Since we were all so sick on actual Valentine’s day, I decided we would have our traditional celebration when we were all feeling better. Finally, on Friday I decided we were well enough. Some of the kids weren’t actually feeling completely 100%, but I made them all go to school anyway, so they could pick up their semester grades. Otherwise we would have had to wait until after sport vacation. I wasn’t really all that much better either, but at least I didn’t have a fever that day. (It came back the next day with a vengeance, though.)
They were very excited to see what Valentine surprises I had left in their mailboxes when they woke up. Everyone got a sucker and a mini pack of Oreos, along with an individualized “something” : nail polish, a small stuffed animal, or Playmobil. All the kids loved everything, and that set the mood for the whole day. At lunchtime Sophie helped me decorate the table all fancy,
and then we had heart-shaped pizza and red Kool-aid. It was a hit as always!
Aren’t those table runners cute? I made them all by myself! And if you look close enough, you can totally tell! haha But it was a lot of fun, plus I learned a lot as well. And now I have some pretty new Valentine’s decorations!
When the kids came home in the afternoon, we decorated sugar cookies for friends. 
I used a new frosting this time, made with real raspberries. 
It was a little runnier, but did harden up pretty well, and rather quickly. Plus it was a gorgeous color, and tasted great! I am very hands off when it comes to the cookies. 
I just give each kid a bowl of frosting, set the bottles of sprinkles on the table, and walk away! It’s much more fun for everyone that way. 🙂
And I think the cookies ended up looking really good! They sure tasted delicious.
We, of course, had to make some cards to accompany our treats. I dumped out all the hearts I had punched out from scraps of paper over the years, and let the kids take whatever they wanted. 
Then they all wrote a little message to their chosen friends, signed their name, and we went out to deliver them. It went much faster this year, since I actually knew where everyone lived! It was a wonderful, although late, Valentine’s day. Thank you, family, for being so easy to love!