Happy Valentine's Day

My mom came and watched the kids on Friday so Nate and I could go out. Our usual date consists of going to dinner and then going shopping or to the temple. We wanted to break away from our routine for our anniversary date, so Nate asked his co-workers what they do on dates to get some fresh ideas. The response was unanimous . . . dinner and a movie. Every single time! That was no help. After finishing the movie room, we have no desire to spend $20 to watch a movie at a theater with 373 other people. Nate was creative and came up with a list of ideas for me to pick from . . . things like snowshoeing and trying out Flowrider. I was a bit worn out after a long week and wasn’t really up for that much effort. We ended up breaking way out of our routine by going to dinner and shopping in Salt Lake. :) We decided that we are okay with being boring old people that are in a dating rut. We love each other and have fun just hanging out. No need to be all fancy. Olive Garden, IKEA, and a night's worth of Seinfeld references are good enough for us.

The kids had loads of fun at their class parties and got tons of candy. Ben got his retainer on Wednesday and is already asking when he gets if off. It is hard to have a box full of Skittles and Laffy Taffy and not be able to eat it. I helped with Elise’s party on Thursday (but forgot to take any pictures while I was there) and Emily’s party on Friday. Abby is a trooper to tag along to parties where she doesn’t really get to join in the fun. At Elise's party, she was my Valentine Bingo assistant (she even helped a couple of kids who just really didn't get how to play the game.) She and Elise kept themselves entertained at Emily’s party by using their fingers to trace letters painted on the walls and playing with their friend Addy.

It was fun to have Valentine’s Day fall on a Sunday. I loved that Nate was home to make crepes for breakfast and that I had time to do some cute heart hairdos for the girls. After church, we had a candlelight dinner with the kids and let them open a couple of gifts. We gave them pajamas, a Scooby Doo DVD, and some treats. We watched the season premiere of The Amazing Race together and then let the kids have a slumber party while Nate and I learned how to play Stratego. Not so romantic, but pretty much a perfect day.