So, there was this one day...

...called Valentines Day. Remember that? It was, like, a whole month ago, and I never blogged about it! I have great excuses. Just read back a few posts. Anyway, I'm hoping to get back to posting more often, because we really have lots of fun going on at our house all the time. I guess it's not ALL fun, but it IS busy, and it IS life for us, and we are just swimming along trying not to drown ;) LOL! Ever since I got seriously into photography, I've tried to incorporate pictures into our Valentines. I still remember one I took several years ago. I had put cut-out hearts all over the front door, and dressed my kids in various shades of red (Hayden was still a baby) and I still have that funny little snapshot hanging on a message board in my kitchen. I've learned a lot since then, and my photos have dramatically improved! This year, we decided to have the kids "holding" a sucker for their valentines. Here is the end result:

I couldn't just take ONE picture of each of them, though. I had to torture them a little bit more, so here are their official Vday portraits! (Poor kids!)

And then, of course, I had to make one for the Grandparents with all four!

Now, Jared likes to get me a dozen roses every year, which I love... however, I didn't want him to spend that much money on something that was just going to die. I could think of a million other things to spend that on... (*ahem* eating out!!)

He did get me one rose, and I was happy as could be with that, because I found out that he had quite the date planned for us. (That will be the next post!!)

I wanted to do something fun for my kids, so I got up earlier than usual, and made chocolate-chip, heart-shaped pancakes, and they LOVED IT! They keep asking me to make them again. I guess I better get some chocolate chips!

Of course, I think the highlight of any kid's Valentine's Day is their class party. Getting all the candy and all the fun cards, along with the games, crafts, and super awesome "Valentine Holders" that they make, all add up to a fun day. The boys made their Valentine envelopes at school, but Kaitlyn was supposed to make one at home and bring it. Here's what we came up with:

It was a great Valentine's Day this year. I even decorated the kitchen a little bit. The sad thing, is that here we are at March 9th, and those Valentine's decorations are still up. Sorry St. Patrick's Day... looks like you're not getting any love from me this year.