L...

...is for the way you look...I really don't know the words to that song, but I want to. It's such a fun song and it spells L.O.V.E. And Valentine's Day is all about love. Like I said in my last post, I am IN LOVE with Valentine's Day. Growing up, my parents would always make the hugest deal about it. Dad would send Mom a ginormous bouquet of roses and he'd send me and Sara a smaller, but equally beautiful bouquet of roses. That night for supper, Mom would always have chocolates set out for all of the kids at our places and a special gift for Dad with a card. Dad would read the card, turn red, and put the card under his plate. We never got to read the card. I don't know why. Mom would always have color-coordinating candy around the house. We'd make cards for each other. Mom still gets us all little Valentine happies. This year, two fabulous pairs of Valentine's socks. BAM! Be jealous.

It's just such a fun, cutesy holiday. I don't think it's cheesy at all. I embrace the cheese. The more over-the-top and cliché, the better. David and I pretty much do the same thing every year, but it's always a surprise and it's always fun and romantic. This year (Saturday night), David planned the menu: red wine braised short ribs, cheesy polenta, asparagus, and chocolate soufflé. Well, the butcher was out of short ribs, so David got some other part of the cow. I think he said a shoulder. I dunno. It was magnificent. Here's the sauce reducing. Hmmmm...reduced sauce.

Hugs accidentally forgot the asparagus, which is cool because I was fine with not experiencing the aftershock of asparagus...you know...the uri... Hehe, I don't want to spell it out. We had broccoli, so we went with that. The cheesy polenta...OHMYGOODNESSYOUGUYSHAVETOTRYTHIS. This was amazing. Here, we added butter and parsley. Mmmmmm....

David let me make the soufflé, God love him. Chocolate and butter. Not a bad combination. David goes, "I think we added too much butter." HA...that is never...EVER...a problem, sweetheart.

The finished meal. Happiness on a plate.

I shed a tear (or two) of pure delight when I ate this. Go to foodnetwork.com and go to the 5 Ingredient Fix site and use that soufflé recipe. SO easy and SO good. You will not be disappointed. Neither of us could finish our desserts. I had to be rolled to bed.

Because the girls weren't in "school" last week, their teacher brought by the Valentine crafts they "made" for me and David. (Which makes it even harder to take them out of daycare because of how fabulous the teachers are.) I crumbled into a million pieces. Look at the preciousness of these...

Harper's...

Piper Lee's...

The little hearts with dots and the pot are their thumb and fingerprints. ADORABLE. Everything is now proudly displayed in the house...sans some of the candy. David and I got the girls some little happies, too. We're celebrating tonight with Mamaw G!

She came to stay the week with us to help me out while I work this week. And thank goodness she did, because I'm about to have to run back to the doctor with Piper Lee this time. Up all night with a fever and she's slightly lethargic, which ain't good. Poor babies. I can't wait for them to feel 100% better.

I feel like this entire year has been one big speed post. I miss getting to really blog. It's been a busy, crazy, sick fest 6 weeks. I have 107 unread emails. I used to be such a good emailer. Blog makeover is coming soon. I mean it! Stay with me!

I'm soooo thankful that David and I work for folks who are so understanding about kids and kidgerms, because I love my kids...not the kidgerms. I'm thankful for my family, because I love them. I'm thankful for my friends, because I love them. I'm thankful for my Valentine, Hugsy Bear, because he is my favorite and he is amazing and I love him so much. And I kiss him and I squeeze him and I call him my own.

But, don't forget that there's a greater Love...one that knows no boundaries. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! And if you're bored and if you're not blocked at work, go watch Teen Girl Squad's Valentine's Day episode.