Smitten

Valentine's Day this year was so different than it has been in many years past. In the past few years, some friends and I have gotten together and taken our kids to an afternoon movie for V-Day and then Steve and I would get a sitter and go out to dinner later that night. This year was a far cry from that! Not only did we not get to go to the movie (we were all at school) but both Lewis and Conner wound up being pretty sick. Poor Conner. He wanted to stay at school soooo badly! He did not want to miss the party! However, he came down with a fever and Steve ended up taking him home. So much for getting a sitter! We spent the night administering meds to our boys and disinfecting the house! All was not lost however! Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Those sweet students of mine loaded me up with stuffed animals, chocolates and all sorts of other goodies! My favorite had to be the little framed heart from Fabiola with the card she picked out to go with it. Her parents do not speak any English and so the card read, "To Two Very Special Grandparents on Valentine's Day." She was beaming to give it to me. Their family is very poor and I could tell it was a sacrifice for them to give me this gift. I will cherish it always! Also, two of my students gave me some stuffed dogs. I let Lewis and Conner adopt one for each of them and they have been constant companions all week long! My kids have never been real big on stuffed animals, but they have been so cute with these dogs. Conner named his Sparky and Lewis named his Golden. Both boys tuck them in to a little bed each night and make me "babysit" them when they need to go off and do other things. They are truly smitten over their Valentine's Day pets. Perhaps my favorite part of this Valentine's Day though came in the form of flowers, delivered to the school by my sweet husband. I think this is the first time he has sent me flowers at work. It was super fun to get them and they are still making our home look beautiful! So, although this V-Day did not include any of our tried and true traditions of years' past, it ended up being just as memorable and fun!