Friday February 11th:
While Matt and I were enjoying an adult dinner at Shafer and Lindsey's, Mallerie decorated the door to Ava's room -out of the blue. Shafer and Lindsey hosted our 4th NKAAFN (here I go with my acronyms again). Both Shafter and Lindsey had gone to great lengths to have the house party ready. She had details of love everywhere! Just look at that spread! Shafer had been playing handyman in the kitchen by rearranging the configuration of the island. Just four hours prior the granite had been installed -in the nick of time for me to set my punch bowl on to mix up some love potion. The recipe called for club soda but I couldn't see it at Smith's so I got lime flavored tonic water. The punch brought me back to what my grandma Taylor used to make. I tried to recreate it for my family on Valentine's day but this time I used club soda from Day's. What a blessing that I couldn't find it for the adult party because it made the punch taste awful! Katrina dumped a cup of sugar in the bowl just to make it go down. Anyway, back to the adult party. Shafer and Lindsey had a questionnairre for us to answer. Aside from one of the papers catching on fire the questions weren't necessarily "hot." But one of the questions was to share the most memorable Valentine gift to your spouse. My hand shot up as I told how I was sneaky and got Matt's ring engraved without him knowing it. It wasn't till I was well into the story that I realized, hmmm, maybe I can't share every detail out loud. (I was afraid my story might catch fire). I made a few revisions to make it party appropriate but Matt and I got a laugh out of it later. Lindsey made some gluten free peanut butter bars for dessert. The pan was quite large so I took two home. They were just the thing for after church on Sunday. Matt and I ate them alone in our room. Hehe.
So as I mentioned there were details of love everywhere including heart pin-ons with personalized initials. I wore it again on Valentines. Cause when else am I going to wear it?
Earlier in the day I had helped in Ava's class Valentines party. I brought Growlie and they rotated with the groups and had a great time. Above Callie is entertained by a live pup. The owner told me it is a Maltypoo (Maltese Poodle mix). She said she chose it over the Shitsu Poodle mix because she didn't like that abbreviation as much. This is where some acronyms might come in handy.
At my station I did my madlib/conversation heart game that I made up when Katrina was in 3rd grade. I like that I have something standard I can do for any party by now. It's like having my party pants always pressed and ready to go. Graham's interest in the games only went so far and he found himself loving technology more.
Saturday February 12th: I attended a baby shower in SL for cousin Sariah. It's funny, this cousin is due next month with a baby, and just this week I myself had a new cousin born when my Uncle Ross and wife Suzy had a new baby girl. It's interesting to see the generations overlap.
Sunday February 13th:
This 9 o'clock church is making for some very long days.
Monday February 14th:
On Valentine's Day when I went to get the (gag) club soda from Day's, Growlie fell in love with the heart balloons. Graham accidently let his go right away and it floated to the top of the grocery store ceiling. The cashier was gracious to hand him another but I made sure I tied them fast to their writs before exiting the store. Those balloons have brought just as many tears as smiles to this household.
Dinner was made somewhat hectic that evening for Valenitine's only because I was also making some for a new baby on the street. Well, not for the baby, but the mom and family to eat. The hectic part came when the teriyaki chicken in the crock pot was nowhere near done when it needed to be. (Sound familiar Jamie?) I threw it in a frying pan and was able to leave the house at six o'clock on the nose to walk kitti-corner with Matt and our yummies. When the compassionate service lady had asked me if bringing dinner to someone else on Valentine's Day would work out, I assured her that it's actually the perfect day to spread some love.
Because of the triple batch of sugar cookies I had made for Mallerie's fund raiser I had no desire to make more for Valentines. Luckily, the phantom doorbell ditcher left two Pepperidge Farm cakes on the doorstep. Funny thing, I saw the boxes for them in our garbage can outside...
Monday February 7th:
The last thing I'll mention on this Valentine post is the Magic Penny. My siblings will remember hearing my mom sing this song "Love is like a magic penny hold it tight and you won't have any, lend it spend it, and you'll have so many, they'll roll all over the floor." When we did FHE at the Care Center Matt held up this cube and asked, "What good are the pennies stuck inside?" Then he taught how if they were out of the cube they could be lent and spent and therefore, would mean a whole lot more. Love is the same way. And since it was just in front of the old folks, our family SANG that song. Picture everyone singing in a different key to a different tune or not singing at all. It was AMAZING. The elderly were refreshed on the story of Alma baptizing in the waters of Mormon and then teaching the new members that their hearts should be knit as one. We gave out the paper valentine "knit" baskets with candy hearts that we had made. Instead of playing button/button at the end this time we played penny/penny. Watching Graham wait with his hands pressed together and his EYES pressed shut was adorable. Matt brought up that this would be the opportune time to do my half penny trick that I had done at Cade's birthday/talent party. I did. When one of the old gals saw the half penny she said, "That's against the law."
Happy Valentine's Day People!
