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Daniel has such a gift for making even little things like breakfast seem special. Heart-shape waffles are, of course, special for Valentine's Day. However, he always arranges things "just so," and adds the whip cream to make it so fun and festive. This is one of his gifts that I love! And, it's not just on special occasions... he does this quite often, which really makes the girls and me feel special!
Our Valentine mailbags each contained a special card from Papa. Poor guy has 5 cards to write; 3 Valentines for the girls, 1 for me, and a birthday card for me. That is LOVE!
One of our Valentine activities, of course, was playing with the play dough we made. (We made a double batch so that we could give some away and still have lots to play with!)
Ok, so here is another example of a special touch and why my husband melts my heart. See that gorgeous box of chocolates? My husband saw me reading about them in my last issue of Sunset magazine, and ordered from that San Francisco gourmet chocolatier. It is so fun trying all the different flavors like salted banana caramel and honey fig! The picture on the far right shows the box of chocolates on top of the Sunset magazine article.
I was able to go for a jog with Sierra in the afternoon, then came home, took a shower, and hurried off to my massage appointment. Awwww.... there are no words!
Another fun surprise... flowers!
I walked in from my massage to the most wonderful-smelling house.
Macadamia-encrusted scallop salad. Yes, it was that good!
...And, beef bourginion, once again! He used a different recipe this time, and it was different but just as yummy! You can imagine how spoiled I am feeling at this point...
For dessert, we did chocolate fondue with strawberries and blackberries. I can't even believe how many Allison ate!
After dinner, I played a quick round of Valentine BINGO with the girls before our cousin came over to watch them and put them down. In the meantime, Daniel and I walked across the street Starbuck's for our date. I cannot even tell you how nice it was to sit and chat! Before leaving, we had Natalie take a picture of us using our big new camera. It is so heavy for her, she can barely hold it up. But, as always, her picture still turned out pretty good. Here it is:
Disclaimer: after my massage, I was too tired and lazy to change into anything nice for our date. Hence, the jeans and sweatshirt!
... AGAIN! When I was little, I always wanted a surprise party. I don't know if I ever told anyone that. Somehow, I don't think so! Enter Daniel. Perhaps I let it slip, once... or perhaps God whispered it on his heart. I really should ask him. Whatever the case, I have now lost count of how many surprise parties he has thrown me!
This was the first time he did it 2 years in a row; and both were huge bashes! I cannot tell you how humbling it is... how blessed I feel.... how overwhelmed with love and joy I felt... how much I love and appreciate my incredible friends!
As I looked around the room, all I could think was WOW.... I absolutely LOVE all these people. The room was not filled with acquaintances, but each and every one was a significant "best" friend; someone I would love and trust with all my heart. All I could think was, I am sooooo blessed!
The party was held in a large room (we had 60 people) at Bucca di Beppo. It was perfect for all the little munchkins running around! The food was excellent, too. I believe we are having leftovers tonight!
As if going to all the trouble of planning a surprise party wasn't enough, Daniel designed the amazing cake(s) seen below; (a box of "chocolates" with a lid!) Isn't that incredible? It was made by my favorite bakery; Some Crust in Claremont. I am still consuming leftovers and have already gained weight... it's so worth it, though!
And, here is the handsome man behind it all... the one I prayed for for so many years, and God delivered more than I could have asked for! Thank you, LOML! You bless me more than you know, and you've set the bar pretty high for our girls! :)
Yes, it is 80 degrees in the middle of February.- No, I don't mind living in a climate without "seasons."
- Yes, the sky really is that blue.
- No, I didn't doctor the picture up at all!
- Yes, I am hoping for another bumper crop of apricots.
- No, I am no longer afraid of making jam.
- Yes, you can have some.
- No, it will not be ready for a few more months.
- Yes, my daughter just read this entire post out loud over my shoulder.
- No, I cannot believe she is such a good reader!
- Ok, Allison... you can stop reading over my shoulder now... and stop laughing, too. I love you!!! -Mommy
This year for Valentines we are doing something a little different. Each year, I pull out the heart foamies, doilies, stickers, crayons, pink and red paper, and let the girls go crazy. They make several adorable Valentines, and I have every intention of sending them... really, I do. Somehow, (please don't read on if you are a Yeh girl), they get thrown out long after V-day is over. I know, I know... it's sad, but true!
This year we decided to do play dough to give out. That way I can not only clean out my old baby jars, (sorry Grandma, I stashed some away where you couldn't find them), but I also will be sure to give these out because they're too big to sit on my desk and not annoy me.
You can find recipes all over the internet for play dough. We did the "kool aid and glitter" version, so they smell yummy, have the pretty color, and sparkle!
Once again, I pulled out my baker's twine. I will probably never use it all, but what a gift to pass on to my kids! (At the rate I'm going, it will certainly be missing a big chunk!) I bought 6-packs of plastic Valentine cookie cutters from the 99 Cent store, printed and cut some free tags from Eightcrazy, used a little fun tape, and voila! Here are 2 of the finished projects:
Happy Valentine Weekend!
