Three Things + 1 : Lots of Love (and giveaways)

I usually make something for my hubby and the kids. Our biggest tradition though is for me and hubby. We got engaged in February, but not on Valentine's Day. We have 3 kids under 4, so we don't often get a babysitter and go out except this one day. We celebrate our engagement by getting a babysitter and enjoying an evening together just the two of us.

My valentine for the past 12 yrs has been my son. Each year I make a wonderful soup where I have cut each of vegtables with different size mini heart shapes. I even make some crusty bread in the shape of a heart. He loves it, as do I. Thank you for sharing all your wonderful goodies and yourself!!

The love of PINK is rubbing off on me this year too. :) Fun products...thx!
This year my daughter and I are hosting a little Valentine Card Crafting party. Just a simple gathering of mom's and daughter's to have fun together. :)
xoxo
CS

Once I had my first child, my mother gave me the heart-shaped cake pans that she had used since I was a child. Every Valentine's Day she made a two layer cake using these pans, with pink icing, and pink-colored coconut on the frosting, along with the required heart-shaped candies. Now, I make this cake every year for my family.

We don't have any specific traditions, yet. But my little boy isn't a baby anymore so I'm loving the ideas I'm seeing from other people so we can start our own. Typically, my hubby and I just exchange cards and a small token gift...he knows how much I love chocolate so I usually get that. Sometimes we've gone out for dinner but I just love making dinner together and having a quiet evening talking and sharing. It's a nice change from the regular routine.

Valentine's Day is our anniversary, but instead of waiting on a table at a restaurant we spend it with our son at home. I make a special dinner and dessert and we spend the evening together as a family.
jennifer

I always make cards and some kind of altered project for each of my grandchildren. As the boys are getting older though, it's becoming harder to keep the "girly" pink and hearts out of the projects!

Thanks for the amazing giveaway. I just make some homemade goodies with love and we spend the day watching chick flicks!!

In our family, we can always count on some crazy dancing/singing valentine animal from my Mom.

My husband and I both work and have 2 young ones so we try and catch lunch together to celebrate. I make a handmade card for him and he usually buys me one in a modern and unique style which he knows I will like. But we try and keep it simple and not buy into the commercial aspect of it.
Now that my older daughter is 4, I plan to help her make some cards and send them with her to her daycare to share with her friends. She is at the point where she would understand that concept behind appreciating your friends and the ones you love. (Ssssh . . . don't tell anyone but we're making one for daddy too)

Hi Ali- We have some really fun traditions. The kids always make their own valentines day cards for their class and we add some homemade candy packets to the cards. We have already started on these! On the day of...I make pink pancakes, put pink and red candies in their lunch, and I make a big heart cake for dessert. I think it's one of our fav holidays- I even made a mini book about our traditions last year...and it's been a favorite mini to browse though!
Have a great and restful day!!
~Laura

We spend the evening at home and I make the same dinner every year- filet mignons, roasted plum tomatoes, homemade creamed spinach, and a good bottle of wine. We enjoy a nice quiet evening after our little guy goes to bed. Now that my son is a toddler we'll start to make a special breakfast too!

I started making an mini album of 10 things i love and it cant be people. I'm on the 5th edition.

My husband and I normally cook dinner together. We make something a little out of the ordinary, like homemade crabcakes. We don't do gifts; we just enjoy spending time with one another.

We usually make cards for one another. A nice family dinner with candles ends the day.

We usually have a nice quiet dinner at home with some flowers and candy purchased before the big day. This year, my son is 3, and we will be making heart-shaped cookies on that day.

My husband loads up all his girls in the car on Valentine's and takes them to pick out their own little treats from him - they can pick out whatever kind of flowers they want or a big balloon. They love getting to look at the flowers and pick out their favorites - with three little girls we end up with lots of variety. He and I have a standing tradition of picking up Greek take out and enjoying it after our munchkins are in bed for the night. :)

I have varied Valentine's from year to year. My fav year though was when I started Feb 1 and did 14 days of Valentines in which I did/gave/made something special for my hubby. I/we ended on the 14th by going to his work and sticking multi-colored, pink, purple, red hearts all over his car.

I always get my husband a card. The kids and I sometimes make a special treat together, like cupcakes with valentine decorations. Or I make something special for the whole family, like our favorite chocolate cake. And we eat our special treat all together, family dinner style, when my husband gets home from work in the late afternoon.

I will give small gifts to my daughters as the grow older, maybe flowers someday. They are little now so I think I will stick with heart shaped sandwiches and cookies since a growing toddler appreciates food! My husband and I don't have a real tradition except for avoiding resturants because they are too crowded on Valentines Day.