Heart Day!

Valentine's Day is so much more fun with kids! This was the first year Levi had any interest in or understanding of this silly love filled holiday, and I had a blast making his day special. Levi and Joel were spoiled by their family and friends and received lots of cards and gifts! Moe came over the day before and we had fun playing outside and she even brought over heart shaped fruit snacks! They got cards and gifts from Papa and Nana D as well as our sweet neighbors, "Mr. Hans and Mrs. Mary." Aunt Tamara even went all out and mailed them a very well decorated package (I'm sure cousins Kynlee and Kamryn helped out!) with new fun cups and valentines books inside. They were super exicted to get that box from the mail man!
 

 We started the actual day off bright and early (Levi and Joel have a habit of getting up a little before 7) as the boys and I woke up to some surprises in the kitchen. The night before I bought valentine balloons for the boys and tied them to their chairs. Levi was very excited to see his "special love valentine balloon!" as was Joel. Philip was sneaky and bought me new slippers, candy and an orchid and left them out in the kitchen before leaving for work at 5:30 that morning. What a lucky girl am I?! After enjoying our gifts I put on a Curious George for the boys while I cooked them up a festive breakfast. We all love pancakes, so for a special treat I made heart shaped blueberry pancakes served up on heart plates. Joel enjoyed 2 huge pancakes and couldn't stop eating long enough to smile at the camera. Levi was extra silly and wore a stocking cap while eating as well as making lots of silly comments and faces and bonking himself with his balloon.

 

After breakfast we all dressed in red and took Levi to school. He had a valentine exchange with his classmates and had a special snack that day of pink rice crispy treats. While Levi was having fun at school Joel and I had a yummy lunch and Chick-fil-A (complete with pink lemonade for Joel) and played at the park. When we picked Levi up he talked non stop about all his Valentines day fun and was super excited to show off all his fancy pintrest worthy valentines (his were the old school paper ones - Veggie Tales of course- stuck on a box of conversation hearts...definitely the least fancy).

As the boys napped I started working on our "fancy" dinner. When they woke up we spent some time playing outside and then came inside for a Veggie Tales movie while I finished up dinner. { I'm going to leave out the part where Levi got mad because I wouldn't let him keep eating the pineapple I was cutting up, went and got his new balloon, told me he didn't like me, and then popped his balloon. I might have cried... }We enjoyed spice rubbed grilled venison tenderloin and wild hog chops, fruit salad, roasted root veggies, beer bread and heart cookies. Philip thought it was a great meal and the boys and I agreed :)

Friday night we were able to go out for a dinner alone while Papa and Nana D watched the boys! It was nice to get out of the house and spend some time alone as a couple. We need to figure out a way to do that more often. Over all it was a good Valentine's Day, and I am looking forward to continuing the tradition of special a Valentine's morning pancake breakfast. I think that was my favorite part of the day! Hope everyone felt the love on heart day!