So, I assume you have all seen the adorable Valentine Mail Bags from Pottery Barn that hang on the back of your chair. If not, here you go:
And now you must agree with me that they are awesome! However, they are expensive (strike 1), no longer in stock (strike 2), and not as "personal" as they could be (strike 3). You know what 3 strikes means! Time to find a way to make these myself. Being that I began my sewing career at 35 years old, minimal sewing is always good. So, here is what I did. First, I ignored this:
(That was for Jennifer.) See, Jennifer... if you were here and not at home on your computer you would know what a disaster it is! Ok, moving on... I bought a bunch of felt bags on sale for $1.69 each at Michael's, along with some cute ribbon I let the girls pick out as follows: (Allison picked the polka dots, and Natalie picked the cherries.)
First, I cut off all the handles. That was easy enough!
The rest of the steps were equally simple. Here they are:
That's it... truly! I didn't even have to "bling them." Personally, I am more of a minimalist. My girls, however, are all girly and need the bling. I think they will be pleasantly surprised when they wake-up tomorrow. Want to see what they'll find? Here they are:
I doubt the girls will even wait for me before they begin to make Valentines to fill these with. It's going to be fun! I can't wait to show you the Valentines we're making for their friends... I love this time of year!
This afternoon I had the girls help me make a treat for our MOPS leadership meeting. My inspiration came from Crazy Domestic via Be Different, Act Normal. Since 2011 seems to be the year of s'mores for us, this recipe seemed perfect!
Of course, I didn't have graham cracker crumbs, but Natalie had no problem helping me smash! I also didn't have marshmallow hearts, which I didn't think would be a problem. Ummm.... Once you see how they turned out, you'll know to use store-bought marshmallow hearts!
Despite the funky shape, I think they turned out tasty. That's all that matters, right? :) You may recall from my attempt at cake pops 2 years ago, candy melts and I are not good friends. (You'll probably want to get Crazy Domestic's version and tutorial here. They are WAY cuter!)
My girls certainly enjoyed them... and the makings of them!
On another note, our meeting was a huge blessing to me; one of the most memorable nights of my life! Ironically, one of our incredibly talented steering members brought her cake pops which are seriously as gorgeous and delicious as Bakerella's. I kid you not... they are UH-mazing! I brought home a real-life Hello Kitty. I had to laugh seeing mine next to hers... all in good fun!
Sometimes when I get behind on blogging, I just do one long random post. That's what I'm doing once again today. I thought by titling it "Life," it would seem less random. Hope you think so, too! :)
Twister. Girls still love to play it with their Daddy!
Mini-burgers. Best dinner idea in a long time! Allison ate 4! I mixed the ground beef with soy sauce, minced onions, and garlic salt and grilled them. I used brown and serve wheat muffins for the buns. Can't wait to do them again!
Heart-shaped eggs in the nest. Still enjoying February and all things heart!
The sandbox. Yes, I finally re-filled it. (Mostly, because our backyard is a weed factory, and I need to have the girls occupied while I attend to it!)
Lazy morning. We spent about an hour i chatting back and forth between our bedroom and the kitchen with the girls on Sunday morning. I kid you not! It was actually a really fun, lazy morning! The girls had a blast changing the backgrounds and going to space, Paris, and on a roller coaster!
(Sorry, honey, I had to use the picture! Next time just smile. :))
I mentioned that this was Allison's verse last week. For the first time, I had her write her verse from memory, and she did a super job!
Our Valentine mailbags each contained a special card from Papa. Poor guy has 5 cards to write; 3 Valentines for the girls, 1 for me, and a birthday card for me. That is LOVE!
One of our Valentine activities, of course, was playing with the play dough we made. (We made a double batch so that we could give some away and still have lots to play with!)
I was able to go for a jog with Sierra in the afternoon, then came home, took a shower, and hurried off to my massage appointment. Awwww.... there are no words!
Another fun surprise... flowers!
I walked in from my massage to the most wonderful-smelling house. 
Macadamia-encrusted scallop salad. Yes, it was that good!
...And, beef bourginion, once again! He used a different recipe this time, and it was different but just as yummy! You can imagine how spoiled I am feeling at this point...
For dessert, we did chocolate fondue with strawberries and blackberries. I can't even believe how many Allison ate!
After dinner, I played a quick round of Valentine BINGO with the girls before our cousin came over to watch them and put them down. In the meantime, Daniel and I walked across the street Starbuck's for our date. I cannot even tell you how nice it was to sit and chat! Before leaving, we had Natalie take a picture of us using our big new camera. It is so heavy for her, she can barely hold it up. But, as always, her picture still turned out pretty good. Here it is:
Disclaimer: after my massage, I was too tired and lazy to change into anything nice for our date. Hence, the jeans and sweatshirt!
