Valentine's Day

I have grown to love our family Valentine's Day tradition.  This is our third year celebrating the day as a family holiday, and I have never been more grateful for that tradition than this year.  We were fortunate to have Luke home with us, and we were all that more excited to celebrate the day together.  However, Luke had a clinic appointment and a lumbar puncture on the 14th, and we never know how long we'll be there.  So we played it on the safe side and celebrated Valentine's Day on Wednesday, February 13th.

We started our Valentine's Day while Daddy was at work.  We have predetermined gift-giving guidelines for Valentine's Day.  The kids get chocolates and candy for Daddy, and Daddy gets flowers for me and the girls, and Valentine's treats for the kids.  So, while Daddy was at work the kids and I worked on his treats.  This year, each of the four kids picked a giant candy bar for Daddy.  Then we went home and they designed and decorated their own labels for their candy bar.  They turned out so cute!  Luke even let me trace his hands on his label. :)  The girls also helped me cut out and decorate a bunch of hearts that we could decorate the house with.  And after the house was decorated, the kids each had Valentine's that they needed to get signed and ready for school the next day.  

When Daddy came home, he came bearing gifts!  He brought beautiful orange and yellow roses for Claire and Sophie, a Spiderman Valentine for John, and a set of teething keys for Luke.  And Claire, Sophie, and Johnny also got chocolates.  I noticed there was a definite lack of flowers for Mommy in Daddy's arms when he came home.  Danny was quick to tell me that he actually had ordered my flowers a couple of weeks before, and had them set to be delivered that afternoon.  But they hadn't come yet. :(  He was more annoyed than I was.

Once we had exchanged gifts, it was time to get ready for the next part of our Valentine's tradition.  Dinner!  We like to plan a fun pink and red dinner, and usually Danny and I take it as an opportunity to try something really fun.  This year, we were smart enough to recognize that we didn't have an ounce of spare energy for cooking.  So, thanks to Papa Murphy's heart-shaped pizzas, we still managed a fun Valentine's dinner!  The girls had helped me during the day to set the mood for dinner, and I think they did a pretty good job.  On the menu besides the pizza was a nice green salad and purple jello hearts.  To drink, I bought fruit punch Squeeze-Its.  It had a real retro feel. :)

The kids loved it!  Sophie was completely enamored with the heart-shaped pizza.  Her favorite food AND her favorite shape?  It was simply magical. :)

But what was more magical for me than heart-shaped pizza was this little boy's smile.  It was so wonderful to not only celebrate a family holiday with Luke home with us, but it was amazing to have him feeling good!  

Once we had concluded our Valentine's dinner, it was time for homework and bedtime.  My flowers from Danny did end up arriving in the early evening, and they were beautiful!  I forgot to take a picture, though. :(  It was a spring mix, with tulips and mums.  They literally lasted for weeks!  Danny has a fantastic habit of not buying roses for Valentine's Day.  It leaves me a certain amount of anticipation. :)

But tulips and mums had a hard time competing with my impromptu gift for Danny.  We found out at the last minute that "Top Gun" was playing at the IMAX theater...in 3-D!  But only for one more night.  So I managed to convince Danny to go see a late movie with his Dad and brother, David.  I stayed home with the kids, did bedtime by myself, got Luke all his meds and feeds, AND did some serious baking for the Valentine's treats I had planned for the kids teachers.  Yup...Best. Wife. Ever. :)  Danny had a wonderful well-deserved time.  I wish I could do stuff like that for him all the time.  He really does deserve more.

The next morning, Valentine's Day, was hectic.  I don't know why I do this to myself, but I had been planning the teacher gifts for Valentine's Day for months!  I had the beautiful vision of presenting perfectly decadent Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes in an adorable Valentine's-esque presentation to the kids teachers. Even with Luke being home and all the care he required, it wasn't de-railing the teacher-treat train.  So after baking all these cakes the night before, I had to hurriedly pack them up in the morning before the kids left for school.  Somehow we managed, and I think it was a success!

As mentioned, Luke had a lumbar puncture and clinic visit scheduled for that morning, so the rest of our Valentine's Day was spent at the hospital with Luke.  The older three kids spent their day with Grandma Call.  We were glad we celebrated the night before!  But Danny and I had saved one last treat to celebrate the day.  Our very own Molten Lava Cake!  With a little Haagen-Dazs on the side, of course. :)

It was definitely a different Valentine's Day than we've had in the past, but it was still wonderful.  We were together as a family.  And anymore, that's all Danny and I want!  I am so blessed to have so much love in my life.  I have the most incredible husband, who is the world's best Dad to my four beautiful children.  I am able to love each of them, but best of all, I receive their love in return.  

Happy Valentine's Day!