Happy Hearts

Valentine's Day was fast and furious here...Thursdays are a bit of a beating in our typical schedule.  However, we carved out moments for fun here and there to make it a stand out day in the week.

First of all, Buzzard played racquetball late Wednesday night, so while he was gone I gave him a HEART ATTACK on our bedroom door.  I jotted down fun memories and things I admire about him.  (I could have used a lot more hearts.)   It was ready for him when he got home, and I had his Valentine waiting on his pillow.  He loves Snoopy (we both do!), so when I found this card weeks ago I bought it and have had it in hiding.  It was just something silly, but it was a sweet ending to a day and a nice start to Valentine's.

Thursday afternoon I co-hosted Emma's preschool party with another class Mom.  We made heart shaped rice krispie treats for the kids to decorate, and brought in little cardboard creatures for them to make to attach to heart shaped helium balloons.  Great thought.....but when I attached the creatures to the balloons they were too heavy and the balloons sank.  Oh well!  The kiddos didn't seem too disappointed with my physics miscalculation.....they were equally happy to take home a plain balloon with a flat creature attached to the end of the string to serve as a balloon weight.  Improvise!

I brought the streamers from the party home and hung them in our kitchen doorway, and I honestly think that excited Emma more than anything else about the day.  That's the wonder of five.  Easily impressed.  Fifty cents worth of crepe paper made it an official "holiday" in her mind.  That, and a slight O.D. of conversation hearts.

Hayden had batting practice that night on the opposite side of town, so we got home rather late. I let the kids eat fast food for supper (they were thrilled!), then Buzzard and I went out for a quick date.  We wandered IKEA.  By the time we got there, we had less than one hour before they closed.  It was perfect, actually.  I'm interested in setting up a little art center for Emma, so we browsed the kid department, then made a whirlwind tour through the store.  I think we both had about three drops of energy left by the end of the busy day, so it was a quick and fun and made an ordinary weekday feel special.  Well, that and coming home to streamers and paper hearts on our doors.  ;-)

Sometimes I'm tempted to skip an opportunity for a memory because "I don't have time" to go to the elaborate lengths that I think I need to.  But "I love you" gestures don't have to be grand. Sometimes, it's the over simple, easy things that make the biggest impression.  Fun to be reminded of that!