First we ate our egg rolls and egg drop soup at the kitchen table. (you can buy egg rolls from Costco when they have a coupon – they’re quite reasonably priced and taste good)  Then we moved into my bedroom where I had spread a sheet down with our plates on top.

I had made Chocolate caramel turtles and placed them in small bags. I then created a bag topper (I’m not sure what they’re called.) that said Mom and Dad are Nuts Over You.

It’s a tradition for our family to write notes to each other at Valentine’s.  This year we used the little mailboxes to place their messages into.

Sweet n Sour Pork and Beef Chow Mein was then served.

We were missing Zachary since he’s working and living 5 hours away.

We read our notes and let me tell you, that was so special. The kids really expressed their hearts and it was quite touching. 

We took turns reading verses from I Corinthians 13.

And then we finished up by asking and talking about the 5 love languages. I learned that one of my sons’ language is touch.  I had no idea.  (I don’t think he did either till he thought about it for awhile. :))

That’s something I’ve really been thinking about lately – expressing love to my kids in a way that speaks to them. We know and they know we love them but yet do they feel loved?

On this night we went around talking about things that make our kids feel loved and you know what?  It wasn’t big things – it was simple things like Russell always taking the kids to get an ice cream after going to work together. (it could have been an all day job or only a few hours) or in the case of my daughter, the day I took her to town just for her to shop (I dislike shopping with a passion, so she knew it was a real sacrifice. :))

It’s an interesting exercise.  Thankfully things have improved because just a few weeks ago when I asked my daughter when was the last time she felt loved she said, “Never.” Whoa! I guess some work in our relationship would be in order.  If you should do this, Beware: you might be surprised what you hear.

Well guess what occasion I’m preparing for? Hint… it’s all about love and hearts.

Valentine’s Day!

So much fun making my family feel special and it also gives me a chance to be a little creative.

My sweet and thoughtful family (I just lurve them!)  bought me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas and I’ve been having fun with it!  You can go to their blog and see the kinds of things you can do with one.  They’re pretty amazing.

So for the past week I’ve been giving them little notes

and putting them in mini mailboxes I bought at Target a few years ago for $1 each.

I think you can still buy them there – but not totally sure on that.

I’ve also been giving them little gifts.  When I was out shopping the other day, I thought “No candy.” I have to be more creative than that! And so I picked up a variety of small items.

I found a few sites that had cute puns for Valentine’s Day. C.R.A.F.T., Skip to my Lou & Creative Nonsense & Other Junk and I took some of their ideas and spun my own. Reading what they had just gets the creative juices flowing!

So here’s what I’ve been up to.

Labels made for a Juice Squeeze drink

Rice Krispie Treat from Trader Joe’s

(I wasn’t too impressed with its flavor, but the kids seemed to like it fine.) 

A little love note for my dear hubby. 

 And tomorrow is Valentine’s and that’s the day we get really creative and spread our meal (simple courses) throughout the house.  Here’s what we did last year.

What do you have planned?  Do you do anything for Valentine’s or do you really dislike the day because of all the hype?

I think we have Chinese food this year.  Soup, egg rolls, main dish? (not sure what) & dessert.  I’ve got to get it all figured out today.

I almost let it slide this year.  Every year I like to plan something but this year I was really not feeling energetic enough to think about it… until the day of!  Serenity was my little encourager.  She enjoys planning things as much as I, so she was an inspiration for me to get going.  So a little planning, a little cooking and everything came together and we had a special evening.

Here’s how it went.

As soon as Audrey saw me preparing for our special meal, she wanted to make something, too.  So she got out her ingredients to make “jelly rolls”.  Instead, she ended up using sugar and cinnamon on her dough and she even cleaned up her mess when she was done.  Blow me down(!) but I sure do get excited when that happens.

For our special Valentine’s meal, I decided we would have the various courses in different rooms like we did a few years ago.  We had fun with that one and I thought it was worth a repeat.

So Outback Steakhouse Walkabout (Onion) Soup was served in the living room.

I took the picture frame that I had painted and made into a chalkboard  from my Winter Mantle and wrote the message…

 “You Are Sweet”.

In the little jar I placed individual pieces of paper on which I had written the meaning of someone’s name in the family.  After they drew a piece of paper from the jar, they had to guess who in the family it was and then say why they appreciate them.

 Some of the kids couldn’t figure out who they drew.

Then we played boys against girls Pictionary for a few rounds – just long enough for us girls to know we had the boys whipped soundly.

The next course was served in none other than the master bedroom.  A lovely green salad was the fare – made similar to our Thanksgiving one that we thought was so DELISH! This time we used a Raspberry Vinagrette with a dollop of plain yogurt added on the side.

For our activity we played Taboo.

 One of the few pictures with me in it.  I’m usually the one behind the camera.

Our main part of the meal was served in our dining nook. (sorry, no pictures)  The menu consisted of:

• Meatloaf (this definiately does not have a lovely presentation to it, but it sure tastes good)
• Mashed Potatoes
• Grilled Zuchinni
• Grilled Asparagus
• Rolls

We.were.full.

Ahhh, but everything was so yummy that I wished I could have ate more.

For our last activity, the kids each drew another red slip of paper from a jar.  This time I had written on it small clues, like “Tis so sweet” and “Hot Household Appliance.”  The kids had to figure out what it meant and then find their treasure.  Moolah was the treasure – various amounts ranging from $1 – $6.

Then it was dessert time.  Waffle bowls made by Martha (my niece), a sliver of banana, a few scoops of ice cream, berries and some hot fudge for those who wanted needed their chocolate fix.  I’m NOT mentioning any names.

A delicious ending to a sweet evening.

xoxo,

Elisabeth