Be My Valentine

Our family enjoys holiday traditions. Regardless if the source of the holiday is patriotic, religious, or secular, we enjoy celebrations. Our children are quite spoiled by having grandparents who add to the holiday excitement. We had fun celebrating Valentine's Day.

(I will admit that I do not know the true origin of Valentine's Day, and have always thought it was a materialistic holiday made-up by the flower shops or the greeting card creators).

Granny & PawPaw are always early with their holiday greetings. Considering their career in the military, the running joke is if you are on time, you are late! They take that seriously. So, the greeting cards in pink and red envelopes arrived in the mail on Thursday.

It is always an exciting mail call to find letters from Granny! She takes great care to sign each card, and include stickers, a balloon, and a dollar for each grandchild.

Nana takes the time to make every holiday special too. She emailed me advanced notice that a box of goodies would be arriving soon. She takes great care to pick out a little gift and some candy for the kids. I intercepted the box and hid it until Friday night when The Referee arrived home from his business trip, so that he could enjoy watching the kids open their Valetnine's box from his Mom.

The box was filled with character Valentine's cards, DumDum lollipops (a huge hit at our house), and a coloring book for each child....

And, did I mention that each grandchild received a Valentine card addressed to them from Nana which also included $2.....

Saturday night, after the kids were asleep, I set out their Valentine gifts from The Referee and me, to be discovered Valentine's morning. In addition to a box of candy, the older 4 received a pack of underwear, and the baby received a pack of pacifiers.....

At first, I was really proud of my practical gift. Two of the children were starting to grow into a larger size, and needed new underwear. Later, I got to thinking that underwear may not be the brightest idea for Valentine's Day. What if they decided to show off their gifts to friends, while wearing them? Oops.

The candy and new underwear were a big hit. Everyone put on a new pair of underwear to wear to church that morning. Thankfully, no one showed them off to anyone else! Whew! Next year, I will think of a different practical gift.

We enjoyed some chocolate with breakfast....

I was very amused that The Referee surprised me with a pack of candy which was the exact same thing I bought for him--Reeses Peanut Butter Hearts. We both enjoy them. Since we each received a pack, we didn't even have to share.

I hope your Valentine's Day was filled with love and chocolate too.

Actually, I prefer to have ALL of my days filled with love and chocolate...