A Loving Valentine's Day...

We had a wonderful and loving Valentine's Day here at our home. The kiddos were spoiled with yummy breakfast treats, shared Valentines at school, and even brought home some handcrafted goodies for us as well. The cherry on top was my brand new cordless Dyson vacuum - seriously, I was like that heart eyed emoji when I opened up that thing - and it's pink. :)

Adam wearing same outfit as Harper at age 2 - adorable

The boys also got to open their Valentine's Day cards from Ommy & Poppy - Harper is still trying to figure out what that green paper is - but Adam sure knows! :)

Love is in the air - and so is a lot of dust as I've noticed since using my cherished Valentine's Day gift.

XOXO

Valentine's Weekend at Wintergreen...

For the third year in a row we journeyed up to Wintergreen for the long President's Day/Valentines weekend with Kristine, Kathleen, Reid & Ava. This year we had three new participants in our gathering - Harper, Sadie & Finn. 

The kids had so much fun together spending much of their time outdoors - which was shocking as it was 10 degrees out there! Kids definitely have a much higher tolerance for the cold - and playing in the woods building forts I guess keeps you warm. The adults (and Harper) stayed close to the fire - we're smart like that. However we did brave the elements to go tubing with the kids, which I had never done before - and now I'm hooked! It really is a lot of fun and with the snow falling during our tubing time it really was the perfect winter activity. 

When the kids weren't outside they were inside playing and spending lots of time with Harper. Reid and Ava just couldn't get enough of him - and Harper definitely enjoyed the attention. 

Since we were there for Valentines Day we thought we'd do something special to mark the occasion so we did cheese fondue as an appetizer and then we did steak and shrimp fondue with lots of dipping sauces for our dinner. It was so delicious and the kids loved doing it. Chocolate fondue was on the menu as well but we were all pretty well stuffed from the first two courses. Chocolate covered strawberries served as the perfect replacement dessert. :) 

It was a great weekend spent in the mountains and with the extra snowfall we even got to extend our trip by a day. The dogs enjoyed their extra play time as did the kids and happily the adults came well prepared so we had plenty of extra food and wine to get us through. Looking forward to next year's trip already! 

Valentine's Day at Wintergreen...

We spent Valentine's Day at Wintergreen with Kristine, Kathleen, Reid & Ava. We're in year two of meeting up there for a winter weekend so I'm officially calling it a tradition. 

For our Valentine's feast the kiddos made heart shaped pizzas. They are too cute together. We then sent them downstairs for a movie so we could enjoy our fancy feast of lobsters and filets. Oh so good. 

The weekend was going to entail skiing but with sub zero temperatures we found it was more fun to just stay in, let the kids play games and puzzles in the basement (and iPads of course) while we enjoyed chatting by the fire and watching lots of Food Network. 

Already looking forward to next year's trip - but hopefully with warmer temps!

A loveable (and lengthy) Valentines...

Due to yet another snow storm (this one upwards of 15 inches!) our lover's holiday was extended this year. We got to celebrate on the actual day and got to celebrate again after the snow melted and school opened back up at his Valentines Dance!

Our Valentine's Day involved beautiful flowers, cards, and a decadent lobster thermador topped filet dinner and my favorite (naughty) red. Chocolate strawberries (always my request) were the perfect ending to a sweet day spent playing in the snow and cuddling by the fire.

Adam's Valentines Dance was very festive. All the kiddos were adorable in their dress up clothes. The boys in sweaters, vests, and even a three piece suit for one little boy. The girls had on fancy dresses, tights and lots of patton leather Mary-Janes!

Adam was spoiled with lots of Valentines and treats from his friends and girlfriends but at the end of it all was still asking if I'd be his Valentine (swoon!) 

Say what you will about this "Hallmark" holiday but I just love it. Smooches all around! 

Love was in the air...

It really is amazing how much more special the holidays are when you have a child.  I obviously knew Christmas would be taken to a completely new level and of course egg hunts would once again grace our Easter celebrations, but I never realized how much more fun Valentine's Day would be. It really is almost a kid's holiday, and I don't mind one bit.  

The celebrations started over the weekend as Adam and I started to prepare his Valentines for school. We also did a Valentine craft from his Highlights magazine and had fun letting Olivia in on the fun.  

We sent bubble wands in to school with little love notes to his classmates stating how they each "blow him away!" I love how they turned out and especially loved the lack of sugar! :) 

Adam came home from school on Valentine's Day with a substantial stack of love notes...and sugar...but he had a great time and I'm told the party they had at school was very fun and chalk full of red and pink treats! 

It wasn't such a bad day for the adults, I was gifted with some very lovely flowers and Andy made my favorite, chocolate covered strawberries!

I definitely have a new found *love* for this lover's holiday!