I started this blog for my Dad, as a place to put up pictures of the grandkids. It has changed quite a bit over the past year. Sorry about all the talk of lace tablecloths and how to cook chicken, Dad! ;0)
I wasn't expecting all the wonderful friends I have made through blogging. As Anne would say, I have met many kindred spirits! Thank you for coming to visit me here and leaving me such sweet comments. I appreciate them so much!!
In celebration and thanks to you all, I thought it would be fun to have another giveaway....A Valentine Giveaway!!
The first prize is a pretty berry double heart wreath.
A magnetic heart notepad and package of Victorian heart stickers.
Last but not least, mini heart doilies, heart cupcake holders, Valentine cookie sprinkles and a mini Mary Engelbreit box full of heart candies. It has a sweet saying on the top of the box...
To the world you may be only one person,
But to one person, you may be the world.
All you have to do to be entered into the drawing is tell me how you plan on celebrating Valentine's Day, your favorite thing about the holiday, your best Valentine's Day ever, a craft idea, anything really!
Grace will draw a name out of a hat Monday evening. I'm looking foward to hearing from you, especially any lurkers! :0)
I like you just celebrated my one year ago. I thak your father for your blog and it is a wonderful way to meet wonderful people like you.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Valentines day, we go out to lunch or dinner and exchange small I love you gifts.
Hi Kelli!
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogiversary! I always look forward to your posts. I'm thinking back over more than 40 Valentine's Days and I guess the one that comes to mind was the tiny little samplerbox of Walt Whitman chocolates my husband got me one year. They are just not my favorite, but to be polite I opened them. He kept insisting I try one and pointed to one wrapped in foil. I opened it and he had wrapped a gorgeous heart shaped ruby ring inside the foil containing the chocolate.
I was really surprised!
:)
For Valentine's Day, I like to make chicken parm for my hubby and my daughter. For presentation, I place 2 chicken breasts together to make a heart shape. It's always a big hit. (I then split up the heart for serving.)
ReplyDeleteFor my daughter, while she's sleeping, I decorate the outside of her door for Valentine's Day. Then I put together a Valentine's Day basket or goodie bag and put it on the table for her to find when she comes down for breakfast. I also like to do heart shaped balloons as she loves balloons. (Get these after Valentine's Day to save $$)
For my husband, I like to tuck all kinds of little notes here and there that he'll find throughout the day. It's starts with a note on the bathroom mirror in the morning and ends with a note on his pjs. I also like to put paper hearts all over the bed and put chocolate kisses & hugs on each heart.
Usually, I bake heart shaped muffins for breakfast and a heart shaped caked for an after dinner snack. My daughter receives heart shaped sandwiches (or pancakes) for lunch.
Congratulations on your 1 year blog anniversary, Kelli! :O)
ReplyDeleteMy hubby and I don't do much for each other on Valentine's Day. Our wedding anniversary is in March...that's our "real" Valentine's Day. :o)
However we do celebrate with our daughter. We give her a Valentine card for a keepsake and a book about "love". As a family, we send Valentine cards to everyone in the family!
I love Valentines Day! Its one of my favourite holidays. All the pink and purple and red and hearts and teddy bears. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't have plans for this year, yet. Lat year was a lot of fun, though. My DH and I went on a rare date night to a Moroccan restaurant and the food was delicious with a fun atmosphere.
