I Heart Valentine's Day

I'm such a sucker for cheap holiday shirts from Old Navy. We usually wear them on the day of celebration and then to sleep in for the rest of the year. I especially loved this pirate shirt for Cole--the pirates eye is a heart and the ends of the cross-bones are hearts too... they usually don't have any boyish Valentine's shirts, but this one is right up his alley.
This cute baby girl is Eliza--I get to watch her once a week while her mama is in class. She is so fun to have around the house! Her auntie Carrie Beth (who lives in SoCal) bought her this cute shirt and she called me today while Eliza was here to make sure she was wearing it :).
The kids wanted a "silly face" picture when we took pictures for our Valentine card for their grandparents. Isn't the wood heart cute? It was a fun gift from my sister-in-law for Christmas.
I used to hate Valentine's Day (I think I went through some very bitter years)--but now that I have my very own sweetheart who makes Valentine's Day special I love it. He worked so hard on my gift... and made today such a good one.
Ryan made me a whole stack of "gifts" including a gift of music (with a great mix CD of cool acoustic love songs--if you think mix CDs are cheesy, you are right, but I love them!), coupons for free nights where he takes care of things around the house, dates, flowers, a Roberts gift card, a Dippidee (best cookie shop ever) gift card, and several Cafe Rio gift cards. From the gifts, you can tell how well my Ryan knows me and knows what I like. In addition to all of that, he sent me cheesy text messages throughout the day that made me laugh (for example: "If you were a McDonald's hamburger, you'd be a McGorgeous") and he wrote me the nicest letter and decorated everything with pictures from our wedding. He wins the prize in my book for "Best Valentine Ever". Did I mention that I feel like the luckiest girl in the world?
This is Coleman this morning with his Valentine treats. He opened his shirt and said "Oh, cool, it's a pirate!" We made raspberry muffins (love the mixes from Lehi Roller Mills!) in our heart shaped tins, but he didn't want to eat any because you know, he didn't like the red things in them, so he had cereal instead. After preschool today he came to Olivia's class party with me and joined in the fun with all of her class mates. This afternoon several people dropped valentines off for him (his cute Primary teacher and some other little friends). He said to me, "Mom, people really must like me, huh? 'Cuz they keep giving me stuff!" It's good to be loved. I'm glad I'm his mom!
Here's my sweet Liv. She and I got coordinating t-shirts and we had a great time at her 1st grade Valentine's Party. I got to meet her "Valentine" who she tells me is in love with her, and a little secret, she says she's in love with him too. His mom helped at the party also, so I told her we just might be seeing a bit more of each other. Olivia goes out of her way to show everyone around her how much she loves them and today was no different. I'm lucky to be the mama of such a sweet, kind girl.

**What did you do to celebrate Valentine's Day?

**Do you love milk or dark chocolate Dove hearts better?

**Did you get any fun surprises for Valentine's Day?

**What fun things did you do for the ones you love?