Valentine Traditions

I've had a few people ask me about my Valentine traditions. I've mentioned before that after Christmas, Valentines day is my favorite holiday! I love it! Since it's usually C-R-A-Z-Y to go out on Valentines evening, Al and I try to do something romantic earlier in the week. This frees up the actual day to do something fun with the kids.


Valentines Fairy: Starting February 1, the Valentines fairy brings the kids fun treats and small surprises every day. Kind of like an advent calendar but it only lasts for 2 weeks. This year I got these cute mailboxes in the dollar spot at Target and embellished them a tiny bit. The fairy leaves her treats in the boxes for the kids to have every morning. {You could still do it this year, starting whenever}. We write notes to the fairy and ask her questions and she leaves notes back. She also puts "activity slips" on some days {make valentine cookies, make Valentines for grandparents, Valentine craft, etc.} It's so funny to me that Carter is convinced that our Fairy is a girl and Makenna is convinced it's a boy {It's a girl, for the record}.



Valentine breakfast: No big surprises here, just pink milk, heart shaped pancakes. We also get the kids a small gift that is wrapped and at the breakfast table. This year M is getting a princess nightgown she has been wanting, C is getting a small lego set, A is getting touchy-feely books.


Heart's Desire Dinner: For dinner on Valentines day night I do a "Heart's Desires" dinner. This just means that each member of the family gets to pick a menu item for the meal. Their hearts desire {get it?}. This means we get some totally random but really fun meals and everyone gets something they really want to eat.


Fondue Party: We always, always finish the evening with a chocolate fondue party. Highlight of the day for everyone. This is my favorite chocolate fondue recipe ever, given to me years ago by Mindy {who now has a private blog}:


1 t. butter
1 c. mini marshmallows
1/3 c. whipping cream
6 oz. chocolate bar with almonds (it's fine to use the no nut version too)
2 T. milk

Break candy into pieces. Rub wall of crockpot with butter. Place candy, marshmallows and milk in crockpot. Cover and stir every 15 minutes until melted and smooth. Gradually add cream. Continue to heat 30 minutes.

We dip pretzels, marshmallows, angel food cake, strawberries, bananas, rice krispy treats, etc.

Here's a peek at a few of our decoration this year. I made another banner. I'm addicted and think I might need one for every holiday! First year for valentines tree. I've been collecting ornaments for a few years and finally did it this year. I'm hoping to find a taller skinny tree for really cheap after Christmas next year.

Buffet:

So that's it! You can thank my mom for a lot of these ideas as they are traditions I've carried over from my childhood!

For more of my Valentines ideas, check out these posts:

Valentines day with a new baby!

Kids crafts and outfits

Homemade Valentine Craft

{And look how teeny tiny my kids look in these pictures :( My heart is hurting today, a certain someone turns ONE tomorrow. I can't stand it - but stay tuned for lots of birthday fun!}