sweet day

ethan was pretty interested in valentine's day this year.

he picked out his valentine via my choices i gave him from pinterest {and you can get the free download here}

and he was thrilled when i picked up the magnifying glasses at the party store. 

he wrote his name 17 times.  i'll be honest - they ranged in quality.  some were missing letters.  and i purposefully didn't correct him or control it.

he cut out hearts...  i was impressed with my little non-crafter.

i did the stapling.  he did the glue-sticking.  he twisted hearts with pipe cleaners.  he melted my heart with adorable-ness.

he sang skidamarink a dink a dink while he diligently worked.  my heart melted some more.

and on monday, he received a bag full of valentines from his friends and has carried it around all week.

tuesday, valentine's day came, and the kids were pleased with their heart shaped toast with cherry jelly.  no need to spend money here... my kids were very impressed with my skills.

and then we went to buy my husband some cigars.  or smoke bars, as ethan calls them.  and since i waited until the 11th hour, i had no other options but to take my littles to the cigar shop.  where they really were on their best behavior.  walking in the humidor room... actually not touching anything.  {thank you lord - i didn't want to buy a full box.}  and savannah and ethan even sat in the chairs while i paid.  ethan got a big kick out of trying to mimic the poses of the huge native american carving {first nation's people?  indian?  what exactly is pc here?}  and then the shop owner was so nice he let them pick out a drink.  {sigh.  sprite was our best choice.  its still in my purse.  and i think i did a good job of feigned excitement - "yay!  a sprite!  tooth decay!!" i was fortunate that the shop owner wasn't irritated that little people were all over the 18+ world and wanted to reward them for good behavior}

we bought ingredients for dinner - rosemary pork loin -- parsley, parmesan mashed potatoes -- oven roasted asparagus.  believe or not, that night, both kids enjoyed their food.  ethan even ate asparagus.  so that he could eat candy daddy had brought them.

ethan wanted us to pick flowers for the table - so it could be like a restaurant.  and he found magazines and set them on the table... and just now as i am typing this, i realized he wanted them to be menus.  so sweet.

ethan and i cooked dinner while sister napped.  and we made brownies for dessert... really thin brownies...

so that the kids could cut them into hearts.  not fancy.  but easy.     

i think now that i have kids, i enjoy valentine's day more than i ever have.  ironic, isn't it?  the whole day was so sweet.  both kids telling me i love you and giving me hugs.

but to keep it real, i will say, ethan ran away from me in a parking lot and ate more brownies when i said stop... so he also earned a stinker badge :)

xoxo, s