(Note for busy people –  this is long, but the pictures speak for themselves . . . the text just adds the extra details.)

I decided to turn the whole month of February (minus the 1st and 2nd) into a Valentine’s celebration. This post will include some of the activities we’ve done this month.

Becca and I have done a variety of Valentine’s Day crafts. I found a neat website that gave patterns for animals all out of heart shapes. (Note – the giraffe is not heart-shaped . . . Becca wanted a giraffe, so I had to freehand it.) Another “craft” we did was Valentine’s Day was spritz cookies. Great Grandma Sutter gave us the press and it was perfect for Becca to use “1 click – 2 click – up.” We made mint pink heart cookies and painted them with chocolate. [Yummy! -jj]

Daddy Daughter Date (2/4/2012)

Chick-fil-A had a wonderful Daddy Daughter Date night. We decided that Becca and Josh would go. I made a big deal about it with Becca – we even got a new dress at Goodwill for the event. We were so impressed with how they ran the entire event. Tables and times had to be reserved. There was a live piano player. Roses were provided for the daddies to give to their daughters. There was a balloon man who could create just about anything (even a Flopsie). Gifts were given to all the girls. Becca was a little unsure about going on a Daddy Daughter date without Mommy, but once she got there she was so excited. She sat down at the table and shook with excitement. Her favorite part was the “BIG Cow – not a little cow” with pajamas and a hat on. [Sometimes she refers to this event as the Becca-Daughter Date Night. -jj]

Miss Jean for Lunch (2/10/12)

Becca and I had Jean Wood over for lunch on Friday. We had a good time of fellowship.

Couples Dinner (2/10/12)

Friday we had Parke and Lynnelle Brown and René, Yani, and Amaris over for dinner. The afternoon before they came I decided to decorate the table for Valentine’s Day. It started with having a special table with gifts for the girls, and then I decided to include the adults (minus the gifts!). During my “nap time” I got the idea to have a centerpiece with little hearts, each with a question for people to answer. I wasn’t sure what Josh would think of the idea . . . but he thought it was great. We had a delightful evening sharing all sorts of things. (The dessert was made by Lynnelle.) Josh later called the evening a mini couples banquet.

Daddy Mommy Date (2/11/12)

Josh and I celebrated Valentine’s Day Saturday evening. Josh made me a delicious meal and we enjoyed the evening at home. Eating at home with Josh’s cooking is my absolutely favorite “going out” experience. There is no restaurant I enjoy better – perfect food and perfect atmosphere. I also included conversation hearts for our meal with conversation topics on our marriage, etc. I am blessed to be married to a man who loves me very much.

Sunday & Monday Activities (2/12-13/12)

Since we had leftover lasagna from Friday night, we invited our neighbors (who live in the building across from us) David, Violet, and Riley over for dinner Sunday night. Becca and I had visited with Violet and Riley last Monday to deliver our Valentine cookies. Riley is exactly one year younger than Becca and they enjoyed interacting with one another. Violet has her Ph.D in analytical chemistry and David is working on completing his Ph.D in (some other branch of) chemistry. When they had left for the evening, we saw that it was snowing!

Monday, Becca and I went to spend the day with Amaris. Yani is working on completing a correspondence course and we spent several hours at their home playing with Amaris so Yani could work on her projects without interruptions. The girls had fun and we made giraffe puppets.

Family Valentine’s Day Party (2/14/12)

Tuesday night we celebrated V-day as a family. We made heartshaped pizza and Becca and I made strawberry cupcakes for dessert. We decorated our table similar to Friday night’s table. After our meal we danced to The Bare Necessities (Becca’s request – not that her parents were opposed) and played mancala. Part of our party also included a special V-day package from cousin Colette, and Valentine’s pj’s from Great Aunt Susan.

After all the partying (2/14/2012 – 2/15/2012)

Unfortunately, Becca ended up getting sick later in the evening and threw up several times from 9 to 11 (even Mommy needed a shower) and again at 4AM. Wednesday she still had a sensitive tummy, but was doing much better. [That was written before Mommy went to teach piano lessons at 5. Around 5:30 there were some additional problems, but things seem to be improving again. -jj] A BIG thank you to Josh who did a lot of clean up and running loads over to the laundry room while I took care of Becca – I married a winner! [And a BIG thanks to Amy, who did a lot of disgusting things, too. Glad I also got a winner! -jj]  Becca got to give Flopsie a bath (needed!). If you’ve been following the dates on this post, you’ll realize that since Friday, we’ve had very busy days (add in cooking for most of the day Thursday 2/9). I’m officially worn out and am looking forward to a quiet Friday . . . a full day of sleeping . . . ummmm, yeah right! Love being a wife and mommy!