Happy First! I am new to blogging but like you enjoy it very much. Valentines is not a big day around here I'm sorry to say. My husband isn't Romantic. BUT BUT BUT .... I was discussing this with a friend at work while she was talking about ideas for Valentines.So this is what I decided to do. I work on Valentines day so what I decided to do is on the 11th which is a Sunday I'm going to make a nice dinner. It will be a pot roast, potatoes, bread salad and veggies. I'm going to set the table with a red table cloth and white napkins and silverware. I'm going to find some type of centerpiece at the Dollar Store maybe. Then I'm going to embellish the table with personal touches, I thought I would print out the verse John 3:16...and place at each persons spot of the table or maybe on their plate. The Lord being our Valentine will be the theme. The red cloth on the table can represent Christ blood that he shed out of love. I'm still working this out in my head but I think you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Deana
Congratulations on having your blog for one year! You have, indeed, made a lot of wonderful friends.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory of Valentine's Day as a child is that my mother would always pick a large bouquet of pussywillow branches, but them in a vase and hang little red paper hearts by red thread on them. I treasure those little hearts...I now have those very ones and want to keep this tradition going. I will think of her with each hanging heart.
I always make each child in the family a small heart-shaped frosted cake decorated especially for them. I've done that since my girls were little and now I do it for my grandchildren. I give my husband his favorite candy, which is chocolate covered cherries.
What I mostly love about Valentine's Day is the joy I see in the children, with all the sweet treats, school parties and card exchanges.
For Valentine's Day, I like making a lovely dinner for hubby and I at home. The restaurants are just too crowded.My sweet husband always finds some sweet way to bring me home flowers or chocolates. (or both) Have a blessed day!
ReplyDeleteWe are all glad you started blogging! :)
ReplyDeleteFor Valentine's day, I will make a nice meal for my guys (husband and son). I haven't decided what, yet, but it will be something I don't usually make (much fancier than usual).
I always like to make a chocolate dessert for Valentine's day.
Dinner will probably be served on my Royal Albert china since it is the ONLY day the guy's would probably go for the foo foo pretty flowers on it.
Oh, Kelli, your generous spirit is so refreshing!! Congratulations on your 1 year blog anniversary. I always look forward to my visits here.
ReplyDeleteThis year I am planning on making some felt heart ornaments by simply cutting out hearts from felt, sewing a bit of ribbon at the top for hanging, and then embellishing them in different ways. I'm thinking buttons, simple embroidery, etc.
Kelli...has it been that long..wow time flys when your having fun!!
ReplyDeleteHey I really like floras & Deanas way of celebrating!! Susie & I have had the same experience. Danny bought me a heart shape box of chocolates one year. I thought it was strange...the paper was missing on the box...anyway when I opened it the middle piece of chocolate was gone & there sat a beautiful ruby ring. He ate the chocolate but I reckon that was OK! We usually dont buy each other gifts but that was special. One year his buisness partner bought me flowers & candy for valentines....he bought the gifts without asking Danny & then brought them to Danny to give to me...from Danny. It was really funny! Oh & then there was the year Danny bought me candy...the day after...it was on sale he said, lol!
It is my oldest son's birthday on Valentines so we always have cake!!!
Oooh lovely! Our celebration is always a special family breakfast - I have everything as hearts and flowers-y as I can and we have a couple of little gifts - like homemade sweeties, cards, a book perhaps. Then in the evening, our son has a nursery tea and an early night, and my husband and I get all dolled up and have a special candlelit meal. Usually the food is nothing special as I don't want to be cooking all night, but we make it such a special romantic time. Last year he had a treasure hunt of clues and I was the prize - I'll have to come up with something else this year!
ReplyDeleteKelli, first of all, happy blog anniversary! Your last post really made me smile. I started my blog for my mum and the rest of family and friends who live quite far away from our litte village. Yes, it changed completely and I am very very happy to have found so many kindered spriits though blooging, including you! I really enjoy reading your blog, leaning about you cooking and family life!
ReplyDeleteValentine's day? Well, to be honest it's not such big issue over here in Germany but this year, I am really looking forward to it! I am taking part in a Valentine's gift swap. Oh, I am already so excited about packing my gift and of course, I wonder what I might receive from my swap partner (so far, she's still unknown to me).
Your Valentine's gifts look gorgeous. Oh Grace, pleeeeese, draw my name on Monday!
Have a phantastic week-end, Kelli!
