February 7 - February 14

I wanted all of my pictures this week to be Valentines-y. I decided to throw Valentine's Day in here as well, making this week's post Sunday - Sunday. :)

February 7th. Today Maxwell Smart and The Skipper made Maxwell's Valentine box for school. The Skipper wrapped a shoebox in red wrapping paper and Maxwell decorated it with a few hearts. Being all boy, and not all that into art projects, we were surprised that he chose to put any hearts at all on the box. When he was first thinking about what to do, I told him that I had a bunch of Lego stickers he was welcome to use. His reply..."Well that's not very Valentinesy!"


February 8th. I made cookies for the 7and 8 year old kids I teach at church. I gave them each a baggie filled with cookie letters that spell "Choose The Right" -- a phrase we use a lot to remind the kids to do what Jesus Christ would want them to do. Of course the letters were all mixed up so their job was to unscramble them and figure out the mystery phrase. I also tucked in a few heart cookies, a small container of pink frosting, and a small bag of Valentine candies so they could decorate the cookies.


February 9th. A special cookie I made just for Larabee.


February 10th. Every year I do a Valentine treasure hunt for my kids. I make up clues that send them all around the house leading them to their candy treasure at the end. Here's Chief with one of the clues. (Wow -- you'd never know that these 2 hearts were cut from the same piece of paper! Speaking of the hearts, I was happy when Maxwell Smart asked if he could cut out the hearts for the clues this year. Again, something that's not typically his thing.)

February 11th. Today's picture was taken at Maxwell Smart's Valentine Party at school. It's a great picture of him sitting at his desk, holding a Valentine, head down with a shy look on his face, with the girl who gave it to him standing in front of his desk watching him open it.


February 12th. The Skipper and I had our Valentine date tonight. We went to a cozy little Italian restaurant. I ordered a delicious Mediterranean salad and a Spinach Fettuccine dish with basil cream sauce, pine nuts, tomatoes and chicken. So so good. The Skipper ordered Prime Rib Cacciatore. I was in the mood for something brownie-ish for dessert so this is what we picked up at the bakery on the way home.


February 13th. Today the kids had some friends over for a Valentine Cookie Decorating Party. Another Valentine tradition. Having all boys I don't imagine I have too many years left when all 3 of them want to do this, but for now they love it.

February 14th. My Valentine bouquet of roses from The Skipper. This arrived at the door on Friday. I put them in the middle of the dining room table. Larabee saw them and asked, "Are we having those flowers for dinner?"