Valentine’s Day {2016}

We had a great Valentine weekend! Actually, it was my favorite one yet. On Friday both of the minis had Valentine parties at school. Thomas had a breakfast party in his class and a few hours later we went back up to daycare for Caroline’s afternoon party. 

I hope Thomas doesn’t mind that I’ve claimed him indefinitely as my Valentine. I am so obsessed with this adorable little man.

Next up was this munchkin’s party. Don’t let her cuteness fool you. Just moments before this picture was taken she had thrown herself on the floor in the middle of the hallway and hysterically cried over her paci (the item I’ve come to loathe) at home. But apparently a box of raisins cures a case of crocodile tears.

All her friends got boxes of magical raisins.

And all the teachers in both classes got Boom Chicka Pop…because it’s the most delicious popcorn ever. 

The toddler party was such a blast that we let Thomas crash it. All eight tots were jacked up on cookies, laughing and chasing each other around tables. It was awesome. 

The next morning I invited Aunt Jemima over to help me with a Valentine breakfast for the family. Caroline crushed her pancakes. And Thomas’s pancakes. The rest of the day we ran our usual errands and played at the mall for a bit.

Gone are the days of fighting the crowds for a dinner reservation past my bedtime. Saturday night I whipped up our traditional (post-kids) Valentine dinner – steak, twice baked potatoes and asparagus. For dessert I drizzled some caramel over a yummy Trader Joes cheesecake.

And we waited until the kids were sound asleep to enjoy it.

We usually keep our Valentine gifts pretty simple and this year Matt said he didn’t want anything at all. So I got him a card. And then he looked sad that I really didn’t get him anything after he opened his card. Soooo, I failed in the gift department. Oops. To make my gift guilt worse, Matt and Caroline surprised me with a few things from Nordstrom for Valentine’s Day. Lesson learned. 

At least he liked his card. And dinner. 

To continue feeding our pancake addiction we took the kiddos to IHOP for breakfast on Sunday.

And Caroline sang a birthday message to Aunt Lindsey!

One of my favorite highlights of the weekend though was when Matt surprised his sweet little Valentine with her very first bouquet of flowers – pink hydrangeas. She loved them and couldn’t stop smiling. It was a lovely Valentine weekend! 

Previous Valentine’s Days: 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012