All the Valentines

Sophie loves Valentine's Day. She loves it so much that she asked me to buy balloons and a cake and planned a fancy dinner. Of course, Bryan and I were the ones that actually made the cake and fancy dinner, but it was Sophie's brainchild.

Our Valentine's Day celebration started on Saturday afternoon. Bryan's mom had put together a box of goodies and mailed it to us. Once morning chores were over, we opened the box. And we've been enjoying its contents ever since.

Here the kids are enjoying their Valentine's Day treats (a little candy, a few art supplies/books/slinkies depending on the kid) yesterday morning after their special breakfast of pink oatmeal.

Sophie's friend (who is her age) has her own baking business. She makes cookies, cake pops, and hot chocolate bombs which you can order from her website. We were lucky enough to get a free delivery of sweet treats after school.

Phoebe's heart:

Sophie's heart:

Cooper's heart:

Our fancy dinner consisted of steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, strawberries, rolls, sparkling juice, and strawberry cake.

A young man in the ward bought and delivered flowers to all the young women that didn't have boyfriends. I thought it was very sweet. Phoebe also had a morning valentine delivery from one of the members of the Young Women class presidency. We had one more delivery that didn't get photographed. My ministering sister brought a loaf of homemade bread and a small bag of Dove dark chocolates. Topher immediately claimed the chocolates as his own and went skipping back into the house with his prize.

I baked the cake and started the frosting process, Sophie took over with the frosting and had complete control over the sprinkles. She was very pleased with the end result.

It was well received.

It was a full day of love. I think my favorite activity of the day was a game we played at dinner. Each person had to say one thing that they loved about the person sitting to their right, as well as recite what each person before them had said. We do this a few times a week and say what our favorite thing about the day was. We call it the Listening Game because you have to pay attention and listen well to remember what all the people before you said. I really liked our holiday variation yesterday.

Also, I might need a day to recover from all the cooking.