Love Day.

A little mush for you on Love Day.

(Warning: If something about Feb. 14th makes you bitter, you may want to stop reading now!)

I love that hubby of mine. The homebody in him who would prefer to stay home with our little family than anything else in the world, the builder who supports my crazy ideas ("Let's buy a century old home and completely redo it!"), who stays up late to build me new closets, who lets me sleep in and even greets me with coffee, the chef in him who more often than not feeds me, the funnyman in him who cracks me up everyday, who I would prefer to hang out with more than anyone else, the protector in him who gets up at night when I hear a noise, the Daddy in him who gets up at night to tuck someone back in.

I love my littlest Valentines. Those two I get to spend my days with. Max, who's little hand pats my side reassuringly while he nurses, my little bedmate who is putting his little foot down on sleeping in his own crib. He laughs at me and wraps his little arms around my neck, pulling my hair and slobbering my cheek. Best kisses ever. My little girl Claire, the most expressive mime ever, the singer, the dancer, the climber, answering the tv shows in what Troy calls 'Korean-Gaelic'. She squeezes my cheeks and gives me kisses. When I gave her a Valentine this morning she raises her eyebrows and says, "Wow! Tank youuu!"

My bigger Valentines, those boys I love. Seth, my snuggle bunny, Mr. Charismatic the entertainer, my little boy quickly becoming a big boy, learning to read and write. Thane, my responsible oldest, my helper, the negotiator and definite Libra, ever conscious of what is just and fair, a funnyman in his own right, old enough now to be lost in Harry Potter, my big boy who sometimes still needs a mommy hug.

I love our parents. We are so lucky to have them support us and help us how they do, there for us always. Having loved us and raised us, even still we are their babies, worrying about our safety in bad weather, reminding us to take our vitamins. Loving our kids as much as we do, offering them undistracted playtime, infinite interest in what they have to say and what they are doing, sharing our joy in their triumphs, the ultimate cheerleaders in their growth and milestones.

I love that I get to be surrounded in so much love everyday. So many hugs and kisses and snuggles and laughs that I often take it for granted.

Happy Love Day to you!

A late Valentine's post.

I'm really impressed by this Design Mom's Valentine's gusto. Check out her post on what she helped her children do for their classroom Valentine's.

 

It's a far cry from the store bought pack of 32 Marvel Character Valentines that I split between Thane and Seth's classmates. Our Valentine routine was more an event in printing practice than design prowess.Thane made a list of his classmates, picked out his favorite characters for his besties, assigned a girl Valentine to a boy he didn't like (in spite of my frown), and signed his name eighteen times. I was very impressed that Seth signed his name fourteen times in a row, all by himself. Writing his name once is a feat he's only recently managed, but I think he was spurred on by the coolness factor of being included in what was previously one of Thane's big kid only activities. And all of this was done at 9:30 the evening before their Valentine parties. Yep. Clearly a best parenting moment.