We had such an awesome Valentine's day last year! We spent it with our WHOLE family and was seriously the BEST!
We started out by giving a couple of "Heart Attacks"! This has become a tradition of ours.
We took pretzels, stuck heart-shaped strawberry marshmallows on them, dipped 'em in chocolate, then topped with sprinkles. Here's an earlier post I did about these treats. Once the choco-mallow pops were cool, we fixed plates, cut out hearts and let the kids write on them.
We couldn't think of any one better to attack than our widowed Great Grandma Brady (my mom's mom) and Great Grandpa Anderson (my dad's dad). We couldn't let them be alone on Valentine's day!
They silently attacked houses with hearts and left a plate of goodies. Grandma B. had no idea! When they had gotten every heart perfectly placed, the kids and Joey rang the doorbell and hid. When grandma came to the door, they jumped out and surprised her! She got kind of emotional. She said we made her day! Doesn't get much better than that! They stayed a little while and told her how special she is to them.
They did the same thing to Grandpa A., only he caught them in the act! He saw them out the window! Haha! The kids finished while Grandpa, with a full heart, watched them. They stayed and talked while he shared oranges and chocolate-covered peanuts. He was so appreciative! He left his hearts up proudly for a few days.
What a fun little service project!
If you don't want to use tape, you can use a magnet for their door (most doors are magnetic), or glue each heart to popsicle sticks and peg all over their lawn!
So, while they were gone, I was home setting the mood...
The ambiance is key! I wanted it to feel special without breakin' out the fine china (I only have enough for 4 of us anyway), so I used cute paper plates and napkins. I placed them on silver platters to make it look like they were on fancy chargers. I hung beads from the chandelier and whipped out the red candles (and red hot candies). Not too bad. The kids absolutely LOVED it! We ate in candlelight the whole time. VERY romantic. ;) For a recipe for the Sweetheart Salad with a sweet and tangy Peach Balsamic Vinegarette, click HERE.
MY VALENTINE'S!
These are the faces of the people who make my life so wonderful. <3
Dinner was a hit!
But as fun as the day was, I have to say that DESSERT was the BEST!
And it was so easy! Just take anything you'd like to dip in chocolate and load it on a plate! We used Dollar Store "Heart Picks" for our skewers. So fun! For the chocolate- just take a bag of chocolate chips and add your favorite creamer (my favorite is coconut <3). Melt in a sauce pan & dip your goodies! I'm sure any creamer would be awesome. We have quite a variety-- we LOVE to use them in our hot chocolate and Pero.
The kids had a blast coming up with their own little concoctions. There's just something fun about dipping your food, huh? Then, we all decided to tell each person one at a time what we loved about them. We went in a circle until every person had been told by all 6 of the rest of us. BEST PART OF THE NIGHT! Sweet, emotional mommy moment... I discovered that despite all the arguing and pestering, my kids really DO love each other! Very, sweet, perfect end to the night.
Here's a beautiful short video to help your family get into the spirit of Valentine's day- LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Happy Valentine's day!
Check out this PDF for tons more Valentine's Day ideas!
Found your blog through pinterest and was quickly scanning down the page. I saw the picture and thought, "I know that guy.... I know that guy..." Finally it clicked and I had the husband confirm "Isn't that Nephi?"
ReplyDeleteThe husband asked what blog it was and said, "Yeah, that's Joey's wife. My mission companion." Funny how small the world is! Got to love the Anderson clan! :)