Happy Anniversary! I am so thankful that you started a blog-think of how many lives you have touched in one year! I started my blog for the same reason as you-isn't that funny? And guess what? Neither set of parents CHECK my blog! Isn't that ridiculous?!?
ReplyDeleteAnyway:for a Valentine tidbit on me...I will tell you my gifts to my family. This year I went here:
http://marilee.us/index.html
...and printed off the Polly Pratt series of paper dolls-they are Valentine themed. Last night I cut them all out and attached the people to cardboard. I am going to felt-line the inside of a manila folder and attach velcro to the back of each thing and on the BACK of the folder I will make a small paper pouch to hold all the 'accessories'. That is going to be my Valentine's gift to Corynn.
My husband's birthday is on Feb.13th and so he is gifted out. I usually make him something romantic for supper and finish off the evening in a romantic way. ;-)
And for the panda:lots of kisses this year. :-)
Wildflower cabin-what a LOVELY thought and memory! I love it! If there was any pussy willow around here, I would surely begin that tradition here as well!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! How exciting!
ReplyDeleteValentine's Day is pretty much something we do for the children in our lives. I will usually send all the neices and nephews, cards and a little gift...the grandbabies get a little something as well. One of my grandson's birthday is on Valentine's day, so his package is a little bigger than most. We do usually take my daughter out to eat or get her flowers but mostly we have fun with the little ones.
Grace & Peace
Pam
Hi Kelli. Happy anniversary! We have fun with Valentine's day with heart shaped food and cards etc. My daughter has a birthday two days before Valentines so that is usually the theme of he party.
ReplyDeleteKelli, Your blog has always been one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI usually make some heart shaped decorated cookies. One year I sent some valentines to a place in Colorado (Loveland maybe?) They re-mail them for you so they will have a cute Valentines Day post mark on them.
Congratulations, Kelli! It has been such a pleasure getting to know you! Your blog is always one of the very first ones I check each morning! Besides doing a special meal and a little gift for each of my family members I do something else. I love to write poetry so each year I write a special poem for each person! ** You don't have to put my name in the hat because I just won a wonderful prize at Sharon Kay's and I don't want to be greedy! LOL
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS!!
ReplyDeleteWe are big on Romance here in our home. Sweetheart actually proposed the day before Valentines Day--that was one way to surprise someone. (Also, proposing in front of almost the entire church is another. Oh my! Guess he was pretty sure I'd say yes!)
Anyway...we'll probably spread out the celebration over a few days. I enjoy making my Valentines each year. I am also planning on doing a watercolor for a gift for him. Shh! Don't tell! I thought I paint a rose and frame it for him for our bedroom.
I'm also trying to figure out how to surprise him and paint our bedroom while he's at work. I'd like to paint the main wall purple (his favorite color) and do in calligraphy at the top, "My Beloved is mine, and I am my Beloved's" from the Song of Solomon.
Guess I'd better get going!
Happy Blogiversary Kelli!
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say that my all time favorite Valentine's day, was in 2000. I'd had a very rough day finding out about some rumors circulating through our church about myself and my best friend. We spent the entire day emailing each other in tears, assuring each other that they were in no way true.
Emotionally exhausted I got dressed up to celebrate the day with a dinner with my family and the family of the guy I was courting. Just before dinner he proposed!
Since then we've had some not-so-great Valentine's day (stomach bugs, other illnesses, etc.) but that first one covers them all!
