Valentine’s Day and flower thoughts

This picture doesn’t correctly depict Lucy’s delight at our table on Valentine’s morning before the sun shone and we were encircled in the light of our kitchen filled with hearts:

But it was there I tell you…I mean, pink pancakes and candy at breakfast?  What could be better?

My excitement wasn’t in the candy or little gifts, it was in this vast of gorgeousness:

He bought those tulips for all his girls…but I think mostly for me because he knows they are my favorite.

…after 23 years I have finally taught him that…ha!  He knew how to come through.

One time years ago I was with a friend who’s husband sent her some beautiful flowers.  Instead of melting over that kindness she was pretty frustrated…they were strapped for money at the time and she didn’t think he should be spending it on flowers.  I couldn’t pretend to know any of the intricacies of their story and what was going on in their marriage or financial situation, every story is so different, but I couldn’t help but be a little sad for that husband who had felt the need to give that gift, probably fully aware of the money situation, but thinking his wife needed those anyway.  That little moment has stayed with me through all these years and has made me want to remember in my own life how important it is to be a good receiver of gifts, not just a good giver.

So fast-forward to the more-near-present…sometimes I will pick up flowers, snap a picture of them and text it to Dave to thank him for those beautiful things because hey, sometimes you just need to help out in that category, you know?  So a couple days before Valentine’s Day I texted him a picture of some tulips I’d bought for the girls for Valentine’s Day and thanked him and let him know we’re all taken care of in the flower category.  I think flowers are just so overpriced at Valentine’s Day and I’m too practical to want anything fancy. 

But then he came home with all those bunches of gorgeous tulips.

He got the “no roses” idea but he still went for the tulips.  And although at first I started so feel a little like my friend had all those years ago…I remembered that story and shifted gears and took in that beautiful token of love my husband had given to all of us Valentines of his.

And it made my heart swell. 

He is so good to us.  And we are the luckiest in the world.  And man alive, those flowers were incredibly gorgeous.  There is nothing like tulips in my opinion.

We had a good day filled with too much sugar:

(that’s what we did for Claire’s “home-school” English class that day)…

That night Dave and I left the kids at home with instructions to make heart-shaped pizzas and headed out on a little Valentine’s dinner date…giving each other the thing we both like the most (even more than flowers 🙂 …TIME.

We ran into some friends after dinner and talked on the curb outside the restaurant in the drizzle of remnant rain (it had rained all day) about life and marriage.  We are getting ready to start in a new “calling” in our congregation to teach the “marriage and family” class each week and those friends had some great ideas for us.  And also brought up some good points since they have two girls who are married.  Interesting how they related that younger generation of marriages is affected so much by social media.  I’ll have to talk about that more later because it’s so interesting and also worrying.

We got home to find the kitchen cleaned up after the pizza and the kids watching a movie.  So Dave and I continued our conversation as we melted some of the Dove chocolates I had given him for Valentine’s Day and made chocolate-covered strawberries for the kids with them (he was trying to eat more healthy and needed to get rid of the temptation of eating that whole bag of Dove goodness). 

So fun to surprise the kids with that little treat and hang with them a little before bed.

No idea what we’re looking at in that picture…something fascinatingly wonderful I’m sure 😉

It was a good day…extended every time I looked at those beautiful tulips we had been given with love:)