Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has always been a nice/fun holiday in my books, but after this one I think it's moved up in my holiday rankings. Really, we just celebrated being a family and loving each other all day. It was the perfect mix of relaxing and festive for us. It helped that we have been talking about love since the beginning of February because it's our focus this month (thank you Alexander's Amazing Adventures). I could tell that Valentine's Day meant more to the boys because of the build up.

One thing that I can tell really lit the boys up was telling them something that I love about them every night at bed time the week leading up to V-Day. It made for sweet moments with each of them at their bedsides. More heart felt, "Mommy, I love you"'s and Benson started saying things back to me. "Mommy, I love when you read books at special time with me." Try it. Let go of the rush to be "done" with bed time and soak them in a little longer each night.

For one of our FHE's we made valentines to put up on our kitchen cupboards. I got this idea from Saren Loosli at Power of Moms last year and it has stuck. I love having the kitchen filled with those hearts.


The night before V-Day I got the table ready for breakfast. The boys loved it! It definitely set the tone for the day. I read each of them a special valentine when they woke up and came downstairs. Again, DEFINITELY recommend writing your kids their own personal valentine. I could tell that they were soaking in the feel of unconditional love. Also, DEFINITELY not my own ideas. I thank other people for sharing their good traditions for me to copy! It takes a village to raise children. And Sarah Porter.


Me: "Ben, can you smile for it?"
Ben: "I don't want to."


Enjoying the glasses from Bammy & Grampy's care package. They were a hit! We'll be holding on to those for next year.

Cameron's heart with his hands was all him!

Cameron asked if he could take a picture of me:

Jayce was on nights that week and I was mainly interested in keeping him alive on his drive home.

"It's tradition!"

 For several years I've watched moms post pictures of their kid's valentine mailboxes and thought, "Bleh, I'm not gonna do that." I changed my mind. Cameron enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and we were pretty proud of it. Here's to you babe!


Wary of getting too much in the habit of thinking of the boys collectively instead of individually, I've been praying for an increase of love for each of them. I've felt that prayer being answered this month and sweet is the answer. In the words of Victor Hugo, "To love another person is to see the face of God." Happy Valentine's Day. :-)

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