Hi Kelli, I enjoy your blog and read it often !Congratulations on your blogiversary! Here are our plans for Valentine's Day: Make valentines for Grandparents, make pink-iced, heart-shaped cookies, use our Valentine's table cloth (has conversation hearts on it), decorate the front windows with Valentine window clings (probably a few days before) and have a nice dinner.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Happy Blogiversary dear Kelli!! What a very lovely idea to have a draw as part of your celebration:-) I think I will have to borrow that idea when my one year blogiversary comes along in March!! hehe
ReplyDeleteMy most memorable Valentine's Day...when my boys were little, every Valentine's Day they would make me a card made with lace, glitter, etc. I still have them all and treasure them so much. Those cards meant everything to me:-)
Hugs xox
For Valentine's Day, M and I usually do something spontaneous yet it must be romantic. So this year, we probably won't plan but take the day as it goes. This year, since Valentine's Day is on Wed, we'll definitely have a nice dinner and maybe go for an evening walk, dresse up like eskimos if the temperatures around here stay so low! We usually don't do presents as such, other than some little sweet gifts, I'll maybe bake a heart-shaped cake. Favourite thing about Valentines? Well, it's always nice to celebrate and celebrating love is only that much more awsome. :-)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your year of blogging! I'm enjoy visiting your site, so keep it up! :-)
Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday. It's the day my husband proposed to me almost ten years ago and it's also the day I found out I was going to have a darling little girl during my first pregnancy. With those anniversaries, how could I not love this holiday???
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogiversary, Kelli!!
Congrats on your first year...mine comes up in two months...Valentines to me is dark chocolate truffles shared with my Hubby!!
ReplyDelete:-D
Happy Anniversary Kelli! I continue to enjoy your blog and visit everyday!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on one year! Every day is Valentine's Day for me! My husband is God's perfect mate for me. We haven't made plans yet, but snuggling on the couch with a movie is just about our favorite kind of date.
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogiversary Kelli! I'm so pleased to have met you through your wonderful blog. You are indeed one of the sweetest bloggers in all of Blogville!
ReplyDeleteWell first I will decorate the top of the piano with a few old fashioned valentines and decorations. I have a few handmade valentines to finish making and I will carry on my tradition of giving both of my misters the biggest heart shaped boxes of chocolates that I can find!
Congratulations on your 1 year blog-anniversary. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe always celebrate Valentine's Day big at our house. The kids all make handmade cards with love notes for each other. Among other activities, we like to make heart shaped sugar cookies and deliver them to the neighbors.
This year, for the first time ever, I hope to be a grandma! My oldest daughter is having a baby and her due date is February 14th--Valentine's Day!
Ruth
Happy BlogDay to you,
ReplyDeleteHappy BlogDay to you,
Happy BlogDay dearrrr Kelliiiiiiii
Happy BlogDay to yooooooo!
And I am afraid I can't join in the valentines competition because I hate the day! People who are loved already do not need an artificially created day to be told again that they are loved, and people who are unloved do not need that fact rubbing in...
In Japan, women give men chocolate for valentines day - any man that they feel they owe something to like co-workers, classmates or bosses (it's known as "obligation chocolate!") and then on "White Day" which is March 14th, the guys who received something have to give cookies back to the women. Typical of Japan to take a fun and romantic custom and wring any spontanaeity and fun out of it.... One more reason why I am not keen I guess!
I think we should all tell our loved ones that they are precious to us on a regular basis, and include as many people as possible into that definition - I am sure all reading this will agree with that.
And I'm not a valentine's scrooge, so HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, all who celebrate!
Happy bloggiversary.
ReplyDeleteNo spesific plans for Valentines Day here, we don't celebrate it much here in Norway.
Happy Anniversary! So glad you are blogging! I enjoy visiting with you! *Smile*
ReplyDeleteAlthough totally in love, Jack and I aren't really what would be considered romantics. I have gotten him a card and a small marshmallow heart put up to sneak into his dinner bucket though. Shh!
