A Labor of Love

Yesterday was Love Day.  


In years past, Valentines Day has not been a holiday that I celebrate with much intention.  Of course, we make Valentines for friends and relatives and I give the kids a small Valentine package, but that has been the extent of my Valentine celebrating.  No themed decorating.  No bells and whistles.    


I remember reading a blog last year and the author posted pictures from the "fancy" Valentine meal she had prepared for her family.  It was meant to be a special meal... one that was different from the day to day meals she routinely made.  Her Valentine meal was a true celebration of the love she had for her family.  


A year later, the images of her special meal, adorned with shades of red and pink, still lingered in my mind.  And so this year, I decided to make this Valentine's Day a little more special at my house.


So I decorated the kitchen table with Valentine trimmings...

We did a Valentine's Day countdown...

{Love Notes for Days 1 -14 of February}



{Daily Love Notes for each child tied to the tree branches}

The children ate breakfast on Conversation Heart plates...

We dressed for church in red and pink...

We made Valentines for school friends...

{Noah's gum BALL bags}

{Emily's Bear Hug bags}

We made Valentine award badges for special people...

{Noah made his teacher a "Best Teacher" badge.  

She said it was her most favorite Valentine she had ever received!}

I made badges for the kids to wear on Valentine's Day...

{Emily proudly wore her badge to school}

{Noah put his in his backpack when he got to school... 

he said he was "embarrassed" to wear it... a real dagger to my heart!}

And then...

then came my real Labor of Love...

I decided to make a "fancy" meal for my family.  A meal that was different than the day to day meals that I attempt to make.  A meal that would make everyone feel special, loved, and celebrated.  

So I fancied up the kitchen table...

I used place cards and make individual dessert plates for the kids...

I put Valentine treat bags/buckets out for everyone...

I filled out the last "Love Notes" for each child and lit a candle near their place setting...

When the kids came in from playing outside, they saw the table and both had the cutest reactions...

{Emily's reaction:  "Mommy!  This is so handsome!}

{Noah's reaction:  "Whoa!  This looks really neat!"}

{Notice he put his badge on.  It was his request.  He wanted to make me happy.}

{Molly liked it too... see her cute little toes!}

The table decorations were the easy part.

It's the cooking that I struggle with... and why this task was a true labor of love for me!

I made a pasta dish that I thought the kids would like.  It had noodles and I figured the heavy (delicious) cream sauce would distract them from the ham and peas.  I also made a green salad, cut fresh fruit, and served fresh bread.  

I was doing really well with the cooking.  The fruit was cut.  The salad was made.  The ham was in the pan and the pasta was boiling.  I was feeling really good about my accomplishment and was on task to have everything on the table by 6:30 when Vance arrived home from work.  All I had to do was finish the pasta sauce.  And so I dumped in the peas...

only they didn't look like peas!

So I grabbed the bag out of the trash can only to realize that I had not purchased peas, but this...

I am seriously NOT kidding about my lack of cooking ability!  I always make some kind of mistake!

So after painstakingly picking every last one of the edamame OUT of the pan (that was a labor of love in and of itself!), I threw all 3 kids in the van (while the pasta was still boiling and the ham still sizzling) and raced around the corner to my neighbor's house who quickly threw me a bag of frozen peas and rescued me from yet another cooking disaster!  

Back home, I resumed my position at the stovetop and managed to finish the dish just as Vance walked in the door!   And although the ham was a bit more brown than it should have been and the pasta was a bit too soft, it still tasted great!

At least Vance and I thought it was great.  Not surprisingly, the kids protested.  It seems no amount of delicious cream sauce could distract them from the peas and ham!  Emily took one bite and spit it into her hand, while tears rolled down her face.  Noah took two bites and told me that although he "really wanted to like it", he "just didn't care for it."  

Oh well!  I guess it's the thought that counts... or something like that!

They did like these...

{Guess who got her little fingers into the cupcakes before dinner?!}

After cupcakes and Valentine Dots (pretzels with hershey kisses and m&m's) for dessert, we opened our Valentine treat bags...

And then we ended our "fancy" special Valentine meal by reading all of our love notes aloud...

And that concluded my first annual "Labor of Love" Valentine meal and celebration for my family.


I dubbed it an annual event because although it was, in fact, a true labor of love, the kids felt really special and enjoyed it ever so much.  At the end of the meal, these were Noah's words to me...


"Mom, I really appreciate all of this stuff.  I really liked it.  I did."


Yes, he actually used the word "appreciate"... how could I not want to do it again?!


And to top it off, he added a bit of icing to the cake when I tucked him in to bed.  Unprompted, he said to me...


"Thanks again for all that nice stuff you did!"


So while the cooking was a lot of work (for me!), the kids didn't eat it, and I made one major mistake, the evening was still a success...


A labor of love that was well worth it!