...and sometimes a little bit more than just the little things.
Usually we let Valentine's Day go by paying it only enough attention to make sure the kids have their obligatory stuff for school and maybe a sugar cookie or two (none this year though). I was thinking back on Valentine's days and remembered one when I was a kid and we came home to find our dining room table all decorated festively with red, pink and white balloons, a heart-shaped cake and a cute red & white teddy bear -- one for my sister and one for me. Hers was polk-a-dotted and mine was checkered (or was it the other way around?). It was a fun surprise. The memory of it has obviously stuck with me.
So, with that in mind, yesterday I decided to make it somewhat of a special day for the kids. They helped set the table for dinner and then I let them wander off before calling everyone back in to eat. Jemma came in first and I heard this cute spontaneous giggle as she spotted this:
Not long after that I heard Jordan say, "Sweet! I wasn't expecting anything for Valentine's Day!" when he saw this:
And that was just it -- it was completely unexpected, which made it fun and they were so happy.
I went all out for dinner (ha). We ate steak, broccoli, french fries, sparkling grape juice and cherry cheesecake for dessert (which was sort of a tradition in my family when I was younger):
Cherry Cheesecake
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 can Condensed Milk
1/3 cup Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Vanilla
Mix ingredients together until creamy.
Pour into prepared graham cracker crust (I do admit - since the photo reveals it anyway - I don't always make a homemade crust) and chill. Before serving, top with Cherry Pie Filling.
4 comments:
Aw, how fun i love your blog it's short and sweet and you always include things that are significant in your life.
Very cute dinner! I too have one specific valentine memory where my mom did something special. That motivates me to go all out, but sometimes I wonder if its better to do it like you have so that it is a total surprise, and not an expectation.
I do think the surprises are the best. What a nice dinner with your family. Brielle was crying the other day and said I miss Jemma.
Providing surprises like that for the kids is so much fun. We gave Landon a book and some candy and Whitney a new tiger stuffed animal and some candy, they were both thrilled. I didn't do anything for dinner though, maybe next year I'll do it your way.
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