My favorite Valentine memory? My mom took me to the NICU to visit Emily. Emily was 3 weeks old, and on a respirator. Mom and I stepped up to her crib, and mom said, "There's mamaw's sugar baby!", then, Emily smiled really big! Her first smile ever! Mom and I both dissolved into tears and laughter. :o)
Hi Kelli,
ReplyDeleteI always do the kitchen up in red/white/pink. I get the kiddos losts of treats in their valentine bags and fix up bags to send to my ds away at college. :) The 17th is also mine and my sweetie's 28 wedding anniversary. we usually go away for the weekend and out to a real nice place for dinner. this year though we will be traveling next weekend for a homeschooler's leader's weekend and we are staying an extra night.
check out my blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/lovinthosebunnies4Him
look at the archives for last Feb. I have lots of pics.
sorry, it's under the archives for January 2006, not February. stop by, hope to see you there. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is my first Valentine's Day to be married. I am planning on cooking my DH's favorite meal and dessert. I bought a really pretty red tablecloth and some heart decorations. I just plan on having a nice evening with my DH. I am also sending a box of "happys" to my family in FL as a way to carry on our Valentine's Day tradition.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry I missed your Blogiversary! Happy Belated Blogiversary!!! I bet your dad enjoys it all the same!!! :)
ReplyDeleteValentines Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I love to get flowers, swap sentimental cards with the hubby, bake a great dessert to go with a romantic dinner, and love on all of my family all day long! It's much like a typical day around here, but it's a different feeling in the air on that day! Love is such a wonderful thing to share with others!
How are you celebrating? :)
Kelli,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I have SO enjoyed your blog over the past few months and gotten some great ideas. Thanks for all your work!
I made a cute little Valentine wreath the other night. I wrapped a silky, purple ribbon around and around a heart-shaped styrofoam form dabbing with glue every now and then. I then hot glued candy conversation hearts on the ribbon. Looks sweet!
Blessings to you,
Julie
Firt of all ~HaPPy BlOgAvErSeRy!~
ReplyDeleteAs we all know blogging does take up a lot of our free time so 1 year later ...that was a lot of hours!
Valentines day is always sweet having my soulmate of 40 years next to me! This year I will be away from him as I am heading for Florida for some needed R+R.I wish you much creativity. hugs
I think of all the people I love.Seven years ago on the 13th we buried our baby boy that was stillborn.So I celebrate with those I love that are here and I know I will see him again . Love your blog.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and I are going to make our men a special dinner! I love your blog! It is always so sweet and encouraging!
ReplyDeleteLove, heather
Kelli, Happy Boggiversary! Woohoo! One year! That is a terrific accomplishment! Hope when my year rolls around I still have something to say that is interesting! hehe! I so enjoy reading your blog and glad your Dad shares with us all! :)
ReplyDeleteMy hubby and I love to keep the romance alive. I decorate my kitchen with cute little hearts, candles, lacy doilies, hanging valentine pot holders, flowers and etc. My hubby and I had our first date in February and a week later we got engaged! Yes, it was quick! God did good, as we have been married now for 27 wonderful years!
I will make him a candlelight dinner and he usually brings home a cute little card and sometimes a rose, as he is so sweet and takes such good care of me! :)
This was great! I enjoyed reading what everyone else had to say too! hehe!
Congrats on your one year! I love valentines day. My favorite memory would be from being a child. My grandmother and I used to make paper roses. I loved it and looked forward to it every year. :) On valentines day at our house the kids and I will make cookies and decorate them, we also make homemade valentine cards. Its a lot of fun. I am not sure what my husband and I will do this year but I am sure whatever it is will be special. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 1 yr! Valentine's Day is not a diamond and expensive thing around here. I plan to make a surprise to put in honey's lunch, rice crispy treats that I cut into heart shapes. For dinner I will make one of honey's favorite meals, either pot roast or meat loaf. For desert I am going to try something new, make chocolate bowls and then put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it, then decorate the top with a couple of chocolate hearts. Hopefully that works out!
ReplyDeleteHappy Blog Birthday!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Valentines Day is not a huge celebration at our house. Generally we have a family dinner and I give the kids small gifts--usually candy. I do decorate the table a little bit, but that about covers it!
I posted under anonymous
ReplyDeleteI have a very large family...I absolutely love hiding conversation hearts around my home during this holiday for my children to find. A "Be Mine" is
ReplyDeletesure to bring a smile to even the smallest faces hiding under a morning biscuit! : )
Blessings,
Tracy
I think the one thing that I like best about Valentines Day, is that it is a day set aside to tell others that we love them. It is not about us, but about our love for others.
