Valentine Celebrations

Thank you for your Valentine wishes and hugs! We had a really nice day. Anita, Grace copied down some of her favorite love poems for me and I had a good supply of Hershey's caramel kisses! Like Flora, I'll have to go on chocolate restriction for the next few days. ;0)
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I had little gift bags waiting for the girls and Benjamin when they woke up. Nailpolish, stickers and candy for Grace and Emily and a Yo-Yo, stickers and candy for Benjamin.


I found this mini trifle dish at Target and filled it with dried roses from a previous Valentine's Day.


We had cherry turnovers for breakfast.


Here are my little Valentines.....





Red and white were the colors for our table. Grace found some Cranberry Italian Creme Soda at the store.


I made Phillip a Spaghetti and Meatball dinner. I hardly ever make them so it was a sign of true love! ;0)


We had Cheesecake Pie for dessert. I have been using this recipe for more than 10 years. It is very easy to make!


Cheesecake Pie

1 (9-inch) baked graham cracker crust
1 (8-ounce) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In large mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into prepared pie crust. Chill 3 hours or until set.

We topped ours with a spoon of raspberry jam or a little chocolate sauce.


I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you love.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope that your day is filled with lots of love. (And chocolate!)

~All for Love~

Thank you so much for all the comments on Benjamin's birthday! He had a really fun day. We rented "Curious George" and ordered pizza for dinner. Then he got to stay up late! February sure was a busy birthday month, the next one isn't until
May. :0)
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I have been reading my February Victoria magazines along with one of my favorite books, "All for Love" by Tasha Tudor.


It is full of beautiful pictures, poems and stories, along with some cute (and silly!) love potions and charms....

You can find out if the person you love loves you by pulling off the petals of a daisy or black-eyed Susan while you say:
He (or she) loves me,
He loves me not,
He loves me,
He loves me...etc.
The last petal will tell you the answer.


Rose leaves and forget-me-nots made into tea are also effective in making your loved one love you.


If you peel an apple so that the peel is all in one long piece, and then throw the peel over your left shoulder onto the floor, it will form the initial of the person you will marry.


When you go to a wedding, take a little piece of the wedding cake home with you and put it under your pillow, you will dream about the person you will marry. This sounds messy to me!


Four-leaved clovers always bring good luck. But if you find four of them, put one beneath each corner of your bedsheet, and you will dream of the person you will marry.


I'm pretty sure none of those potions and charms actually work so let me share with you some things that do! :0)

Love is not confined to Valentine's Day. There are many occasions all through the year to tell people that you love and appreciate them. Actually, the nicest thing of all is the unexpected or spontaneous expression of your affection by a word, a homemade gift or even a small bouquet of flowers. But still, it is pleasant to have a day set apart specifically for celebrating love.

One of my favorite parts of All for Love is when Tasha Tudor shares about her Sparrow Post.



"Valentine's Day in the Tudor home centers on the Sparrow Post. It started out as a grocery carton but has been turned into quite an elaborate establishment with cubbyholes for letters, a counter, a set of scales and many important notices pasted to the walls. There is a back office for Mr. Sparrow where he can work in peace and sort that quantities of mail. There is even miniature mail just the right size for dolls and stuffed animals.

A few years ago I borrowed Tasha's idea and made a "Cardinal Post." The girls and Benjamin have lots of fun leaving notes for each other inside.


I found the mini mailboxes at Michaels and the post office miniatures at Hobby Lobby in the doll house section.


Another great book I've been reading is Sarah Ban Breathnach's "Mrs. Sharp's Traditions." She has some sweet ideas for Valentine's Day...


The Dolls' Valentine Tea Party
Have a Valentine Tea party for all the dolls and stuffed-toy friends who keep your children in such good company throughout the year. Dolls and toys are, as you no doubt realize, very generous to those good children who take such loving care of them! You may have to assisted the dolls and animals in their valentine making without the children's knowledge! ;0)


A Wedding In the Woods
For centuries it has been an old country superstition that on St. Valentine's the birds select their mates. Why not put out a wedding supper for the birds...maybe some sunflower seeds or pinecones covered in peanut butter and birdseed.


Last but not least, if you need something delicious to eat on Valentine's Day I have to recommend Mrs. U's Chocolate Pound Cake. As if pound cake isn't yummy enough, now add some chocolate! :0)


Chocolate Pound Cake
1/2 pound of butter, softened (2 sticks)
1/2 cup of shortening
3 cups of sugar
5 whole eggs
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup milk
3 cups plain flour (all purpose)

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let it cool in pan for 5 minutes and then turn onto cooling rack.

I hope you have enjoyed these ideas on making February 14th extra special.

No matter how you plan on celebrating the holiday, I want to wish you a very sweet Valentine's Day tomorrow.


Be my Valentine,
My heart is yours.

Pictures from www.antiqueclipart.com and www.art.com

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!

It's time for another birthday! Benjamin turned 6 today!

I thought I would share a few baby pictures....









Fast foward six years....

What Benjamin wanted most for his birthday was to go to a hockey game with Daddy. Saturday night they went to see two local teams play. They enjoyed hotdogs, cotton candy and Dr. Pepper. You know, birthday food. ;0)


Enjoying the game...this must have been before the sugar high!



Yesterday, we had Phillip's family over to celebrate. My friend, Pea made chicken fajitas last week and I've been craving them ever since, so that is what we had!


Benjamin got some fun gifts from Nana, Papa and his Uncles and Aunt.


You can't go wrong with a Lightning McQueen toy!


Practicing with a new sword...


Benjamin wanted a Dirt Cake for his birthday.


Basically it is layers of vanilla pudding, crushed oreos and gummy worms. It was *really* good!



Silly Uncle Caleb!


What's your favorite part, Benjamin?! :0)


The plans for today are to play with new toys, go to Blockbuster and pick out a movie for tonight and just have fun being six!

Happy Birthday to my handsome boy!

Reality Saturday

I thought it was time for a bit of Saturday reality. We usually keep thing fairly neat and tidy around here but sometimes (like every few days!) things get messy. Good thing Phillip isn't here, taking pictures with his nice camera, then my house would look *really* bad. ;0)

If you were to stop by today this is what you would see....

We are messy crafters. Here is what is left of our big "making Valentines" project last night. Emily still had to make a few this morning. She walked into the room and said, "Look at this trashed place!" My thoughts exactly. ;0)



Grace is having a little tea party with her dolls.



Emily and Benjamin are off playing in a bedroom. It appears the doll bed has been turned into a desk.



Yes, my children still leave their clothes on the floor. Grrr....



There are always dishes to wash. Actually, I've been handwashing my plates and bowls since Christmas. Our dishwasher racks have erroded away in many spots and I don't want to get rust stains on my new white dishes. I have a repair kit but haven't gotten around to glueing on 140+ little tops. Did someone say procrastonator?!



And finally the livingroom. Doesn't look so warm and cozy today!!



Well, there you have it. A bit of reality at my house!