Valentine's Day treats

I've always associated Valentine's Day with family, thanks to my parents who always made it a fun and special day for my brother and me (thanks, guys!). I have wonderful memories of time together, new pink socks, memorable meals and creative endeavors (like making crafty boxes for elementary school - wow, those were the days).

I had grand aspirations of having a little tea party with the tots today, but the morning just flew and no tea was steeped (Karis loves tea these days, just a wee bit of weakened chai suits her well). We did manage to get outside and shovel the freshly fallen snow (so gorgeous and refreshing), bake ginger cookies, and visit a neighbor . . . who sent us home with a special treat. She has a stuffed bear that sings "God Bless America" - Karis loves to sing along. So, neighbor Bonnie sent it home with us to "babysit" for a week.

We also enjoyed sending lots of mail, which to me is a favorite activity for this holiday. The other thing that I'll remember about this Valentine's Day is that for the first time, Karis wore her "big girl underwear" all morning without any accidents . . . and also went when I "offered" before going outside and after nap. What?! I'm so delighted and even more so am having fun watching Karis's excitement in this step of independence. I wonder what will happen when she realizes that getting gum after each session isn't an eternal occurrence?

Another couple of memorable moments today - Karis stuck cheese in her ears. Shredded cheddar, if you were wondering. ???? Also, I marked the day by getting my teeth cleaned, which I actually love. It ended up being such a treat (no sarcasm), I had a fabulous hygienist who ended up talking about her current relationship and asking about me and Trev. It was kind of a sweet interaction and seemed fitting for Valentine's Day. I forget how good it is to get out and do these normal things that are pretty much off my radar. Perhaps it's time to see the optometrist as well.

Tonight we kept our tradition started last year of Valentine's "BOGO" events. First, dinner a Qdoba (where it's buy one, get one if you kiss in line). We met dear friends there, and Karis just loved her dinner date with "D". Trevor had a very kind and outgoing "older" gentleman approach him and say, "There are only a few people in this world with good looking heads. Everyone else has hair." HA!

We ended the evening with our "BOGO" Caribou coffee and tried to recall memories of pre-Karis Valentine's Day celebrations. We couldn't remember many and so resorted to grade-school reminiscing.  We did carve in our own at-home date by watching some Harry Potter 3, which reminded us of when we lived in VA and we used a projector on a huge white wall to watch it for the first time- we completely rearranged furniture to make it possible - we both laughed recalling that memory. What really made my day is that in the cards we wrote to each other, we both talked about wondering where we will be and what we'll be doing on future Valentine's Days . . .

That's amore:  Karis, "D" and their PDA at Q doba