My Valentines

I had a really great weekend. I didn't get to go out with my husband. (Luke came down with a serious fever and flu Friday night and is still sick. Poor thing.) And although I do look forward to when Valentine's Day is once again about me going on a date with my husband, I enjoyed making this a special holiday for my kids.

Collin and I went on a mother and son date Friday night. We went roller skating. It was his first time and I couldn't believe his stamina. He fell so many times, I couldn't see how he had the energy to keep getting back up. But he did. Finally, by the end of the night, he made did make it one and a half times around the rink without falling once. All I can say is that my son is a very determined little boy. That DQ blizzard at the end of the night was very much deserved.

For some reason, I've had this strong need lately to remember more about my childhood. Especially memories of spending time with my mother. It feel bothered that I can hardly remember anything. I guess mostly because I work so hard at being a mother, and the thought of having my children remember almost none of it is depressing. I need to have a good talk with my mother. I hope she can help me remember more.

But as Collin and I were sitting in the car eating ice-cream looking up at the moon, Collin reminded me that this was the second date we had been on. I couldn't remember that we had ever done this before. So I asked him what we had done on our first date. He reminded me that I had taken him to the city to see the Nutcracker ballet. That was over a year ago, and I had totally forgotten about it. But he hadn't...And that was so meaningful to me. He had remembered. Oh how I hope that my children remember me as a mom that did things with them. I hope they remember how much I love them.

Anyways, we had a nice time making homemade Valentines together and with a little encouragement Collin thought of something nice to say about each person in his class at school. His teacher emailed me tonight and commented that several students came up to show her the nice thing that Collin had said about them. And Collin was much more excited to give these personalized valentines away. So excited in fact that he had a really hard time falling asleep on Sunday night. It turns out it was worth a little extra effort on my part to make this happen.

Also on Saturday, the kids helped me melt down our old crayons in the oven. We used a mold that shaped them into hearts. These crayons are now once again fun to color with. We also played a little estimation game with boxes of candy hearts. We made a graph with the hearts to see how many of each color were in the box. It was fun to compare the graphs and see that each box was different.

Tonight for family night we talked about the qualities of a good friend and made friendship wreaths with the Valentines the kids had received. They turned out very cute and we hung them on the kids' bedroom door. They really do make you smile, the wreaths...and the kids. Love them. Love Merritt. He's a good man. I'm so glad he's my husband.

On a side not, Merritt decided to fix our toilet on Saturday. It had "randomly" flooded a few times recently and Merritt was convinced it was clogged. He ended up replacing the whole thing. And since we only have one bathroom, that means we were without a toilet for several hours. Meanwhile, we took care of business at our neighbor's house. (Collin is famous for having to take a dump at the most inopportune times.) Luke was about to start throwing up any minute, but Merritt got the toilet fixed just in time. Owen cheerfully announced: Daddy fixed it! Daddy fixed the toilet!

And in all the craziness that day, Merritt brought home a dozen pink roses. And they have brightened my days since. I hope there will soon be time for romance, and until then I will just keep loving him. Happy Valentine's Day!