V-Day 2015

I like feeling loved as much as the next girl, but I'm not super hung up on Valentine's Day.  I don't need expensive presents or fancy acts of love on that day.  I like feeling loved ALL the time.  And I don't like being pressured into spending a ton of money on something nobody needs,  So V-Day isn't usually a very big deal around here.

Don't get me wrong - we still celebrate!  We just don't go too overboard.  This year was a perfect blend of special and normal if you ask me.  Of course, since the holiday fell on a Saturday this year, all the school parties were on Friday.  Hooray for two day celebrations!  Grandma and Grandpa Gee sent us a family valentine with some money for a treat, so we went to Menchie's Frozen Yogurt that night.  Yum!

On Saturday morning, we gave each of the kids a small gift (mostly treats, and a toy or a cute pair of socks) and a balloon.  It's fun to watch how something so small and simple can bring so much joy to our kids.  Cute Nicki had earned a few dollars babysitting her brothers earlier in the week.  She used all her hard earned (and pretty rare) money buying little valentine gifts for each of her siblings - which they all loved.  What a sweet girl!

The rest of the day was spent doing normal Saturday things.  David took the Christmas lights down.  I worked in the yard - since Spring had already sprung around here.  The kids played and cleaned their rooms, etc.  Nicole helped me hand-dip some strawberries in fancy chocolate tuxedos.  They were so much cuter in my mind than they turned out, but they tasted great.  We gave a plate to Grandma and Grandpa Smith, along with funny sucker valentines that said, ""Read my Lips - be my Valentine" and "I mustache you to be my Valentine."  We made them try them on while we were present so that we could take a picture.

When Quinton went down for his afternoon nap, I made the girls watch "An Affair To Remember" with me.  I think everyone needs to see a classic love story like that, and Valentine's Day is the perfect time to do it.  They didn't LOVE it like I'd hoped, but they endured it well.

That evening, the kids had a heart-shaped pizza from Pappa Murphy's. They were happy.  Then, around bed time for the boys, we left the girls babysitting and went out for our Valentine's date.  We had a romantic dinner at...Chick-Fil-A.  That's right - nothing says 'Love" to me like Chick-Fil-A!  Ha Ha!  Earlier in the month, I saw that they were having a special Valentine's dinner for two, which included meals, a large shake to share, a rose, Mrs. Cavenaugh's chocolates, and two movie tickets.  It was a really great deal, so we signed up! I loved it!  David got a lot of mileage out of it.  Every time a patient asked him if he had any special Valentine's plans, he'd say, "Yeah!  I'm taking my wife to Chick-Fil-A!" and laugh as they grimaced.

My Valentine.

 After dinner, we could have used our movie tickets, but nothing we wanted to see was playing, so we decided to save them.  Instead, we went strolling down the aisles of Lowes together.  Romantic, huh?  Seriously, it was!  No kids to chase around or entertain - all the time in the world to browse and plan and imagine.  I tell you, it was dreamy!!!