We woke up early for a family breakfast on Valentine’s Day (see how it’s still pitch dark outside?).

We wanted to have our big hotshot valentine with us before he took off for school (Max) and it has somehow become essential in our family to have pink pancakes for breakfast on Valentine’s Day.
The kids got a couple things they need (socks…what a great v-day treat!) and then headed out to school lugging their Valentine’s boxes along with them.

This is how our front yard looked that morning:A boy did this for Elle.

Wowzers, not sure that I’m ready for that yet!

I took Dave on a super romantic lunch date to our favorite restaurant Oreganos.

Lucy came home from school with too much candy and a big smile on her face.
And she had a lot of things to tell me about (remember she’s my talker.)

These guys came home and spread their valentine’s loot all over the counter.

I’d love to see a meeting comprised of all the big-wigs in the sugar industry any time from November ’til February. I’m sure they just sit together, make those evil “mwahahahaha” laughs, and rub their hands together in glee. They are in their hay-day I tell you because all we do as a society is sit around and eat sugar. I’m just as guilty as the next person, especially since I had a pretty steady diet of plain m&m’s for like three weeks after Christmas.

It’s funny that none of this ever bothered me before Lucy came along. I’d probably still be in my blissful bubble that school lunches are fine and that it’s ok to have parties with nothing but junk food and then send home more junk food in the “goodie bag.” But I watch Lucy crave the huge piles of treats everyone around her eats and it makes me so sad.

I wish we could just boycott all that sugar and give out apples or celery or something. I know I would be such a popular school teacher with those implementations 🙂

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox. What I was really trying to say is that my girls are still enjoying their sugar-stashes from that day.

Dave and I decided to stay home and have dinner with the kids and then head out to a movie.

The girls came down to dinner in glee at the matching outfits they came up with for PJs.

…and then they made hearts for me and Dave.
(Isn’t Lu’s awesome?)

We had a very sophisticated and elegant dinner:..speaking of how unhealthy our society is…
(I love that whole-wheat pizza dough from Trader Joes, and we did have carrots on the side :). Mac and Elle were a little late and missed the pictures because of tennis and volleyball.

Then Dave and I snuck out to see “The Artist” since we never get to see movies.
(I did my hair up all special for the occasion 🙂

I’m so lucky to have that guy for my Valentine. Even though I’ve been huffy at him for the last three days for no other reason than that I feel horrible and itchy and stuffy. And he still puts up with me.

21 Comments

  1. Looks like you guys had a fun Valentine's day….I so love how you keep it real!! That is too precious that an admirer decorated the yard for your daughter. 🙂

  2. I have been following your blog for a while now and as a young mom with two little ones I love all of your ideas! You're so inspiring!! My parents live in gilbert, and every time I visit them Oreganos is on my list of places to go to. Love that place!

  3. That's a good boy, to do that on the lawn. I agree–too soon! She's not 30 yet! :)–but still–good boys are good boys.
    I have a son with a red-dye problem so Valentine's Day is especially tough, but I softened a bit when I read this on a friend's wall:
    The simple things in life this email came from A's (kindergarten) teacher………"We had a beautiful Valentine's Day celebration this morning. The children truly value those small tokens of love, appreciation, and friendship they receive from their classmates. So, even though the bags they brought home may look like they are simple collections of temporary tattoos, candy, and hard-to-decipher handwritten cards, those things meant the world to your kids today."
    I just wish it were heavier on the cards and lighter on the candy!

  4. cutie puties! i am dying about the heart attack from the boy. i think elle and i need to have some major girltalk soon 🙂 i'm waiting for you to post pics from claire's baptism so i can steal them from you!!

  5. Last Halloween, my husband came up with a great idea to deal with all the candy. He invented the "candy fairy." the kids could choose how much candy to leave for the candy fairy and the candy fairy gave them a dime for each piece of candy. It was completely their choice, with a lot of positive peer pressure. They each kept 5-10 pieces and it was gone the next day! It was enough money for my little kids to buy something. They even wanted to do it on Valentines Day! Plus I kept a secret stash that helped Santa with stockings and little treats here and there.

  6. I feel your cranky pains. I'm feeling guilty sending Newel on "mancation" this week with the guys having been a worn out pile of mush with this pregnancy. I hope he comes back rested, rejuvenated and ready to scratch my back and give me encouragement just a little longer 🙂 So glad they put up with so much!

  7. We live in West Virginia and this year there is a new ZERO tolerance on candy. I love candy just as much as everyone else but it is soooo nice not to have candy come out the kids ears every other week because of some school party!

  8. I have a sister in law that has severe allergies along with her son and she has found the world of essential oils. Not sure if this is something you are open to trying, but she has started using Frankinscence. She says all she does is puts a couple drops above her eye brows and rubs it in before bed. She said it has helped them both immensely and they aren't taking medications like they used to! Just thouht I'd pass it along! Good luck!!

  9. Totally agree about the whole valentine candy problem. It's like they come home with as much candy as they would collect on halloween! I've heard of classrooms banning candy on valentines and I think that would be awesome … but I think I'm in the minority on that one 🙂 I think it's all made worse because halloween, Christmas and Valentines all occur during the cold months when everyone is getting sick … and the sugar is making it worse. Argh. Thank you for letting me get on MY soapbox 😉

  10. So did Lu end up eating her candies? How do you keep her from diving into it all before she gets home?
    Lus heart is upside down, but it sure is cute.
    I have to say…it's because of one of your posts that we don't keep a whole lot of treats or sugar in our home. Don't get me wrong, we still have our specific holiday treats and our occasional FHE treat, but we never keep candies, cookies or sugary treats on hand.

  11. Your mom mentioned in her blog about your brand new house…you are moving??? You're house now seems too perfect to leave!

  12. We do the same dinner for Valentine's Day. (My husband is a police officer and it seems he always has to work, so the kids and I get to celebrate the day of love together. :-)) Trader Joe's pizza crust shaped into hearts and decorated with toppings of their choosing. They love it! Every year they tell me that we should open our own pizza place. 😉

  13. How fun to see this! Grace did a great job on her Valentine blog too. Like mother, like daughter. She's not as worried about the sugar (grin).

    Who in the heck is Elle's cute boyfriend? Is it who I think it is? Hug those cute kids for us!

  14. I hear ya on the candy! At our school no candy is allowed in the Valentines.

    Have you ever read the book "Eat to Live"? VERY interesting read on food and how the food eaten as a child, especially prior to, during and after puberty can have a serious impact on long term health and reproductive cancers.

    Reading it made me feel glad that we do a lot of green smoothies, but realize how much more we need to be doing to ensure optimal health.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *