My Six Valentines

My Valentines were multiplied this year. Six times the hugs, six times the fun, and six times the love. Of course, my four tiny Valentines went through their day as usual: bottles, naps, diapers, playtime . . . you know the drill. My medium sized Valentine (a.k.a. Jackson) was very excited and wanted to do something special and my big Valentine (a.k.a. Clint) had to work.

I had promised Jackson that we would make heart cookies for Valentine's Day. He talked about it for days and so of course, when he realized it was Valentine's Day, he couldn't wait. I told him we had to wait until nap time, then he insisted on pumpkin muffins for breakfast, so we started baking early! Jackson, as always, acted as quality control while I baked (i.e. he tasted the batter and sampled the finished product, and occasionally made sure the ingredients were dumped in the bowl in just the right manner.) After warm muffins for breakfast, "we" bathed four babies and put them down for a nap. Then of course it was COOKIE TIME! We made small heart shaped spice spritz cookies. Jackson thought the cookie press was really cool. It was the first time that he had really helped with these kind of cookies. (I love the spice spritz cookies, but you have to be careful because they are small and it is so easy to just keep eating them :) After that, it was pretty much a "normal" day around here (except I did get out a little to run some errands).

When Clint got home, he brought a surprise with him. Jackson met him at the door and then presented me with three red roses and a big "Happy Valentine's Day Mommy!" Then Clint presented me with a potted plant that had red, pink and white flowers and another "Happy Valentine's Day!" So sweet. Jackson was so into wishing and giving Valentine's that he grabbed heart shaped cookie to give to daddy and told him Happy Valentine's.

Jackson was most excited though, when he received his Valentine's "mail." He received a small mailbox filled with candy and Hotwheels cars (Clint had a mailbox with a little candy too). We have a mailbox for every member of the family and my long term plan is to set them out for Valentine's Day so that everyone in our family can "mail" Valentine's to each other. I think it will turn into a fun tradition as they all get older!

Jackson with his mailbox

What did I get?

All my Valentine's

My Flowers

Jackson spent the rest of the evening talking about what Valentine's each person received and who gave which one to which person. He was so excited! I wish I could say that he went to bed easily and Clint and I were able to enjoy some quiet Valentine's moments together, but that was not the case. After wrestling Jackson to bed (more on recent bedtime struggles later), we finished our movie and when it was over (after 11:00), we were greeted by the voice of a little boy who was STILL awake in his room!!! I guess he wanted enjoy EVERY moment of his Valentine's Day! (Sigh . . .)

On an exciting note, my sister, Jessica got engaged two days before Valentine's Day!! Looking forward to a summer wedding!