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

Hmm. I usually celebrate by reminding my husband how he used to do something nice, but not anymore. LOL.

Well, 6 years ago I celebrated Valentines Day by getting married on it! So my hubby and I now call it our "Valenversary". We get so little "free" time together (what with 5 kids and 2 of them being autistic 3 yr old twins!), but this year he is taking me to a Cleveland Cavaliers game. I am not a big sport but we have watched every game 2gether on TV the last few years (Tivo'd most of course) so it has become a bit of something we enjoy 2gether. So any lil' amt of time we get 2gether is like a holiday 4 us! =)

We hang cut out hearts from our kids bedroom doorways. On the hearts we write things that we love about them:) They definitely love this tradition because my son just reminded me that his dad and I do this for them every year:)! It's fun to hear them wake up and get out of bed quickly to read what is written on the hearts.

I still love sending silly Valentine's to my friends and family. I think of it as a great day to share how much you love people!

typically, we find a way to express an "i love you because..." but don't do it with the traditional flowers and chocolates. when we were in premarital counseling, our pastor taught us this exercise:
I am saying I love you when I ...
I feel loved by you when you ...
The day he had us try this out we went for 20 minutes without stopping, and we weren't even newlyweds! We try to still practice this exercise often, and Vday happens to be a nice time for that tradition...

We are pretty simple - it's just the two of us - so I try to do something extra special at home...last year I picked up sushi from our favorite spot - made a beautiful table spread and lit the house with candles. It was a wonderful way to suprise my hubby after he came home from teaching a late class.

In years past, a friend and I would go out to dinner with another friend who was single to help her celebrate what she calls "Vomit Day." She's dating someone this year, so I'm with my hubby and kids. Growing up my dad secretly put candies on our pillow for when we woke up and my mom made delicious heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink icing. I think I'll start up that tradition with our family, along with a nice candle-lit dinner. We'll see how three boys 5 and under enjoy that!

Since we started dating, my husband and I have always shared chocolate covered strawberries with each other on Valentine's Day (mainly because they are just so yummy)!

Before we became parents, my husband and I would go out for dinner, usually to Carrabbas since that was where we went on our first date. This year, since we now have a little addition, I will just make a special dinner (probably one of his favorites) and some kind of valentine themed dessert.

I make mini valentines for my friends and instead of writing any names inside, I write silly things for the “To” and “From”:
To: The Dog Lover
From: The Non-Dog Lover
To: The One Who Doesn't Like to Cook
From: The One Who Doesn't Like to Cook
I then put their initials on the vellum envelopes using rub-ons. It is an awesome way to use up paper scraps and rub-ons.

Hi Ali, Great stuff here! So every year on Valentines my two kids wake up to a very sweet breakfast table, with a big helium balloon for each, flowers in their favorite color, and the table set with a candle, a happy tablecloth and mini fancy mugs for cocoa. There are extra chocolate chips strung all over the table in little spots and we make heart-shaped pancakes. I love celebrating holidays and this one is pretty special. Each year my huband and I write valentines to the kids and I ofcourse make a love letter layout in my scrapbook about the great man I'm married to.

I get a picture taken with the kids each year wearing red and we frame that and give it to my husband. It's a nice gift for my husband and nice that I know I'll actually be in one picture each year with the kids, since I'm usually the one taking the pics.
Betsy
San Antonio

Wow, what gorgeous Valentines Day products! Every year on Valentines morning I get up early and make pink heart shaped pancakes for my kids which is a real treat for them since Valentines Day often falls on a school morning when they are used to toast and cereal. I also make sure to put an extra special "love note" in their lunchboxes that day. Happy early Valentines Day everyone!

I have mailed Valentine's storebought cards for years before I started making them myself. I sent them to friends to show how much I appreciate our friendship. As for my bf and I, we usually have a nice dinner. As my Valentine's gift (instead of the usual flowers etc...), I usually ask for craft-related gifts though this year my gift is the 70,000 airline miles he had redeemed for our vacation starting this Sat. lol...

Hi Ali! Thanks for hosting this giveaway. My husband and I usually celebrate with a nice dinner, either home cooked or out a restaurant with special meaning to us, like the place where we hosted our rehearsal dinner. And I always make him a handmade card :) Thanks! -Sharyn

After the unfortunate "incident" on valentines day 2007, my husband and I downplay valentines day a bit. We usually just go out and see a movie and have dinner out. No gifts required.

Nothing I would really consider traditional. I have started putting a box of Valentine colored Smarties* in my DD's lunch with an I love you. But she just started school 2 years ago, I guess if I keep it up it will become a tradition.
*I hear you don't have Smarties in the USA, they are here in Canada. They are sort of like M&M's but better. And they make seasonal boxes: pink, and red for Valentines, pastels for Easter etc etc.

We don't have any real traditions, and my husband isn't so romantic, but we usually exchange cards and it's one of my favorite holidays to make special cards for.

Actually the Valentine's Day is the birtday of my father. Of course we celebrate him and over all it is a day full of love.
/Marie, Sweden

Maybe I need to get a tradition! We normally just have a quiet evening at home, but now that our son is almost 5 we could start doing something a little more special like bake cupcakes with him or make a card with him. I'll have to think about that...