trying to close my eyes so I can really taste it."

Great suggestion Cole!  We all gave it a try and you're right.  It tasted much better!

.

Not bad for being taken by a 5 year old.  

I have to laugh because I look so tired here.  The truth is, I was really tired here.  

It was a great 14 days of celebrating Love.

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