Valentine's Day

I was a very lucky girl this year for Valentine's Day and my loved ones made me feel very special.

Jim and I typically don't make much of a fuss for the holiday but we still like to recognize the special day for each other.

I kicked off Valentine's Day by asking Ethan what he wanted for his breakfast. I told him I'd make him anything he wanted and gave him some ideas of cinnamon rolls, heart toast, and scrambled eggs. His special breakfast choice? Half Cinnamon Toast Crunch and half Cheerios cereal for breakfast. I guess he had been thinking about how cool it would be to mix together different types of cereal. So I got off easy with no morning cooking or baking required.

When I got home from work, this basket of home made treats was waiting for me in the living room from my Mom and Dad.

One of my Mom's co-workers sells these gift baskets and I was a lucky recipient of one. I had one of the cookies today after lunch and it was very good - buttery and just the right amount of sweetness.

I had tweeted this earlier in the day:

Jim knows what my heart desires and this gorgeous box of Harry London chocolates were just what I was hoping for! I also love the packaging layout of the chocolates and that they aren't just laid out in standard rows. Plus, it came with a picture guide...I hate when assorted chocolates don't come with a guide. I was even more excited when I looked at the guide and liked every kind that was included - no weird flavors and no coconut.



I also received these roses. Don't worry, they aren't this blurry in person.

For Jim, I made him a card. Sappy Valentine's cards just don't fit his personality or our relationship. (For instance, he gave me a joint card with Ethan and it featured Spider Man.)

The card featured a picture of cupid shooting arrows at a target and I put "My husband is a better shot than cupid." I then gave him a gift certificate that he could pick out his Valentine's Day gift at this weekend's Gun Show event. I tied it to the card by saying that I wanted to keep his accuracy up so that his love would always find its' target and that he better have the right equipment and supplies.

We wrapped up Valentine's Day by watching Charlie Brown's Valentine's Day special as a family. We will, hopefully, go out to a restaurant this weekend since we didn't want to face the crowds yesterday.

I hope you all had a very special Valentine's Day!

Engagement Anniversary

Yesterday was the anniversary of our engagement. Six years ago, Jim proposed and we started building our life together.

I went to a PEO meeting yesterday evening and Karen Rankin had the program. She did a wonderful presentation on the history of Valentine's Day. Everyone at the meeting was invited to share their favorite Valentine's memory. Out of the nine members that were present, I think six shared that they were engaged over Valentine's Day. This prompted me to remember that we also got engaged at this time and I shared our engagement story.

Jim proposed to me on February 15, 2004. We had been dating for about four years at this point, since we were in high school.

I had accidently found the receipt for the engagement ring, when Jim purchased the ring in April 2003. I knew he had the ring for almost a year before he finally proposed. It was such a torment to know that he had the ring and to have to wait for him to pop the question.

Every holiday and special date came and went with no proposal. I would get my hopes up every time - 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, my birthday, etc. Still there was no ring. I was getting pretty impatient by this point.

Valentine's Day was approaching and was tired of getting my hopes up and then not getting that ring on my finger. I'm not the most patient person in the world. I told Jim that I thought Valentine's Day proposals were over rated and unoriginal. I didn't actually feel this way but I was trying to prepare myself for not being proposed to during the most romantic day of the year and having my hopes crushed and ruining Valentine's Day for us.

Little did I know, Jim had been planning on proposing on Valentine's Day. I ruined it and still feel badly for pitching my little hissy fit and ruining his plans. This was a wonderful lesson in patience. Sometimes it's good to let go of my controlling tendencies and let things happen and not try to dictate how and when they should happen.

So Valentine's Day came and I have no idea how we celebrated. The next day came and I was in a very sulky and foul mood. I had really hoped to be proposed to, even though I had specifically said that I didn't want it. Irrational and bitchy, I know, and I'm ashamed at my immature behavior.

Jim worked hard all day to cheer me up. I finally got over my bad attitude and we decided to take a walk to the park. (We were living in Hays, KS at the time and went for a walk to Frontier Park that was about a mile from Jim's apartment.)

We checked out the limestone fireplaces that are in the building located behind the playset in this picture. The year before, on Valentines, we had grilled hamburgers and roasted marshmallows in this pit and had carved our initials. We searched for our initials and I was delighted to see that they were still there, a year later. Yep, we vandalized public property - shame on us.

We then walked across the bridge at Frontier Park. In the middle of the bridge, Jim asked me to marry him. He didn't get down on one knee, that's not his style or personality. He held me close and whispered it in my ear. It was intimate, private, personal and perfect for us.

Of course, I said YES!

I still love my ring, the man who gave it to me, and it was worth the wait!

I Love You to the Moon and Back

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Mine was kind of a let down but still wonderful since I got to spend the entire weekend with my two favorite boys.

Jim had planned a Valentine's evening that included a trip to Kearney for dinner and entertainment. It was his first Valentine's that I completely put him in charge of planning. I was so looking forward to being surprised and having a romantic date night with my husband. Unfortunately, I came down with the flu and spent the weekend either in bed or veggie out on the couch surrounded by a pile of tissues. Romance was definitely not on the agenda.

Valentine's Day started out perfectly with Ethan crawling up into our bed proclaiming "It's not dark anymore." This is how I'm woken up every morning, as soon as the sun starts rising. We snuggled together for a little while in bed and watched cartoons.

Ethan told me he loved me all the way to the moon and back and forever and ever. He makes my heart melt! We've been reading Guess How Much I Love You a lot lately and we have a lot of fun coming up with different ways to measure our love for each other. Oh how I treasure these moments. I can't imagine that someday he'll be telling me to not say "I love you" in public and running off before I have the chance to give him a hug or even forgetting to tell me goodbye. I so hope he's a momma's boy and lets me continue to compete with him on who loves the other more for many more years to come.

We exchanged Valentine's Day cards and small presents. I received a clock for the basement and Jim received a new Wii game and package of Reese's Peanut Butter hearts. (I've been good and have only eaten one...so far.) Ethan spent the day sneaking pieces of Valentine's candy that he received from his friends at daycare. I pretended to not notice and let him indulge in his mini-sized treats.

The sun finally came out a little bit this weekend. It was still chilly and windy, but Ethan was eager to get outside and play after all the snow and mud we've been battling all winter. 

 

Ethan came inside covered in mud from head to toe. He had been hard at work digging holes in our driveway with his bulldozer. I just think little boy's knees should be worn and covered in dirt. Jim's jeans are also covered in mud but those aren't even remotely cute. My poor, cheap washer is in for some heavy duty cleaning in the future.

Handmade Valentine's Day Cards

Ethan had his daycare Valentine's Day party yesterday and all the children brought Valentine's Day cards to exchange with each other.

I'm a big fan of handmade Valentine's Day cards for children. I know that eventually Ethan will be begging to bring those boxed cards with Spiderman on them but, until then, I want him to take part in making special cards for his friends.

This year, we cut out a bunch of hearts and Ethan decorated each of the hearts with glitter glue and crayons.

After the heart's decorations were dry, we made a hole near the bottom with a paper punch. Place a lollipop through the holes to form a flower. Secure the hearts in place by wrapping the stick of the lollipop with a green pipe cleaner to make the flower steam. We placed some bug stickers on the flower petals and then attached a cut out green leaf on the stem that had the Valentine's message written on it.

Happy Valentine's Day!