The idea of spreading love by leaving little notes and surprises
has always made me happy. Yesterday as I did my Valentines preparations and
rounds I was giddy with all of the love in the air, there were street vendors
out selling baskets of stuff. I saw pink
and red balloons in cars waiting to be found and even a few people walking down
the street with cards, balloons and flowers in hand with smiles on their faces.
It isn’t really the stuff of valentines that makes me happy,
it is the idea of sharing a little love when you don’t normally.
I found this valentine in a drawer at Grandmas as I was
cleaning up one day. I though how
appropriate, Grandma left me an angel Valentine to share with family. There is also this sweet note on the closet. I am sure it was one of her sweet gestures of
love to Grandpa. So family consider
yourself hugged and loved from Grandma and Grandpa! I am sure they are looking out for us from
above!
I remember in high school you could buy a valentines gram
for friends for a dollar and they would get your note or flower delivered in
the class period of choice. Me being as
shy and reserved as I was when they came to deliver the messages I got a little
nervous and embarrassed for all who were put on the spot. Deep down I don’t think I was the only one
with a secret hope that I had a valentine secret admirer out there. My friends and I would send silly notes back
and forth so we wouldn’t have to feel left out.
Again then, it was the idea of telling someone you appreciate them that
got me happy, not the flowers or candy.
It took a few more years to learn to love Valentines, but eventually it
came.
When I was a nanny my first year out of high school I was
living in Hawaii ,
thousands of miles from home.The dad of the family was kind enough to include
me in his Valentines gifting. Not only did his wife and daughter get flowers, I
did too. I guess somewhere along those
times I decided that Valentines was not about the gifts and stuff, but about
sharing gratitude and giving to others.
Valentines became a fun holiday of preparing notes, goodies
and distributing among neighbors, friends, and loved ones. Maybe part of my love comes from the excuse
to make sugar cookies. Sugar cookies are
what makes Valentines more complete for me {click here for ONE of my favorite recipes}, silly I know but making cookies and distributing them just makes me
silly happy!
For the past few years as a new mom I lost some of my
valentines steam and it kind of became just another day. This year I decided to pull out my old middle
school cookies recipe and share the love with others. I guess I had forgotten how much fun it is to
get out and meet new people. This winter
has left me feeling hermit like, not wanting to leave the house much due to
cold and due to my wild children. I was
able to make two visits yesterday and meet two new friends: my next door neighbors
and Sarah from one of my favorite websites: AThriftyMom.com. It was great to get out and enjoy the sunny
warm winter day and get acquainted with others.
The kids and I also got a valentines surprise ready for the
hubs. We cut out and decorated hearts
then secretly kidnapped Daddy’s car and gave it a wash and heart attack. Winter hasn’t only been rough on me, Daddy’s
car was in desperate need of a good wash down.
Lil’Miss was excited to go to the car wash and before we got there both
kids were snoozing in the back seat.
They woke up in time to help put hearts all over Daddy’s car and return
it to the park and ride where the hubs catches the bus into Boise.
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| Lil'Misses first time using scissors. |
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| Found some smaller scissors and she did awesome! |
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| Lil'Misses heart she decorated for daddy. |
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| Some of the treats for Daddy's surprise! |
The hubs noticed right away that his car was not parked
where he left it and it only took moments to see that it was cleaner than when
he left and was full of surprises. He called
right away and shared of his surprise and how he even got choked up by the
notes we left.
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| Dirty Car! |
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| You can't tell here, but they were excited |
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| Moments later, they were out, too pooped for the car wash! |
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| But super adorable sleepers! |
I like Valentines so much that we are going to continue
celebrating tonight by going on a much needed date!
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| Daddy's heart attack! |
So how about you, what are your feelings about Valentines
and how do you make it an enjoyable day?
Happy Valentines!!
A few kitchen must haves!
