Valentines Day with kids

Love is in the air, and for some that means a  fancy dinner, hotel stays, expensive chocolates and overly priced flowers. I personally enjoy some of those things too, but with four kids and a crazy household, I like to do a make your own Valentines day with kids. For 15 years I have made this day a special, fun day with the kids and my hubby. We have a home cooked fancy meal, a chocolate dessert , and some special touches. 

On Valentines day I like to set a fun table that the kids feel special and that we don’t do all the time. I pull out the cloth napkins, fancy glasses, and everyone eats off of normal plates, no paper plates or ones that may have a slightly worn off princess or super hero on it! We all get our own set of silver, and a special little note from mom:) I purchase some lower price flowers such as carnations and/or tulips, red, white or pink along with some greenery and design them in the vase myself and place them on our table. Down the center of our farmhouse table, I roll a long piece of butcher block paper, and on this I draw their names, some hearts and x’s and o’s, and sweet messages with sharpies. I put little bowls of heart shaped  candies and a plate of home dipped chocolate covered strawberries! I find chocolate wafers at my local grocery store and melt them then decorate the strawberries myself. YUM!

For our main dish we usually do some sort of italian dish such as lasagna or a fancy pasta dish, if we don’t do that we go for a juicy steak cooked on the grill. And I always have all the fixings that go with whatever dish we decide. We have a sparkling juice or soda for kids and an adult beverage for me and my man. Then to end our meal we do a brownie ala mode and give those delicious strawberries a try. Each child gets a chocolate bar of their liking and we sit and spend time together, laughing and talking about their days.

I know I won’t be able to pull this off forever, as my kids are growing and soon they will have Valentines of their own, but my hopes are that they carry these memories and traditions with them. I enjoy all the running around and prepping. And at the end of the evening my husband and I find some time to share our thoughts of the day.