ReplyDeleteIt also happens to be one of our friend's birthday, so we will probably be at their house having birthday cake!!!
I love Valentines Day! It is another excuse to be alone with my DH! ;o)
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late on this :)
ReplyDeleteI love to make a pink/red dinner on Valentine's day. We have pink tinted mashed potatoes, heart shaped hamburger patties, red punch, and mini heart cakes for dinner.
Everyone loves it.
Hi Kelli!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you blog - I have learned so much from you and am not sure just how I got this far in life without your dark chocolate pumpkin squares and amish white bread recipes!
We enjoy a big homeschooling Valentine party each year and decorating 50 valentines to take and share is quite enjoyable. Our children like making special boxes to receive their Valentine's.
At home we decorate a bit for Valentines - a mouse chose to make a nest in my box of Valentine's decorations, so I am rebuilding the collection slowly! I had a bunch of soft felt homemade hearts and other nice 'nesty' things!
Some of my favorite Valentine's Day memories are when my Dad would come home from work with roses and chocolate for my Mom and a Dairy Queen Icecream cake for my sister and I! My parents always give us such a sweet card!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your 1yr Anniversary!
www.homeschoolblogger.com/
bethsbountifulblessing
Congratulations on your Blogging Anniversary! Thank you to Dad, for being the reason she started this! :-) We all reap the benefits, too.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I do want to join in, 'cause I dearly love that wreath already!!!! :-) But Valentine's Day isn't too big with me.
Well, I do decorate for it. But my very favorite thing connected with it, is _Chocolate_. Which I can't eat any more. {"Oh bother," as Pooh says} So I'm not looking forward to a big box of Valentine Chocolates.
So, I guess I'm kind of a bust, with this holiday. Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrry.
But I hope you take pity on me, and enter me, anyway. :-)
'MN'
Kelli,
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice idea and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! As far a Valentines go, I remember my favorite valentine I ever made. I was 10-12 years old and I made it for my Dad. I folded a piece of paper over and cut out the "half a heart" shape. I realized it looked like an Ice cream cone and colored it to look like Neopolatin icecream (Dad's favorite). Then I wrote "You're sweeter than Icecream" and inside "That's why I love you." It was super corny but my Dad LOVED it! I think it's still hiding somewhere in the old homestead!!
Thanks for reminding me how fun Valentines Day can be. I think I'll plan something special for DH.
Rean Day
Happy Blogoversary, Kelli!
ReplyDeleteFor Valentine's Day, my precious Hubby and I will go out (a rare treat), just the two of us, to a quiet restaurant.
Then we'll probably come home and pull out the wedding album and do a little reminiscing (something we do on our anniversary as well).
Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteAs to Valentine's Day...We are planning to go to a different restaurant this year. The Silver Fox in Fort Worth. We have, for the past 2 years, gone to Aventino's Restaurante, but just decided on a change. Valentine's Day is a beautiful celebration of our love for each other. As for gifts, we don't give gifts, just celebrate our love.
Happy 1st, ummm, blogiversary?? Can I say that?????
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Mr. U and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day the way most people do. Some dear friends of ours own a bakery/gift shop and they are VERY busy each Valentine's Day. They hire us each year to make deliveries for them on that one day!! While we don't get to deliver together, we both get to see the joy on people's faces as they receive a special gift from their beloved. It's SO much fun and we both look forward to it each year. So, what do we do each year on Valentine's Day? We help spread love!! :)
His,
Mrs. U
Happy Blogging anniversary !
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed your blog so much Kelli and getting to know you.
This is our 29th valentines day and it will spent going out to eat at Sprial Diner. Emery will bring me flowers, a card and chocolates. We always write each other a letter telling each other how much we love each other and how blessed we are to have each other