Spread the Love

I love Valentine's Day.  I know so many people don't like this holiday and

say it is a Hallmark holiday (pinting at you Nate), but I like the idea of showing your love.  I don't like the fact that all the

prices on flowers and chocolates are jacked up in the month of February, but I tell my husband not to get me a large bouquet now... I will take one any other day of the year though.  *wink wink*

He did get me a pot of tulips which I love. 

He surprised me last weekend and had the kids make mommy Valentine's cards. 

So Sweet. 

He even took pictures of them doing the cards and the determination on Lily's face as she colors

her card is priceless. 

I celebrate Valentine's the entire year. 

Little things here and there.  Love notes in kid's lunchboxes, special kid dates, and

telling them "I Love You" daily. 

But around Valentine's Day I usually step up my game. 

This weekend I got to go on two special dates with two of my kiddos.

On Sunday after church I had planned to take Bubba to a local greenhouse to get some plants.

He missed a boy scout outing where they did leaf rubbings and before he gets his Tiger Cub badge he had to cross off that elective.  So Daddy sent Bubba and me to the greenhouse.  Big Mistake. 

I couldn't just go in and steal some leafs off plants, even if that is what Nate said to do, so I let Bubba look at all the house plants and pick one he wanted to take home and pot up. 

He picked up a ZZ plant.  Very Cool.

This plant thrives on neglect, so if you are needing a exceptionally easy houseplant, pick up a ZZ plant.  Then as we are just doing a little browsing (always dangerous for this girl) we came across all of their fairy garden supplies.  Bubba was amazed at all the tiny chairs, benches, wheel barrows, and little toadstools. 

I caved and we came home with a few materials to make our own indoor fairy garden. 

More on this in a later post.

 

When we got home and unloaded our garden purchases, I had planned to go to the mall and go shopping for a cocktail party dress.  I was going to go alone but decided at the last minute to take Rosie because she needed some jeans and it would be easier if she tried them on. 

We walked into the mall with our purses over our shoulders (yep Rosie had to bring her purse just in case she found something she had to have!) and on a mission to find a dress and some jeans. 

I knew she tired of shopping quick so I decided to do my dress shopping first then surprise her with a stop at Justice to get her energy back. 

She was not impressed when I picked up more than one dress to try on.  With six dresses flung over my arm and still looking through the racks for anything else that might look flattering on, Rosie finally had enough and said I needed to stop and just try them on. 

The fitting room was interesting. 

Rosie is a really good critic.  A few of the dresses I picked out got vetoed right away with the comments she used to describe them.  One floral dress I didn't even try on after Rosie commented "Mom, if you don't like this one we should wrap it up for Grandma Pam because she likes flowers." 

Uh... that one was not for me. 

When I tried one dress on twice, I got the "you already tried that one on mom, don't you remember what it looks like?" 

It sped up my decision process. 

We ended up picking out new accessories for a dress I already had in the closet instead of buying a new dress.  A much cheaper option. 

Next stop was Justice.  My girl had a permanent smile on her face as soon as she walked into the door.  She saw one of her friends from school and they discussed what tape and hair ties to buy as I looked for a few items for her to try on.  This was our first fitting room experience for her. 

The usual routine is that I buy clothes bring it home, then she tries it on and I return what doesn't fit. 

I know what my girl likes so I picked out a few items that mommy approved and had enough bling for her to like.  Success!!  

 After trying on clothes wore us both out we headed to the food court for a lemonade and salted pretzel before going home.  It was good.  I don't think there was a lull in the conversation all afternoon.  She has so much to say.

When we got home we had a pretty relaxing family night watching Peter Pan, which is daddy's favorite Disney movie.  Daddy also treated us to a fun drink, grasshoppers sans alcohol.  The perfect touch was a thin mint as garnish.  I love that man.  Served in margarita glasses, the kids were on cloud nine.  It paired perfectly with our popcorn for supper.

 

The rest of the week we have had love and hearts galore on our mind. 

Rosie made this for a school project and it was so heart warming to see the wonderful adjectives she used to describe me.  Also she knows her mommy likes chocolate.

 The kids have worked diligently on their valentine's for their classmates. 

They each picked out their own Valentine's cards. 

Bubba picked Star Wars of course.

Gigi picked Lalaloopsy themed cards and even with mommy trying to

persuade her to pick ANYTHING else Rosie picked Justin Beiber Valentine's.  Ugh.

Rosie made her valentine box at school, Gigi had to make a valentine's bag and Bubba had to make his own Valentine's box.  We had fun creating his Darth Vader box. 

He spent alot of time making Darth's chest plate just perfect. 

It is complete with its own light saber.   

He was mad I didn't give it a head, but making a cape and arm out of an empty toiliet paper roll was enough I said.

 As the kids were doing their crafts, mommy was busy at work taking her role as room parent seriously.  We have Gigi's Valentine's party this afternoon and mommy created heart bingo cards as color coded instead of numbers and cut out crowns for the kings and queens of Kindergarten. 

I learned after the Christmas party that it takes Kindergartners twice as long to do anything so we are simplifying today's party.  I hope they have fun. 

 

We are ending our Valentine's week with a night out for mommy and daddy. 

Can you believe we found a babysitter on Valentine's Day? 

We are doing something a little unusual but it will be fun. 

No dinner and a movie for us. 

I am a bit nervous and slightly excited... will tell you about it soon. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. 

I hope you all know how much you mean to me.

 

Hugs and Kisses