a day full of love - valentine's day 2012

it started off with some pink strawberry milk and whipped cream.
the other kids got to have some before school along with a big homemade breakfast.

then chris called around 11:00 and said, 'what are you doing?'
i replied, 'oh, vacuuming, putting laundry away, doing laundry, ironing your work shirts, having an allergy attack'.
i had high hopes of getting all that stuff done this morning and out of the way for the week.
i had finally just stopped to take a break, john and i were laying on my bed together and i was resting my itchy eyes for a few minutes, my allergies have been terrible these last couple of weeks.

he then invited john and i to come down and have a picnic lunch with him.
he called in sandwiches from our favorite deli and we picked them up on the way.
it was a fun, sweet, and unexpected surprise.
john took this picture of us...

i set a fun and festive table for the kids to see when they walked in the door from school.
i did this last year too, and really enjoyed getting it all ready.
i didn't get all the balloons this year, didn't have the time, but the table still turned out cute...

everyone got a little valentine gift from me at their place setting.
and as i was getting it all ready, my mom knocked unexpectedly on the front door.
she dropped of treats for each of us, so we added her bags to each of the place mats.
like mother, like daughter...she used to do all this kind of stuff for us growing up too.

the boys both got cases for their itouch's that they have been wanting.

ella got a cute new purple and cream striped shirt with pink glitter hearts that she loved,

and john got some baseball cleats (that we bought at ross last week).

he has been wanting cleats for about a year now, he can't wait to start wearing them.

i don't get them candy anymore, they get enough of that from everyone else.

but it's fun to get them these little gifts to open on this special day.

 we waited for chris to get home and opened them all together.

i gave him the 'adele' cd, we all love her songs so much.

it was a chilly day, a nice change from the mild weather we've been having.

ella threw on some extra warm accessories before going out front to play.

then she slipped these sweet cards and treats on my plate and on chris' too.
and so the tradition is already starting to carry on through her.

we made heart shaped pizza's and salad again this year.
last year we made a couple big heart pizzas, this year i let everyone make their own individual ones.
i pretty much made johns...

and helped with the others, but let them pretty much do it themselves.
they cook so quickly and they are so good.
we baked them in the oven (i already had it on from baking) this year instead of on the grill.

i made a big one for chris and i.

the heart didn't turn out as good as last years', but it still tasted delicious.

and i made heart shaped brownies for dessert.
the cherry balls were added courtesy of ella.

grandma also made heart shaped cookies with the kids yesterday.
and she and grandpa gave them some fun treats and a little spending money.

it really is nice to have this day to shower those you love with gifts and attention.
it's a good excuse to make everyone feel special and it sure does feel good to do it.
and it's nice to set the table with place mats and such seeing as i only do it @ twice a year!