XOXO Hugs and Kisses XOXO

So what if it's March and I'm just now posting Valentine's Day pics. So what if I have no time to brush my teeth, let alone post a thing on my blog these days. And so what if the Patriots didn't make it to the Super Bowl. -wow! that was freeing.



I love Valentine's Day! What's not to love about it? -"The cold," you may say....




.....yes, but look at that face out there in the cold.





I can't say that I've always loved Valentine's Day. As a kid, I ran into the same dilemma year after year. It was mandatory in our school that if you handed out Valentine cards, you had to give one to EVERYONE in the class....which, of course, meant the stinky, yucky boys. I remember feverishly looking through all my Valentine cards just to find the perfect, "I don't like you, but I'm forced to give you this" type of a card. (Usually, you could find a super generic card in every box like a picture of a stupid teddy bear that said, "Have a Beary special day.") The worst thing in the world that ever happened to me, was when I addressed all my Valentine's except the one for the stinky, yucky boy. I passed him by, and decided to wait until the end. -a mistake that I would never make again. The only Valentine left in my box said, "Valentine, you're pretty special. NO! You're WONDERFUL! No wait, forget special and wonderful, you're the best thing that's ever walked into school!! Did I ever tell you that you're THE HOTTEST guy in class?! -Marry me." Ok, well, maybe it didn't say those exact words, but it might as well had!!!! I mean GOOD GRIEF! it was a picture of a great big sun wearing heart sunglasses, and it said, "You brighten my day." My life was over. Surely I would have been the talk of the town during 4-square at recess!

-Reason number 203 why I love homeschooling, "No mandatory Valentines for the stinky boys."

We celebrate Valentine's Day with a special "Love Dinner." Because we have so many people in our family, (and writing each one a Valentine could cause serious writer's cramp,) we decided to have each member of the family pick a name. We all wrote special letters to "our secret Valentine." After dinner, we opened goodie bags, and took turns reading our letters.







Hey, see that balloon? You don't? It's right above the table. - While poking around Walmart for Valentine goodies, I found that large helium-filled balloon of passion. I decided that since this balloon was so huge, so full of passion and so fabulous, it would look perfect tied to Joel's truck. I purchased it and off I drove to Joel's work. I snuck in. I tied it to the truck. I snuck out. At the end of the day, I got a phone call from him. I could hear the grin in his voice. "Thank you for the balloon," he said. "Balloon? What balloon?" -It's a little game called, "playing dumb" that I like to play from time to time. ( I'm totally aware of it when I'm playing, so no need to correct me, please.) We recycled the balloon to the table when he got home.
Best $3.99 I ever spent!






PS I ripped a piece of paper out of my notebook, folded it in half, and wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" for the stinky boy. -There. I said it.