Valentine's Day was sweet and quiet for us.
Actually, I think Noah and Camille would describe it differently. From their reports, their class parties were raucous opportunities for serious candy binges. In fact, Noah climbed into the van and announced "I am never eating another piece of candy again". Camille on the other hand buckled into her seat and promptly started to intently study and evaluate each little paper valentines she had received from classmates. I sometimes get crabby and think all of these holidays with their over-emphasis on consumption and excessive sweets are just yucky and hollow, but listening to my kids giggle and compare silly cards in the back seat reminded me of how much I also enjoyed those class parties when I was a kid. I am glad my kids get to enjoy them, too.
In past years, I have usually spent more time preparing for Valentine's Day...decorating, baking, crafting (the only crafting we did this year were the funny little Valentines with legs in the above pic...they were for my sweet mother-in-law whose birthday is on Valentine's Day). In addition to being the holiday of love and chocolate, Valentine's Day also marks the anniversary of when we became a family of four. It brings back memories of time in Taiwan, of holding Camille for the first time, of meeting her family,of our Taiwanese friends, and of participating in the Chinese New Year lantern festival. This year we quickly scribbled out hand made valentines for each other and dinner was not what I thought it would be. When I realized I was just too tired to make dinner we ended up going to a little Japanese place for sushi...all of us dressed in sweat pants and sneakers surrounded by couples in much nicer clothes. It was not our most presentable moment, but none of us cared. We were together. We were all healthy. And it was nice.
What a beautiful gift! I am sure your mother-in-law loved them. How special! I didn't realize that C adoption story was here on the blog. I went back and read the post. What an amazing gotcha day. That is one thing I am nervous about when we go to China because it is so opposite the gotcha day you guys had. Usually they hand over your child in a large group of other families. The rooms are busy, loud, and crazy. My husband is such an introvert and gets so over stimulated that I am afraid the experience is going to be negative for him. I hope he will find the joy in the day. She was so little too. China could sure learn something from Taiwan. 4 months is almost unheard of. The youngest I have heard of is 5 months but that is really rare. Happy Gotcha Day!
love you v-day bday gifts! and the story of C. xoxo
I love those hearts! And I hear you on getting grumpy over the candy overload. I let them choose a few pieces then buy the rest off them at dime a piece, and they're happy. So are my husband's co-workers who eat up the ransomed candy.
Oh, and such a sweet post about holding your daughter for the first time! What a blessed family you are.
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