Pine-Tine's Day

We had a simple Valentine’s Day this year. The hubs left the house at 7:30 am (after presenting me with a SWEET card and some peanut butter cups) and he’s not expected back until Midnight or later. He works hard for the money, ya’ll.

In a last minute effort to be festive, I served red oatmeal with sprinkles and pink milk for breakfast. Ben and Grace got a kick out of that. It’s amazing what a little food coloring and candy hearts can do to the food I serve EVERY SINGLE Tuesday & Thursday before school.

I did not consult Pinterest or make any grand plans for the Valentine’s that they brought to their friends. In fact, I let Brian and Ben pick them out. Little cards with Airheads stuck in them. They came 28 to a box. Ben needed 17 & Grace needed 11. Perfecto.

There was a slight hiccup when I realized at 10:30 pm on Monday night that I had not picked up any cards for Noah. Yes, Noah, the 10 month old. Apparently besides blowing raspberries and pulling each other’s hair, he and the 5 other itty bitties in his Mother’s Day Out class would be exchanging Valentine’s cards. No worries. Ziplock bags plus goldfish crackers plus 20 minutes in Publisher equals this:

I did manage to dress them all in red. That was pretty last minute, too. This is why Grace is wearing a summer halter dress with a turtleneck underneath. You do what you have to do.





The sunglasses were her idea, of course.

After school we checked the mail and the kids opened a surprise Valentine’s treat (thanks, Grammy!). Grace presented me with a Valentine’s craft that she made at school. Not to be outdone, Ben set to work on his own creation. “Mom, I’m going to need some ribbon, glue, and markers. You’re going to need to cut me a heart out of some card board. Ok?” 20 minutes and one bottle of glue later, he was done and out the door to play with the neighborhood kids. Grace watched her favorite movie, Rio, while Noah bug napped and I cleaned and made dinner.

My favorite part of the day was at the table when we all went around and said one thing we loved about each other.

Ben’s were sweet and thoughtful. He loves Noah because he’s funny, Daddy because he takes him fun places, Grace because she plays with him, and Mommy because I love his Daddy.

Grace’s love proclamations were funny. They were sweet, but mostly factual. Grace loves Daddy because he goes night-night and kisses her, me because I take her bye-bye., Noah because he drinks bottles, and Ben because he poops on the potty,

I had a turn, too! I love Noah’s big brown eyes and long lashes, I love how smart Ben is, I love the songs Gracie sings, and I love Brian because he is very funny and he works really hard.

It was a sweet day. For the sake of the holiday I am omitting tales of spilled pink milk, dinner time battles, poopy underwear, snotty, grumpy babies and a very missed hubby and daddy. Instead I’ll leave you with Grace’s new word. Happy “Pine-Tine’s” Day!