I Heart Valentines Day

Every year my family sees it coming.  The red hearts scattered about the house, a heart wreath on the door, our garden flag waving, petite hand towels in the powder room.  I love, love.  Really I do.  Is there a better day than when we are able to shower those we hold closest with affection and words of our feelings?  I think not.  Well, maybe there is, but we're not talking about those days today.  Today is for Valentines day and yet another day filled with tradition in our home. 



Husband Jared and I always treat the Things to a special something for this day of love.  This year we began the day with our verse for the week, 1 John 4:7, heart shaped eggs for breakfast, love notes in the lunch boxes and a special meal for dinner.  When the Things returned from their day of learning we decorated heart shaped cookies and they oohed and aahed over what was to be the most decadent of desserts, baked hot chocolate, thank you Wall Street Journal for the recipe.  It was really as easy as pie.  We lit candles, opened presents and enjoyed every last morsel of our shrimp pasta all in anticipation of dessert.



Perhaps though, my favorite part of this day comes after dinner, and no it's not the dessert. When the six of us sit around the table and talk.  I have paper with each of our names at the top and then blank.  Open space to fill with words of love.  Each member of the family writes two things they love about the other five.  No physical attributes allowed.  These love words then are read aloud over dessert and we laugh and cry, ok only I cry, and then I hang them on the wall so that when we need a reminder they are there for us to see.  And don't we all need a reminder of how much we are loved every now and then?