Holidays are especially fun when you can overdo it a bit for the benefit of your little one's enjoyment. So this year I did a little more for Valentine's Day than I normally would.
For decorations, Kimball painted some paper with brushes and stamps, then I cut them into hearts and let him help me punch holes in them. Then I strung them from the ceiling. He will proudly point to them and say, "Me's hearts!"
My mom also sent an adorable heart garland interspersed with pictures of Kimball and his mommy and daddy. "Dee Dee's hearts!" Kimball says.
My mom (or Grandmama, or Dee Dee) also sent Kimball some candy. It goes without saying that he was in heaven with "Dee Dee's candy"! She also sent him some Kung Fu Panda valentines which we had fun delivering to his friends on Valentine's Day.
(The kissing-the-hand thing is the sign for "thank you")
Also from Grandmama was this cute elephant mask!
He and I made these little candies out of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and almond flavoring. Again, he was in heaven. Candy overload!
I hosted a co-op babysitting day a few days before the 14th, so we made it a Valentine's party. I didn't take any pictures because I had five kids besides Kimball in my house, and it was glorious, barely contained chaos! They painted and cut out Valentines, and we even managed to get some cookie frosting in. We sent them home with a little bag of treats, including the candies Kimball and I made.
It is Jordan's tradition to make me cheesecake for special occasions, and he did not fail me this time! This variation was called "Autumn Cheesecake", and consisted of a graham cracker/pecan/spice crust and a cinnamon apple topping. Delicious.
After seeing the idea for this bread, I decided to give it a go. It actually turned out! Mine wasn't as red as the one in the link, but I think that was because my beets were coarsely grated, instead of finely (I just used my food processor). It was warm, moist, and absolutely delicious.
Are you [Dad] thinking, beet bread? Are you crazy? Well, Jordan and I happen to both love the taste of beets, so it was perfect for us. Really, try a nice, roasted beet with a little butter or salt. None of the canned, pickled stuff. YUM.
Thanks to a member of the babysitting co-op who offered a date night last weekend, Jordan and I were also able to go out for fish tacos at our new favorite place (favorite because it is good, but cheap!). I think that was only the second time I've eaten out since we moved here, so it was fun.
So Happy Valentine's Day! If you are making hats for the Caps for Good project, remember that February 28th is the last day of the project. I decided to make one more, and will be sending them off soon. I tried the double crochet pattern from their website for my second, and I think it worked out well enough!
10 comments:
Wow. You're really into blogging lately. I think it's great. It gives me an excuse to show off my family at school. Seriously though, this is a great post. Kimball is being the cutest little boy lately.
The cheesecake was AMAZING! I loved it. The beet bread was also reallllly good too. I'm serious Dave, you need to try it.
What you failed to mention was that you spent Valentine's Day shepherding me from class to the dentist for an emergency exam-root canal. Ouch. I was in so much pain, I was probably the worst romantic ever. Sorry. I did have an good week celebrating Valentine's Day to make up for the lame day on the 14th.
Happy Valentines Day! Kimball has the best Grandmama! What a little cutie!
Oh, Jordan! I feel your pain! So sorry you had to go through such a horrible, yucky, ordeal. I hope you are feeling better!
Ash, your beet bread looks . . . well, it looks . . . well, it looks like beet bread! Yay! And, if you say it is delicious, I'll take your word for it. Actually, I bet it was delicious because you are such a great baker!
The little video of Kimball is so adorable, especially when you ask him if he wants to open the candy. He perked right up at that point :D
And the cheesecake! Wowza! Good job, Jordan-the-cheesecake-maker! Way to keep the tradition alive with this impressive version!
Darling, darling, darling hats. Darling, darling, darling.
Thanks for the sweet pictures of Kimball enjoying his Valentine's Day stash. Is he just the cutest or what?!!! Seriously.
I would like to come and spend Valentine's day at your house please.
I think Kimball's and Dee Dee's hearts are a fantastic idea! They both look so great and festive.
I am also just going to take your word on the beet bread. Not a big fan of beets myself, but I love the idea of red heart shaped bread!
Kimball is so stinking adorable!!! Just send him to me for a week or so please so that I can kiss and love on those sweet little chunky cheeks of his!
The Beet Bread does indeed look yummy. Something like that may actually cause me to convert! (maybe...)
Indeed those hearts are so cute Kimball love to point them out to people and explain whose is whose. "DeeDee" as he points to Grandma's hearts, "ME" as he points the hearts he made with Ashley. So cute.
Dave-That's great. You should try them. I'll never forget when we tricked you to eat that beet chocolate cake. Even though you pretended to not like it after we told truth, you know you really did.
Sorry I haven't commented on your blog in awhile...I've definitely been reading, though!
First of all, I love that Kimball says "me's" instead of "my" - so cute/funny. And I like how he is wearing a red shirt for Valentine's - I wore a red shirt too, but I was sad that I didn't see many people wearing red at work (probably because I work with mostly guys, heh).
I think the beet bread sounds good! I actually like how yours turned out with a marbled effect instead of all red. I have a recipe for beet brownies that I really like (I may have already gave it to you?).
Also, I will definitely make a cap or two for Save the Children. Thanks for spreading the word about it! Hm, maybe I'll start tonight - I'm already sitting on the couch and catching up on TV shows, might as well crochet and feel more productive :)
Yay Paula!! Woohooo!!!
How fun! And your hats are DARLING!!! I LOVE them!
So cute-- you did way better than I did. I didn't plan ahead, and then as I was going to bed Valentine's night I thought of a lot of cute things I "should've" done. Next year, next year :)
And yes, Kimball inspired Cole's love for Music Man. I told Ken that Kimball loves it, so we put it on one day and for months we haven't gone a day without him marching around with his trombone. If only I could learn the words to that song! I am going to download it though so he can listen to it-- when he hears the music he marches, when it's on tv he just sits there and forgets to play in his band :)
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