Thursday, February 19, 2015

Valentine's Day

How did our Valentine's Day go? Well...we did better this year than previous years! It still got a little lost in the shuffle but we did start one new tradition that was really fun. Secret Cupid. Of course I found it on Pinterest: http://www.bombshellbling.com/secret-cupids-valentines-day-family-tradition/

We should've started a week before but hey, it's me and we started a few days before. Better late than never right? Anyway, I went to dollar tree and bought a bunch of goodies, baggies and Valentine's, set them in a centralized location with a pen for writing on the Valentine's 
Then I made little notes and shoved each one into a sealed envelope for each person to pick one
Everyone got an envelope with a name. I picked two so I could help Gracie participate. My two oldest (boys 20 & 15) were reluctant but humored me and played along. We had 3 days to give secret treats and Valentine's to each other. It was really fun and everyone enjoyed the mystery. We had several laughs and it was cute to see everyone being sneaky. We even got in the mood to play clue because we wanted to solve the mystery. 

On Valentine's Day we went on a hike and in the evening, after dinner we revealed our secret Cupid! It was so much fun. I hope we will do this every year. 

Here are some links we used to learn about St. Valentine:

http://m.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchandMinistry/churchhistory/st_valentine_the_real_story.aspx

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/st-valentine-beheaded

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4768652

And here are some ideas we didn't get to but hope to do next year:

-Send care packages and/or Valentine's to lonely people. We had a list going of people we thought could use a little extra love (widows, retirement homes, single people, etc) but didn't get a chance to mail them out in time for Valentine's Day. Maybe we will spread some love on an ordinary day instead. 

Another pinterest find, Heart Attack:
Smother someone with paper hearts that have reasons why you love them on it. http://www.bombshellbling.com/heart-attack/

Valentine's dinner:
My plan was to make a dinner themed with hearts and red then do our Secret Cupid reveal and Maybe have some games related to love. But...instead we ordered pizza and played Clue. 

Ding dong ditch:
Got this idea from a friend who does this with her kids. It's kind of a mix between the Secret Cupid and care packages. Secretly give treats or baked goods to people in your neighborhood. Especially the elderly or shut ins. Or anyone needing extra love. 

So, that was Valentine's Day. The next overlooked holiday is St Patrick's day. My husband is Irish so he is interested in doing something. I said "Go ahead!" Haha. We shall see...I'm gearing up for Easter. Possibly my favorite holiday!

1 comment: