this year i started decorating early for our family valentine's dinner. normally, i wait until about two hours before to do it, but i was a little anxious this year and got it up first thing in the morning. usually i hang all the decor with thumb tacks, but in our little cottage that wasn't an option. so tape it was. and tape was not the greatest... so i'll be re thinking that for next year because all throughout the day i was having to re hang things. not fun.
the decorations made the girls so excited for our dinner. they kept asking and asking if it was almost time. ha! another reason that i'll be waiting until a little later to decorate. but it was fun to feel the anticipation with them and it makes the effort so worth it!
while brooklyn was at school i cleaned, called in our order to cheesecake factory, and then we all waited for brooklyn to get home from school. she came home beaming with excitement! her valentine box from school has been something she's looked forward to very much. and thank goodness that they took care of that at school. i didn't have to do a thing except for buy the valentine's for her to give to her class. she did everything else! when she got home she wanted to open every valentine immediately and she wanted to know exactly how many more minutes until dad would be home. it was a long wait for her.
they watched trolls (their new obsession) while i finished getting ready and then we had a little dance party while we waited for james to get home. when he got home they squealed with excitement and gave him lots of hugs and then we hit the lights.
we started our candlelight dinner with delicious food and drinks, but adalyn wasn't having the dark stuff. so we dined with lights on and we were all ok with that.
the food never disappoints and i think kendall's favorite part was the drinks. she wanted to do "cheers" every thirty seconds. brooklyn just kept saying, "i never want this to be over!" they loved it and james and i love that they love it!
adalyn also loved the drinks. she couldn't get enough! it was so dang cute! i think she just wanted to be big like her sisters. annnnd who doesn't love pina colada?
after we ate, everyone opened their envelopes on their chairs to see their valentine's. they both made about a hundred for james and i and each other and they were so proud of themselves! they made cute cards for their dad that included some byu art. he was thrilled!
then we cranked the music and had a dance party. i'm guessing it was the sugar in the drinks, but they were high energy! just bouncing off the walls. ninety percent of the pictures i took last night are completely blurry because they seriously couldn't hold still!
we tried to calm it down a little and moved into the front room to give them their little valentine goodies from us. they were thrilled to find the traditional swimsuit along with a cute little cover-up to take to hawaii in a couple months. the rest was little trinkets from the dollar spot at target that they were surprisingly excited about.
this was the best family picture we got. kendall did not want to cooperate. there were too many things to play with, suckers to steal from brooklyn's valentine box, and too many delicious drinks left on the table.
the girls tried on their swimsuits and we all could have eaten adalyn alive! she looked delicious and it made me so dang excited for warmer weather so her little legs can be out for me to munch on whenever i want! again, i only have blurry pictures of her!
before bed, james surprised the girls with sugar cookies and frosting to decorate them with. brooklyn's mind was blown! she said, "this just keeps getting better and better! i don't want valentine's day to be over!"
while they did that, i got their baby sister in jammies and to bed. then they brushed their teeth, daddy read them stories and sang them songs, and it was over. i had everything taken down and cleaned up by 9. we finished the night with parks and rec and a big bowl of ice cream (which is exactly what we did last year). i love the nights after family traditions like this. it makes me so happy and then so excited to do it all over again the next year!
happy valentine's (belated) from us to you!
XOXO
this was kendall stealing one last drink before she had to brush her teeth!
p.s.s. i'm so excited to start this 40 day conference challenge today! you can print your own here!
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