Love Day

Valentines day came again this year.  It snuck up on me a bit since I don't have school schedules breathing down my neck.  No teachers requesting glittered shoe boxes.  No students anticipating personalized cards and candy.  Just me.  Just Brian.  Just our kids.

It was heavenly. 

A few days before the love day I took the kids to the craft store and let them pick out a few card making supplies.  Colored construction paper.  Markers.  Glue.  Pink glitter.  Pipe cleaners.  Red glitter.  Pretty ribbons.
Refreshing.
No generic superhero/princess cards.

Once Mr. Everything-Is-Harder-When-I-Am-Awake was down for his nap, we turned on the afternoon Olympics and pulled out our stash.  Then we promised each other we wouldn't look and went straight to work crafting the perfect card for each family member.  I admit I looked a couple of times to control the amount of glue being squeezed onto each card, but I swear I didn't see what they were making.

Once the cards were completed, we shoved them into each others small boxes (way too small... next year we'll have to either make smaller valentines, or get bigger boxes) on the windowsill and stared at them until Valentines day finally arrived.  There was lots of hugging.

LOTS of hugging.

I think next year I'll spend a little less time making sure my kids have the perfect Valentine for their classmates, and a little more time making sure they have the perfect Valentine for their family.  Cause this was way better. 

Plus, I selfishly want more pipe cleaner jewelry.

That evening, we spent four hours reading our love story aloud to the kids.  The first part of the story written and read by me, the second part written and read by Brian.  Four hours.  That's a lot of love.

McKenzie considers it the greatest novel of her time. 
And that's enough for me.