Happy Hearts

Valentines day in our house means flowers delivered to Gabby's school:And a romantic overnighter. . .to Louisville, Kentucky where we celebrated Noah's German ancestry at the annual German Dinner. The kids got to have a sleep over with their cousins and Noah and I got to have a sleep over...with Oliver. Can you say Romantic? Seriously though we had a blast. Germans know how to party.

Sunday (Valentines Day) was reserved for a special Valentine's dinner of...leftovers from the German gathering. To make the day extra special (and make up for the leftovers) I made a very cute garland out of felt.

Following dinner, Noah and I put the kids to bed early so we could...do taxes together. Might not sound like romance in the making, but if you could only see how we look into each others eyes with the soft glow of the computer screen reflecting our tax return, you too would feel the love.

Oh, did I mention that Noah got his Masters Degree diploma from UW? Even Nature celebrated Valentines day by giving Indiana a good snow dumping. Schools are shut down and Gabby gets to make up another two days (and counting) of school in the summer. Happy heart day everyone!

Dam, what fun

It is snowy in Indiana. My back yard looks like an Ansel Adams photograph:
When it snows in Indiana, everything shuts down [schools included] and no one leaves their house. Sadly, I find myself adopting that same mentality, not because I'm afraid of the snow but because I'm afraid of Indiana drivers driving in the snow. Luckily we live about two blocks away from a dam that turns out to be the perfect sledding hill, so we don't feel completely boxed in.

Three days of school cancellation also allowed Gabby to finish the valentines for her class. They turned out exceptionally cute I think (they're made out of miniature match boxes and filled with pink M&Ms--idea from Inchmark). I'm sure all the mothers of Gabby's classmates who sent store bought valentines will totally feel inadequate upon seeing these, and that's really what homemade valentines are all about.

disclaimer: Alex is giving out store bought valentines because the boy doesn't have a crafty bone in his body, much to Noah's satisfaction.

As for our Valentines plans, Noah and I are taking a romantic overnight getaway to the exotic Louisville, Kentucky. Our kids will be with us which will make the stay all the more enchanting.

Valentines Day Part III

Noah made our daughter's Valentine dreams come true this morning by taking her out to breakfast (just the two of them). She even got a pink shake.

Then the two of them went to the store to buy me a meaningful gift:

Nothing says I love you quite like a plunger. Okay, but in Noah's defence, last night (it being Friday the 13th and all) someone did a ghastly thing in our toilet (I wont name any names) and as a result, we had a bit of a flood. I woke up in the middle of the night needing to relieve my bladder and was informed that I should under NO circumstance flush the toilet. Well, in a 3 AM stupor, I flushed the toilet anyway. Sure enough, the bathroom flooded. Noah came to my rescue and helped with the clean up.

Then as if a plunger weren't enough, he made my Valentine dreams come true too by taking me to an antique store and getting me this swell piece of jewelry. Side note: I've recently become an "Antique Roadshow" junkie, I'm hooked even though we don't have TV so I can never watch it. Anyway, the piece I got is probably worth thousands even though we paid mere pittance for it. And I absolutely love it.

Following antiquing, we all headed to Not Just Popcorn (as seen on Food Network), where they make over 240 flavors of popcorn--I know, could Indiana get any better?? We went on a tour where we got to see them make cheddar and mocha flavored popcorn. Gabby and Alex could hardly contain their excitement when they were invited to have samples. I just wish I had brought my camera, sadly I have no pictures of our popcorn experience. I guess we'll just have to do the tour all over again.

Now if you'll excuse me . . .
Happy Valentines Day.

Valentines Day Part II

Someone got their favorite kind of flowers today . . .If you guessed it was Gabby then you're right.
Alex and I chose them this morning at the florist and dropped them off at Gabby's school for her to pick up in the office. The kids oohed and aahed and Gabby felt special. When I picked her up, she was beaming.

Side note:

When I was in grade school, my dad (who lived out of state) would have flowers delivered to me on Valentines day and my birthday. I remember blushing. I remember having the flowers on my desk for the remainder of the school day and then carrying them home when school was out. I also remember feeling very special.

Valentines Day Game ON

Gabby opted for the more meaningful Valentine card this year, which means we went to the craft store and purchased everything to make 24 cards. The girls in Gabby's class are getting Butterflies inscribed with you make my heart flutter, while the boys are getting Mice inscribed with you are a mouseterful friend--I don't know if the boys will get the play on words, but it was the best I could come up with. We actually finished all the cards a week ahead, which is huge for me. I'm usually the type of person that would put it off until 9 PM the night before. Hooray for new beginnings!

In addition to the cards, Gabby is supposed to bring in a box to hold all of her valentines. So we made this (finishing it two days ago--I know, I impress myself):

If you'd like instructions, or "Destructions" as Gabby would say, you can find them here."

As for the rest of the family, we're keeping things pretty simple. I've been waking up with Noah every morning this week (a whole 20 minutes before I usually get up) to make him a smoothie for breakfast. His present for me? A new

Unfortunately, it probably won't arrive in time for Valentines day, and it might not even be that house.