Valentine's Day 2016

Valentine's Day 2016

I sure love my Valentine!!

We had a great Valentine's Day(s). Don't you think that Valentine's Day stretches for days now? Just like Halloween. It's crazy... but that is how it is around here. Plus it was weird having Valentine's Day on a Sunday. Valentine's Day began for us on Friday with the school parties.

Ailey and Bryn had their Valentine's Day outfits picked out the night before. They are festive girls!! They had tulips to give their teachers and Ailey even had special valentines for previous teachers. I didn't send them to school with red lunch this year because Valentine's Day was on Sunday. We had enough going on anyway.

It was a little sad that this was Ailey's last school party before she heads off to middle school. That is really freaking me out. Ailey is so tiny and innocent. Middle school may eat her alive. Reilly had a terrible time in middle school and she was much more outgoing. Kameron did okay though. He just stuck close with his core group of friends from elementary school and did great. Hopefully Ailey will do the same. Anyway... I digress. I have middle school on the brain since the open house is tonight.

Kelley and I volunteered in Elle and Bryn's class which was a lot of fun. It has been nice to have them in the same class for the last two years but I am sure it won't last so we enjoyed it. We were in charge of the big tic-tac-toe game.

First grade is so darn cute!!

It was impossible to get them to stand still for a picture! They are a wild bunch!

Then I ran upstairs to Ailey's class to hang out with her at her party for awhile. They were having a lot of fun too!!

The 6th graders had much better party food!! Ailey was happy that her last elementary V day party was a good one!!

Back at home checking out all her loot and reading all her valentines.

This was legit five minutes later!!

Bryn was pooped...and so was I!! I don't know how elementary school teachers do it?! I fell asleep with her on the couch too until Tyler got home.

Ailey was busy as a little bee after school with her service club. The 6th graders at her school can join the service club and they do all kinds of amazing things in our community. Ailey adores it! At Christmas they threw a huge Christmas party for disadvantaged kids at one of the community centers with gifts, crafts, treats, and entertainment. It was awesome. They also regularly visit the residents at a local assisted living place. Ailey left school right after the party with her club and they went to an assisted living center and handed out handmade valentines, flowers, and candy. They sang songs and visited with the residents. Ailey LOVES to go and visit with the elderly. She loved doing that when Reilly was a CNA. She just sat right down and chit chatted with all the residents and hugged and kissed them. She is so good with Granny and it really has helped her to relate to other elderly people. She is such a little nurturer and so kind hearted. I love that our school has this awesome club.

That night Tyler and I headed out for our own Valentine's dinner and date. We ate at our favorite sushi restaurant and bummed around downtown and had a blast together. So fun!

Sunday night we had our family Valentine's dinner and celebration. This was the first holiday that I really felt Reilly's absence. It sucked. Halloween Reilly was always busy doing her own thing so it didn't seem so strange that she wasn't there this year and then Thanksgiving was completely different in that we didn't gather with family, had just survived the windstorm, and headed to the Davenport Hotel for dinner so it didn't hit me as hard. Then Reilly was home for Christmas. But Valentine's Day... was definitely weird. Last year she even had Justin come to our house to celebrate rather than go on a special date. (FYI--They just broke up. Hallelujah. Hope it lasts.) This year we REALLY missed her.

Reilly requested that I still send her red lunch. Not possible. But I did send her a big care package full of red foods (and pinks) and red items and fun things for Valentines. We also sent her her "love note" the papers that we write to each other about what we love about each other. She texted hers to us and I wrote them on the individual papers. (She texted mine to Tyler and he had to write mine down so that I would be surprised.) We also facetimed with her which was nice. Still, it was very weird having her so far away.

We made homemade pizzas, strawberry jello pretzel salad, and had cherry floats. The kids get so excited to make their pizzas. I hate pizza so we rarely make it or order it but I can get behind a homemade pizza once in awhile and they love it. I should let them do it more often but it is never on my radar when planning meals. They can count on pizza on Valentine's Day and when they hang out with their Aunt Kelley. She never disappoints.

My Valentines were super sweet and generous. The love notes were the best! We go around the table and read aloud what everyone writes about us. I cry from word one and even more so while listening to what they write about each other. I always have to have Reilly read mine for me and when I looked to hand it off to her and she wasn't there I cried some more. Luckily Kam stepped in and did the honors.

Crazy Side Note:

(Lately I have been thinking about how strange parenting is...When I first started having kids I really thought that parenting was raising your children. But REALLY...the majority of parenting is done AFTER your children grow up and move out. You really only parent your child in your home for 18 years. But you parent your children outside of your home for another 50-60 plus years. Why is there no emphasis on this??  (My Grandma is still alive and my mom is in her late 60s.) Where are all the books and seminars and classes for parenting adult children? THAT IS THE REAL CHALLENGE. I am fascinated by this topic. There are tons of books on parenting small children...teenagers...what about the young adult? The 20-something? The 30-something? The 40-something? I think my mom has her hands just as full with the five of us now as she did when we were all living at home. I love talking to my friends farther down the line than me and getting their insights. It is an area that they all want to excel at but most struggle with...)

Things I think about...Anyway...back to Valentine's Day. It was lovely and I am blessed. Hope yours was too!!