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

My husband and I have never really celebrated Valentine's Day. I feel strongly that the holiday has become a cop-out for a lot of people. Instead of telling those most important in their lives how much they love and appreciate them all year, they try and cram it in one day.
With that being said, I do send a Valentine to my "adopted children" because they so enjoy getting mail. However, I try to do little RAK's throughout the year to those who mean so much to me.

We celebrated twenty years ago by getting married! Now each year we take a mini winter holiday to the mountains for a cabin get away. Though this year for the milestone 20 we are celebrating at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. A retreat to remind us not to take each other for granted and to be ever present in our lives. ~Monda

Growing up, my dad always gave his daughters gifts & my mom gave her son a gift of Valentine's day. I think this year, I want to carry on this tradition & give a Valentine to my son. As a teacher, I also get to celebrate with my preschool class & I enjoy the little party & Valentine exchange that we do every year. :)

My son's birthday is on the 13th, and my husband's birthday and our anniversary are just a couple of weeks later, so Valentine's day usually takes a backseat. I usually get the kids some candy, and some years we have a Valentine's banquet at our church. It's usually a nice dinner and the youth serve as waitstaff and earn quite a bit in tips! Last year, we played the "Trulywed Game"-changed the name as there aren't any newlyweds in our church-and that was lots of fun.

This year i will try to bake cupcakes for work and will enjoy a nice meal at home with my sweetheart Stephane, probably "raclette"! Enjoy your day and thanks for sharing all your precious finds!

To celebrate valentine's day the girls and I make cookies, homemade valentenes and a special dinner for Daddy. When he comes home we have the table all decorated and the girls love to dress up in their princess dresses. take care michelle

For us, Valentine's Day comes twice a year (its a cross-cultural marriage) so we have two opportunities to enjoy each other for the evening: no son, lovely meal, great wine and a long walk somewhere quiet.

My little guy is still a bit small for celebrations, but my husband and I generally have a "living room picnic." This has often been fondue or cheese and fruit or something else we love, but always chocolate too. It is quiet and intimate without the crowds of the restaurants and still works perfectly with a little one.

I decorate the living room with heart shape banners & other fun stuff. My husband will bring our favorite dessert from our favorite joint & we just usually have a nice intimate dinner followed with dessert.

We don't have a tradition started with this, but when my hubby and I were first dating and poor as can be, we would celebrate V-Day with a lunch at McDonald's. We'd read the comic section of the paper together as we chowed down on our french fries.
This year for our son, who is 18 months old, I think I will give him strawberry milk (pink!) in his sippy cup and maybe we'll make some heart cookies together.
Hubby and I will try to plan a date night the night before (cause I have an all-day scrapbook club on V day!) and just try to have an uneventful dinner out, to reconnect. But maybe not at McDonald's. ; )

I always send the kids to school with a special Valentine napkin and a little love note written on it. I pack a themed lunch too, heart shaped sandwhich, red items, etc.

Hello Ali, Valentines is my favorite holiday. I always make heart shaped pancakes for the kids. Even the one in high school who has to be at school at 6:55am!I also buy each of my kids a cute book about love or giving. This year I got my teenager 'The Gift of Nothing'. So appropriate for a teenager :) A couple of years ago my husband and I started a new tradition of writing a love note to eachother. I just love it. Have a great day!

My husband & I would go out to eat at our favorite restaurant is we could afford to and if not than we fixed our favorite meal at home (ribeye's & bake potato's). But, this year is our first Valentine's Day with our little boy so we've decided to make it a family celebration instead of just a mommy & daddy one. We're going to have lunch all together because daddy has to work on Valentine's night. Then mommy & baby will spend some quality time together!

for Valentine's day, we usually do a special supper at home.just me, dh, and our 2 DD and the girls help pick it out...a little extra hugs and kisses never hurts that day either!!!

It's usually a very quiet evening for us, but DH annd I try to carve out time to sit together, have a glass of wine and just enjoy being with each other. Sounds simple, I know, but with two jobs, two kids, two pets and a household to manage - it really is a celebration.
Rinda

According to our 6 year old, Valentine's is a "lovely day" that should be celebrated in a "lovely way". For our family that means our favourite "special" dinner (cheese fondue followed by chocolate fondue) at the dining room table with "candles and everything". Fondue is both communal and fun - perfect for a lovely day. My husband and I celebrate with dinner out another night - when it's both less crowded and less commercial feeling.

Hi Ali,
We celebrate by making heart shaped cookies, and the kids make me cards, and my hubby gets be a card. We also have a special family meal. Thanks for the giveaways...someday maybe I can win!

Each member of our family has a "Love Sack". We write kind and thoughtful things to each other and place them in each others sack. On Valentines Day, we have a special family dinner and read our notes to each other. It's simple but it's meaningful tradition.

For Valentine's day, we've done different things each year, trying to settle on a tradition, maybe. One year we ate pink food for breakfast (pink pancakes), sometimes we'll just let the kids pick what we have for dinner, or give small gifts of love. I'm not sure what we'll do this year, but I'd like to celebrate the love we feel as a family, not just the love between my husband and I.

A very sweet tradition my husband started 5 years ago before we were married is a Valentine's Day Treasure Hunt. This involves clues around the house with little love notes and gifts and the last clue leads us to where we go for a romantic dinner. In the past we've dined at places that have been special to us in our relationship. I can't wait to see what he has in store for this year!!