Family Valentine's Day

 

We're still finding our Valentine's Day traditions, and I'm sure things will change in years to come... but yesterday was a very fun Valentine's Day.  To compare our kids from past years (just because its fun...)

This was Tracey 3 years ago:

The twins last year:

Addallee this year:

The kids and I painted some Valentines a few days ago, so the day at home went pretty normal.  But, all the kids wore red or pink and were excited to wear their "Valentine's outfits".  Also, all day, I told them when Daddy came home, we would be taking a Valentine's Adventure, and they were very excited with anticipation about that all day.

I was very excited to get three of the four of them smiling (and sitting still) for this picture!

Both my mom and my mother-in-law sent each of the kids Valentine cards (such wonderful grandmothers), and so we opened those after naps.  These grandmas are such a perfect match for each other because Hubby's mother sent the kids little candies in their cards, and my mom sent the kids stickers in their cards.  What perfect Valentine gifts -- they don't need double candy or double stickers... but candy and stickers were perfect.

The kids were so excited for the Valentine's adventure that they got dressed in their shoes and coats and watched for Daddy to arrive home.

 

When Hubby got home, the kids were SO excited to give him their Valentine cards, and I had a present for him that they were excited to watch him open.  Then he gave me a little gift, and we had cards for the kids and a new book for them.

Then, we all drove to Glenwood Springs to have a family date dinner at Qdoba, which was having a deal where you buy one entree get one free if you kiss the person you're there with.  So, Hubby got dinner, and he kissed me so mine was free.  And we paid for two kids meals, and our kiddos kissed on the cheek, so we got one kid's meal free.  The restaurant had some traffic come and go while we were eating, but it was overall pretty empty, which allowed us to have a relaxed dinner with our kids.

So... just a funny memory I want to record.  There is a little boy in Tracey's class at school and she and the little boy are good friends.  According to both Tracey and the little boy, the two of them will be getting married some day.  Well, Tracey asked me several times throughout the day if this little boy would be at our Valentine's dinner.  I told her over and over that I didn't think so because it was a family dinner.  At one point, Tracey whispered in my ear asking if he would be there... then Howard leaned down and whispered the boy's name in Tracey's ear -- it was so funny because he knew what his sister was saying, and I'm pretty sure it was the first (of many times) he has officially teased his sister about a boy.  All of that to say, we were standing in line to order our dinner... and who walks into the restaurant but this boy and his family.  They were just taking dinner home, but it was fun to see them, and we knew Tracey would be excited that he was there.  Or at least, we thought she would be excited to see him.  After talking about this boy all day... she never actually said a word to him when we saw him at the restaurant.  Oh, four-year-olds.

I"m learning that I am getting better at fitting our family in selfies... but I blink when I take the picture.  Bummer. 

 Here we are eating, with Hubby in the background finishing up our order.

 

All in all, I really liked the way we celebrated our Family Valentine's Day, and had a Family Date.  It was fun to have something fun and different without the pressure of arranging baby-sitters for Hubby and me to try to make reservations for a romantic dinner.  We had a very romantic dinner... with each other, and our four junior valentines.

What a tiring day.

My forever Valentine!