Valentines celebrations!

Last year I made the kids a heart shaped egg in a piece of toast, and then put some jelly on the heart I had cut out of the center (where the egg went) and chocolate chip heart shaped pancakes for lunch. They also decorated cut-out sugar cookies (heart shaped) last year on Valentine's Day. This year our celebration began on Monday when we gave the kids their gifts a few days early because Nadia was asking to do a puzzle, and Paul suggested we give them their gifts early since I had gotten them each a new puzzle. On Friday I let them eat the chocolate my mom had gotten them (they each got a little heart shaped box that had four pieces). That same day Nadia painted Valentines for Paul's parents and for Paul. Paul and I went out on a date on Friday night, and while we were out we bought six brownie batter donuts for a special Valentine's Day breakfast (those donuts are heart shaped). The kids loved them! At breakfast I also let them open their Valentines from Grandma and Grandpa. They were thrilled to receive gift cards to McDonald's and such in them!

I had planned to do the egg and toast thing for lunch but that didn't work because Nadia's basketball game was from 11:30-12:30, and we like to feed the boys lunch during her game to help pass the time since they are not big fans of watching basketball games. I was planning to make heart shaped pizzas for dinner, but Paul's parents were able to meet us at Nadia's game (we hadn't seen them in more than a month) so we splurged and bought pizza for the first time this year later in the evening. Yumm! They received cards from Grandma and Pop Pop as well as $5 each, which they will have fun spending! I had given Paul a bag of M&Ms on Friday night. Paul objected because we had agreed the money we paid the babysitter for our date would be our "gift" to each other this year, but he felt better when I let him know that I only paid 24 cents for his gift (thanks to a coupon that took 74 cents off the price). I gave the kids a hard time (teasing) on Friday that everyone got chocolate for Valentine's Day except me. Maybe next time they'll share one piece with me. :)

One of Nadia's shots

Nadia's game went well. She made several attempts at making a basket, and she was *very* close a couple of times. She made THREE baskets at the practice on Thursday night so maybe by the end of the season she'll make one in a game. She continues to improve with dribbling and playing defense. The thing I noticed the most improvement this week was she had some REALLY good passes (and a couple of assists). Her coaches and teammates are incredibly encouraging. What a fabulous team for her to be on! Paul's mom will be starting a brief radiation treatment on Tuesday so we won't see them for a few weeks. I am so glad they were able to make it to Nadia's game. We weren't sure they would because of the snow. Thankfully we didn't get as much as originally forecasted although their the first part of their drive home was a bit slick. Many churches in our area cancelled their services today due to the snow we got last night as well as the bitter cold temperatures. It was ONE degree (not including the wind chill) when we drove to church this morning. So many people were missing from the adult choir that our director decided at the last minute that we wouldn't sing this morning. We were planning to sing a beautiful arrangement of "A Mighty Fortress is our God."

There were enough kids present though for the kids' choir to sing. They sang in both services. Paul took a video of the first service. I wish we had a video of the second one, but the battery died at the end of the first service. In the second service our kids were smiling (unlike the first time), and the CD was acting up in the first service so they quickly switched to having the music pastor accompany them on a synthesizer, and I thought it was a million times better that way. Ian continues to improve by leaps and bounds when it comes to singing with a choir in front of a congregation.

For lunch today we had the heart shaped eggs and toast, and after Oliver woke up from his nap the kids decorated heart shaped sugar cookies. During his nap I had Nadia and Ian each make a list of the 5 (Ian)/ 6 (Nadia) reasons they love each parent. I had done the same thing last year, and it was fun to compare their lists. I think this concludes our Valentines activities for this year, but every day we should look for ways to show our love to others!