Valentine's Day

For some reason, this year I felt like being more crafty and "homemaker-ish" for Valentine's Day.  I found a cute idea for a craft for Eli, where I had to bend one end of a toilet paper roll into a heart design, dip it in paint, and let him use it as a stamp.  It didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, as he didn't understand how to do it, and just wanted to touch the paint instead.  : )  Oh well, better luck next time, I'm sure!

A couple weeks before Valentine's Day I saw a great idea on a fellow blog to "heart attack" (write sweet messages on paper hearts) your family.  I thought it would be so fun and meaningful, so I drew and cut out 50 of my own hearts and wrote most to David, several to Eli, and some from Eli to Mom and Dad.  I left some hearts for David in case he wanted to write ones himself.  ; ) The hearts I made for David I put up in the kitchen and hallway, so he'd be sure to see them and read them often.  I put Eli's up in his room so he'd know they were "his."  Eli noticed the hearts right away, and pointed to them every time he saw them.

I loved this little project, and it seemed like I could feel more love in our home with the hearts reminding me of things I love about my family.  

Well, Valentine's Day arrived, and David still hadn't written any hearts.  I figured by now he wasn't going to.  Later that evening I came out into the living room and was surprised to find the wall decorated with his hearts for ME!!  My own heart leaped for joy, and it was the sweetest present he's ever given me.  You can bet I'll be saving those hearts in a scrapbook!  : )

I wanted to make cherry turnovers for a V-Day breakfast like my mom did for us growing up, but David doesn't eat breakfast at home since he leaves for work really early.  So instead I made them on Sunday.  David thought they were yummy!

(These were not David's, as he would never put this much drizzle on top.)  : )

David brought me home a couple of beautiful potted flowers!

For dinner I made a new recipe: Spicy Chicken Rigatoni.  I lit a candle to make it a little more romantic, and David said it was "the best meal I've had in a long time!"  Hooray!  : )

I wanted to make heart-shaped Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies for dessert, but I was unable to find a Red Velvet cake mix at the store, so it had to wait until Sunday.  Boy am I glad it did!  Making them on V-Day would have completely ruined the evening.  It was a huge disaster!  I have never baked cookies on my own before (I know, insert your horrified gasp here, please), and this sounded simple enough for my basic skills.  WRONG.  Here's a picture to show you what I had to deal with:

I seemed to have added too much liquid, because the "dough" was completely glued to my hands in one big, red, gooey MESS.  I was mortified, and thought my hands would be stained red forever.  David had to help scrape and peel the goo off me, and also added flour to my slimy dough.  I figured my cookies were officially ruined before they were even made.  It was a hugely stressful endeavor, as I was doing this at dinner time (with nothing cooked), and David had to get out the door for a church meeting.  Somehow it all eventually came together, and here was the final outcome:

Those little devils might look sweet, but they were made with my blood, sweat, and tears.  I told David it will be a while before I attempt to make cookies again.  : )

Hope you all enjoyed a fun Valentines!