L is for...

Late - I am 10 days late with our Valentines Day happenings!

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

We have a tradition that started years ago when my kids where just little and now.... it is now, one of their favorites.  There have been years when I have wondered... What was I thinking?  Sure, it is a labor of love - it takes pretty much my whole day.  But isn't that what the holiday is all about.... showing love?  Plus I get to burn a new play list full of cheesy love songs (like Justin Bieber's One less Lonely Girl) to play in the car while giving rides to my kiddos friends.... they love that!

It is interesting to note that, even though I tell my kiddos that I love them multiples times a day, on this day (more than any other day) it just resonates.  I don't know why it is this way, because I am doing all of the same mundane stuff I do all the time for them (clean, cook, write little notes, buy treats) but on this day, it is just.... different.  It is the one day that I feel they notice my work, my gift of love, for them - and I will take it!

It is really nothing to elaborate or fancy.... we have a candle light dinner at home, and I make a little treasure hunt for each of the kids.  That is it, and they eat it up!

My favorite part of the dinner..... the heart carrots - they are just so darn cute!  So cute that some of the children will not eat them - but I do!

The Valentine Menu

(it is pretty much the same every year)

Crab cakes

Cesar Salad

Angel hair pasta served with garlic shrimp
topped with a vodka sauce with little bits of prosciutto mixed in

Heart Carrots

Crusty bread

Heart shaped butter

Chocolate cake

Chocolate dipped strawberries

La piece de resistance.... The Treasure Hunt.  Honestly, I could probably just serve cold cereal, as long as we have the treasure hunt.  Again, not to complicated.  I take every letter in their name, I write something sweet about them and then give them a clue as to where they can find they next letter.  I try and make it challenging and have them running all over the place.  They are out in the garage, then in Mr Anderson's office, upstairs, in the oven, all over the place, it is so fun to watch.  They get a helium balloon with their first clue on it and they are off, ending with a little treat bag with their surprise. 

Now each of my boys only have 4 letters in their names and Lauren has 6.  Adam thinks it is a little unfair that Lauren gets 2 more clues and therefore more clues to unravel.... Lauren also thinks it is unfair (for a different reason) she has 2 more clues to find and does not finish as fast.  Sometimes you can't win for trying.  But, I tell you... It takes me a REALLY long time to writes out those 18 cards - I think that is the hardest part of the whole day.  You wouldn't think it to be so, but it is!  Then I run each of the routes as I place the cards... which I totally count that as my workout for the day.

There it is... the holiday is now complete.... the little munchkins feel loved and appreciated and promise to buy me things with money they do not have and do all kinds of lovely things for me for the next 100 years.  It really is sweet to see how just one day of showing love (or rather them actually noticing the acts) makes them want to show love back... forever. 

Now, despite their BEST intentions at that moment, they are still little, and so it doesn't quite work out that way, but for just a little while...... there is lots of love being spread around, they are polite with each other, they speak softly, they all offer to help and shower me with compliments of how I am the best mom in the world..... and I think, THAT, is the best Valentine I could ever receive!

Let them eat cake...

Lauren is a very sweet girl who is lucky enough to grow up with 3 older brothers and a dad who are very boyish and manly.  She is also lucky to be the only girl and gets to have all the benefits of being a princess.  Interestingly enough.... she is anything but the typical princess.


From the time she was little she has played with Lego, thrown balls, ran around dirty, and dug in the dirt in the lovely dresses I put on her.  Her favorite thing in the world was to follow her brothers around, wherever they went and watch whatever they did.  She never complained or fussed or wanted them to do "her" thing - she just loved being in their presence, watching their every move, listening to their every sound, contently from the side lines.

A few years ago, Adam was really into digging holes.  He would wake up early, eat his breakfast as fast as he could and then go into the garage, carefully pick the right shovel for the day and head out to his digging hole.  Lauren would also wake up early, eat her breakfast, pack a little bag of snacks for herself and her brother and wander outside to find Adam digging. 


She would stand beside that digging hole for HOURS in crazy Texas heat, just to simply watch her brother dig... and dig.... and dig.  When he was tired and stopped for a rest, she would hand him a snack and they would laugh and chat.  I would watch them from the window and a small bit of me wished I could be a part of that moment, to hear their conversations, and laugh along with them.  A small bit of me wanted to run out and join them.... but what I wanted more, was not to ruin what was being created, what was theirs.  What I wanted most, was for their friendship to grow and deepen and become strong.  And it has!


To this day, Lauren and Adam are best friends.  They sleep in each others rooms, they play games together, they work together, they read stories to each other.  Sure they fight with each other, but they stick up for each other too, and most importantly, they love each other.  Mr Anderson and I joke that they behave like a old married couple.  It really warms my heart.

Anyway, since Lauren has always been so easy, and never really demands or asks for anything, I jump when the occasion arises....especially when it involves something pink and delicious. 

And why not? 

She is the first to offer help when she sees my hands are full.  She is the first to offer me a taste of whatever she is eating or drinking.  She writes loves notes to me, Mr Anderson and her brothers, all the time, leaving them on our pillows.  She has even tip toed into my room in the morning and made my bed for me before I have had a chance to get to it.  She loves to nurture and take care of everyone.  She is always so thoughtful and giving.   Which in all honestly, is kind of a nice surprise, considering she is the baby of the family AND the only girl.  If someone was going to be selfish and spoiled and have a chance to get away with it, that would be the profile that fits.  But she is just so cool and fun and sweet - I don't know how I got so lucky to have her as a daughter. 


One day she is going to break Mr Anderson's heart when she leaves.  She is the only girl who can actually get Mr. Anderson to smile AND dance at the same time. 

So, her request.....

to bake a white cake with pink icing.

Well, we baked and iced and ate..... and we were happy.

And guess where Lauren ate her cake? 

Beside Adam....on the floor.....as they colored. 

And just this once, I feel like I had my cake and ate it too.....