In the span of 5 days, our house will celebrate Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, and an 8th birthday.  Craziness. 

I really don’t want Valentine’s Day to get lost in the middle of all these other celebrations.  You see, Valentine’s Day is not all about red and pink and hearts and chocolates and such at our house.  Instead, the days around Valentine’s Day mark some very special days of remembrance and celebrating for us:

• 4 years ago, Grandpa died on February 12 and at his funeral on the 14th, we received so many blessings of love from family and friends.
• 2 years ago, Christopher was baptized on February 13 after giving his heart to Jesus.
• 1 year ago, Addie accepted Jesus into her heart the night of February 14th after she began to understand His Unconditional Love.

To celebrate these special moments, and acknowledge the ‘holiday’ that is St. Valentine’s Day, I decided to offer my family something different this year.  We are sending valentines to each other every day this month.  (I’ll admit, it also has a few more advantages like no extra candy to tempt me and forcing a certain tween to think of nice things to say to an obnoxious little brother!)

We each have a little mail box on the piano.  At some point in the day, each person must leave a ‘love’ note for another person.  I’ve got a bag stashed with paper, scissors, stickers, pins, and glue ready for them to grab something and whip up a note.  

So far, there have been the classics (“You’re the best mom EVER” and “I love you”), the unimaginative (“Happy February”), and the subtle hints (“I love you Mom and I wish we could have your yummy pound cake after school.”)  This could get really interesting!!!