Sweet Valentine's Day

We've had a lovely Valentine's Day weekend. The boys insisted on making their valentines for school, so we started making them a week early, knowing it could take awhile. Sometimes I'm really on top of it, which is good because when I wait until the last minute (which is more common) I get totally stressed out. It's a good thing we did them early because I was extremely sick on Thursday. Anyway, we made these fun little dog valentines with Airhead tongues and the words "I'm mutts about you" on the back. We got the idea from Family Fun a few years ago.

Spencer's class had a Valentine's mailbox contest, and he came up with this robot idea and made it all by himself. His teacher especially wanted them to used recycled objects from around the house. He won first place!

I decided I wanted to get together with the cousins Friday for our own little Valentine's party, since all the big boys had theirs that day. It was simple but fun. First they decorated their bags with heart stickers and crayons. Here is Luke eating the crayons.

Then they exchanged Valentines. Brennan got a cut above his eye from running into the piano a couple days ago. If this kid can get through childhood with his eyes intact, we'll be in good shape. He still has that huge purple blood blister on his eyelid from an encounter with a pencil 2 years ago.

Then they decorated heart-shaped sugar cookies.

And ate them, of course. Friday night Dave and I went out to dinner at our favorite French restaurant. It's pricey, so we don't go there often; but we love it. We decided to get 4 appetizers and a dessert instead of meals, which was a great way to sample lots of different things.

Saturday morning I made heart-shaped pancakes. First I made regular pancakes; then I used my heart-shaped cookie cutter. Aren't they just adorable? The kids loved them.

Holidays are all about the food, so here is the scrumptious Valentine's dinner we had tonight: grilled steak and asparagus with onions and mushrooms, roasted potatoes and fried apples. Not the healthiest meal, but oh-so-good!

After dinner we exchanged cards, chocolates and gifts.

Then for dessert I made Chocolate Lava Cakes. I have always wanted to make these, and this particular recipe looked nice and simple.

Yum!!! Oh my goodness, these were amazing. I suggest you don't wait until next Valentine's Day to try them out.