Valentine's Birthday Party

So a while back I was chatting with our nanny and suggested we have a birthday party for her at my house. It had been a while since we had had a girl's night with the girl's from church- and I suggested something really girly.

She was immediately all for the idea and I was surprised to hear she had never had that sort of a party for herself- with just friends invited to celebrate her.Her birthday is exactly on V-day so I had tons of ideas and inspiration on how to decorate and make things special. 

We wanted to do a number of things: 

• spoil the girls with manicures, hair styling and make-up
• make them feel special with delicious food
• have a part where we talked about godly relationships
• have good food 
• send something home with them to help them remember the evening and  God's plan for godly relationships. 

I had the idea of making cookies on a stick and adding Bible verse. So I made these and I was very pleased with the results. Normally I don't like sugar cookies (because they are just too plain)- but frosted with white or dark chocolate they were delicious!

The cake I made for the birthday girl. Dark chocolate with layers of almond meringue and a rich dark chocolate frosting. 

 

Hair time.

For the snacks for more spoiling I make milk shakes that were pink and then a bit later we had chocolate fondue with fruits, pretzels and small sugar cookies. YUMMY! The girls loved this!

After we had eaten and they had been pampered we played "Things" for a while. Then we closed with my sharing how God taught me to be alone when I was in college and be content in HIM. 

The girls helped cleaned up afterwards and we finally locked the door at 11:00 PM. It was a long evening, but lovely. I was so pleased to be able to have a such a special party with the girls. 

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day? 

 

The Perfect Valentine

Whenever I hear about people sharing their most romantic Valentine's memories or experiences I always think my husband's tops them all. (I know I am a bit prejudice).

Our first Valentine's Day together- when we had been seeing each other for several months happened to be one very snowy day.

When my English lessons had finished for the evening he wanted to take me somewhere. He drove to the only local park and parked at the bottom of the big hill where there is a long stairway to reach the rest of the park. He then had me wait in the car for what seemed like a VERY long time- maybe it was- I think it was at least 45 minutes.

FINALLY he came and had me join him for a walk and WOW was it ever worth the wait.

He had run all over the park with its fresh blanket of snow and put candles everywhere. The paths were lighted with candles. . . just for me. It was the most romantic thing. I felt like I was walking in my very own fairytale or romantic movie.

When we reached the frozen pond he had written "I love you" you in the snow- this was the first time he "told" me he loved me and it was very special.

I will never forget that lovely evening and will always know he is a very romantic man despite what our sometimes overly busy lives allow.

This is now 6 year ago, before we were married and had 2 1/2 kids. But we still try to make time for each other. We celebrated V-day early this year because our nanny's birthday is that day and we didn't want to have her work on her birthday. We went out to a very nice Italian restaurant and my husband surprised me with a sweet card and a vintage style perfume bottle similar to this one. I have always thought it would be fun to have one.

What about you ? What are you doing to do this year to make Valentine's day special?