Our Valentine's Day

   We have never been huge on Valentine's Day. Even when dating it just wasn't a huge holiday for us. When K came along we changed it up a bit. Usually her and her Daddy fix me something homemade and I surprise them with a little something.
  This year I thought I'd get to surprise Steve with a new wedding band (he's lost weight and while working lost his ring....it really bothered him) and K with some new books she was wanting as well as a bag of her fave candy of all time....truffles.
   Lets just say K let the cat out of the bag BEFORE Valentine's Day and everyone ended up getting their gifts early lol
  Honestly though...I'm thankful to have a love that makes every day feel like Valentine's Day. We don't always see eye to eye, we have varied opinions and yep we have our days where it's best we NOT talk about it lol but...every single day we are in love. So many couples are afraid to let their guards down and just...love. They measure it in some big trip, some expensive gift, a fancy dinner or a piece of jewelry ...all of which is fine if that is what makes you happy..but..we tend to measure our life in different ways.
   We dream in "we". I've never once heard either of us mention a goal in life or a dream that doesn't have the word "we" in it. Let me tell you...there is no other way to dream.
   We spend time watching the stars on a warm summer night. Laughing around the fire pit on a cool fall evening. Splashing in a creek on a hot day. Tossing snowballs in the snow. We LIVE life and to me that is the best gift I could ask for.
   Our love isn't some flashy shout it from the mountain top situation. We don't feel the need to have others verify our status or approach life from some Hollywood movie script. We are realistic. I get crabby late at night, Steve gets loud during political campaign shows, he hates new recipes, I love to try out new recipes. We are messy, at times disorganized but..we are always a team.
  To me...Valentine's Day is simply a date on the calendar. When  you get to live love every day it changes your attitude and your life. You learn that sitting on the boat dock next to your husband while your girl splashes in the water is living. That recipe you have been wanting to try that comes out perfectly..that is gourmet. An impromptu trip to get ice cream and hearing your girl say "we always do awesome stuff"....that is happiness.
  

Valentine's Day Party

   K's school PTO called and asked if we'd be the parents that could do the Valentine's Day Party...of course we said yes! I'm thankful that my work schedule can be flexible enough that I have not missed any of K's school parties :) We decided to do an ice cream sundae party..and it was a HUGE hit. Mrs. C donated the ice cream and other parents donated the toppings. We added in the bowls,cups and whip cream along with juice and a craft. The kids had a ball making a cute idea K came up with. We cut hearts out of construction paper then glued small pompoms onto them. We let the kid's add one or two googly eyes. All the kids made a unique "heart monster" and had a ball.
     A great time was had looking at all the Valentine cards they got in their bags, eating ice cream and relaxing. Although I'm thinking Mrs. C wished the party was closer to go home time than noon lol
   We also always make sure K makes her teacher and her teacher's assistant a little something for the party. Teachers put in long hours to educate our children and often are overlooked at party time (except for Christmas). Everyone likes to feel appreciated!! This year we got some nice heavy mugs from the local Dollar Tree. We used tape to create a ripple effect on the border top and painted the mugs with chalkboard paint. We baked them for about 30 mins in the oven to set the paint. We filled the teacher's with King Size reese's and mini bars. The teacher's assistant mug had mini candy bars and some nice Russel Stover candies. They both loved them. We also dropped off heart cookies to the principle and the secretary.