Be My Valentine

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We have a Valentine tradition of writing special Valentines to each other, getting dressed up for a fun family dinner together at home, reading our Valentines out loud to one another during dessert time and then having a little dance party together in the kitchen. Since our plans for Saturday are up in the air, we celebrated our family Valentine's traditions last night.  Even though I was pretty happy in my jeans and sweatshirt while cooking dinner and I thought about us just all coming to dinner in our pajamas, I knew that the effort is worth it to take these times to stop and celebrate each other.  
(And it does not take much to convince me to dress up!) 


Giving thanks for this sweet family to share in these traditions year after year... 
fun to pull out my grandmother's little black dress that I've worn since college! 


pizza love - tomato and mozzarella for the kids and squash/kale/feta for me and Jason
(cutting out the dough just like paper hearts!) 


Heart Shaped Peeps for Valentine's Day in S'Mores 
(graham crackers, dark chocolate, and peeps microwaved for a fun Valentine treat!) 


The teacher in me gives out the assignment each year to us all 
and we all have this chance to say "I LOVE YOU!" 

the 2015 readings... 

It's such fun to look at our notebook through the years where we keep all these letters and 
to see this snapshot every year of love in this place. 

our Valentine notebook 


a favorite page above from the first year's entries when we started this tradition in 2006- 


and some of our 2015 letters below.... 
"Dear Anna, thank you for being a great sister. 
You play games with me. You are the best. Love, Taylor" 


"Dear Mom, Here's what I love about you. You're the best. Your necklace shimmers and dances in the light as you write.  You encourage me in everything I do. I love you so much. Love, Taylor" 



"Dear Dad, Thank you for being a great dad.  You encourage me in everything I do. You make me feel good when I'm sad. I love you so much! Love, Taylor" 


"Dear Taylor, I love your laugh, your creativity, your love for Poppy and I really like playing "Enchanted Forest" with you-- you're really good at it. You beat me almost every time in foosball. I love laughing at jokes, Calvin and Hobbes, or other comics or dad with you. I like building legos with you. I love you to the moon and back! Love, Anna" 

"Dear Dad, I love your laugh, your greeting me when I come home from school, your jokes, playing games with you, helping me with math, your brushing my hair, your coming in to say goodnight and going out with you. I loved going to Chocolati and talking and reading together.  I love watching you pick up Poppy and try to calm her. I love you to the moon and back! Love, Anna" 

"Dear Mom, I love talking with you, greeting me when I get home from school, dates with you, and doing other fun stuff.  :) I love all the decorations you make!  I really feel like I can talk with you about growing up as a girl. I love your blessings at night. I love you to the moon and back. Love, Anna" 

If my heart had not melted when they read these at the table, it is melting now as I am typing this. 

I love my people. 




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