Valentine's Day

I really like holidays. Give me a reason to celebrate, I'll take it. We tend to make this a family holiday around here more than anything else. Cuz really, fighting crowds of people just to eat at a restaurant, watch a movie, or do whatever else with my Valentine does not make for a happy holiday Natalie. After something like that I am definetly not feeling the love, if you know what I mean.

Because we (meaning me) like food around here, our festivities are centered around eating. Every year I have the kids help me make chocolate dipped strawberries. Last year they were covered in chocolate from head to toe and loving every minute of it. This year Taylor attempted to dip one strawberry, announced it was too hard, and took off. Sara hung around watching me so she gets all the credit this year. They didn't turn out exactly beautiful but they tasted great!


We have a Valentine Dinner every year. I decorate the table, we open presents, eat dinner, and have ourselves a fabulous time. Dave pulled out the tripod to get a picture of us all together. I don't know why I bought a white tablecloth. I sat down, looked at it, and wondered why I didn't buy a pink one. Oh well, there's always next year.

Livvy isn't exactly patient in the food dept. She can't stand to see something on her tray and not have it in her mouth. This baby has an eagle eye and spotted her chocolate covered strawberry and heart cupcake on her tray. She was trying her darndest to get them off her tray and into her belly. I finally just put her in her chair and she managed to devour her strawberry and cupcake before any of us had even taken a seat. Yes, that means she did not want to eat her dinner but hey, it was Valentine's Day and this child was livin' large. Here she is covered in holiday bliss and saying "cheeeeeeeeeeese".


She was thrilled with her Valentine gifts. Once she saw the baby doll stroller she screamed until we got her down and let her push it around.


Sara has been begging for a prince for all her little barbie princesses. I haven't been too interested in getting her one. The other day I asked her exactly why she wanted a prince doll and she told me "so they can dance". Well if that just isn't that sweetest thang- as long as dancing is the only thing going on... And so, she got her prince... and a fairy princess too. I found the prince on clearance and noticed that he had fairy ears and wings. Great. I know she has no fairy barbies so I added a $4.00 fairy barbie with wings. You never know, the other barbie dolls might not have been so accepting of the fairy prince and his fairy ways. My motto- always prepared. Do you like that she changed into her Belle Christmas Dress for our Valentine Dinner?


As far as Taylor goes, the kid needs nothing. Okay, none of my kids really need anything but you know what I mean. He is currently addicted to the Lego Star Wars game on the Wii and that is all the entertainment he needs. However, I did manage to find something right up his alley- a Red Power Ranger! He was a Red Power Ranger for Halloween so he holds Red Power Rangers near and dear to his little 5-year-old heart. It's kind of nice because he's old enough to actually understand toys now and how they work. He used to like the idea of the toy more than the actual toy- he gets it now and so I feel like I get more bang for my buck. Love it! Oh, and I love this kid too- once again, posing for the camera. He got a new sports t-shirt too, in case you are wondering what he is holding in his other hand.


And for my special Valentine, I managed to surprise him with the Leatherman Skeletool- it's a new 2008 multi-tool that is light weight and perfect for backpacking. And really, the only reason I knew that he would like this is because a few weeks back he was looking through Backpacker Magazine's 2008 Gear Guide and mentioned how cool he thought it was. Gifts for Dave are not easy to come by so I have to be on my toes.

After dinner we trudged through snow and ice throughout the neighborhood delivering Valentine treats to our neighbor friends. The kids loved it!

At the end of our evening as Dave and I were kicked back and chatting, he said to me, "I hope you know, I took you at your word and didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day." To which I jokingly replied, "You didn't get me flowers..." His response, "Well, when I was at the store I couldn't find any." So I said, "Seriously Dave, it's Valentine's Day and they were out of flowers?" Slightly reluctantly he said, "Well, they were out at the Circle K". I just had to laugh. I am so glad that Dave is my Valentine. He is the best and I wouldn't trade him for the world, not even for a bouquet of silly flowers.