Love was in the air...
Valentine's Day has come and gone as has its decor in the house. If Christmas is the Goliath of decorating, then every other holiday is the David (not sure that's a great analogy but you hopefully catch my drift).
I've picked up a few Valentine's Day pieces of decor over the years and love to display them in time for the holiday. What can be sweeter than touches of love in the house? I typically decorate the house for Valentine's Day by Alyssa's birthday which is in late January. This year, at her family birthday party, someone commented that I had my Valentine's Day decorations up early. I guess it's a matter of opinion regarding how soon is too soon to put up decorations. I personally don't think that having them up three weeks before the holiday is early. I like to enjoy the decorations and having them up for less than three weeks seems hardly worth the effort of hauling them up from the basement, displaying them, and then taking them down shortly thereafter.
This picture is one of my favorites for a few reasons. Donnie says it looks like I'm a single mom with three kids since it's a Valentine's Day frame with a photo in it that is not of a couple but rather of me and three kids. To the extent the picture gives off that vibe, that is not a reason it's one of my favorites. Donnie is the photographer of the picture. We have no pictures of all five us from this event- our first ever family vacation. We went to Ft. Myers, Florida for spring break in 2008. It was the first time the kids had flown in an airplane and I believe it was the first time they'd stayed in a hotel. We were not travelers at all when Donnie was starting out in his practice. Getting sufficient billable hours required him to work A LOT. When he started out, he would take a few random days off in the year but not enough for a vacation. So, taking a vacation was kind of a big deal for us and like I said before, it entailed, for the kids, a few "firsts." It was their first flight, their first vacation, the first time they saw/ played in the ocean and played in a resort pool among other things. They were big fans of the good life outside of Ohio :). This picture brings back great memories of a simpler time and special time for us.
No phase of parenthood is without its stresses and I remember vividly one of my stresses about this vacation. A few weeks before we left for Florida, a news story emerged of a toddler getting his (or her) family getting kicked off of a flight because the child had a meltdown before the flight took off. I was really worried about something similar happening to us. Alyssa was not accustomed to my not holding her when she she wanted me to hold her. She'd have her own seat in the plane (of course she'd just turned two so she had to have her own seat) and would have to be buckled in for the most trip. She was used to being buckled in her car seat, of course, but an airplane was a completely new experience for her and I could see her throwing a fit when I couldn't hold her when she wanted me to. Per the picture of the four of us with the pale blue- green sea in the background, it's obvious that we didn't get kicked off the plane. I hardly remember Alyssa fussing at all on the plane :).
I bought this cute countdown sign in one of Springboro's charming home decor shops. It's metallic and on the back of it, magnets with various numbers are attached to it. The idea is to change these numbers daily as the big day approaches. It appears that I hung this sign 19 days before Valentine's Day. Was it my laziness or the fact that early February kind of stunk in many ways (sickness and reinjury) and changing magnets on this sign was so low on my priority list that it didn't happen? I know which one I'm going with :).
I bought these heart balloons at the dollar store to have for Alyssa's Valentine's Day themed birthday party. They weren't filled with helium or anything- I just blew them up with good ol' air. I couldn't believe how long they stayed inflated.
Lots of little hearts...
In the kitchen
Back to the living room...
A picture of Donnie from 8th grade (I think) with a heart shaped rock
Is it Valentine's Day without sweets? Maybe- if you don't love sweets but we do so Valentine's Day and sugar go hand in hand.
A sweet small table runner that I got from Etsy a couple of years ago.
What goes up must come down... I need take the decorations to the basement.
My Valentine and me- from years ago when we went on a beach vacation and paid to have photos taken of our family on the beach. I should find a frame for this photo and display it (the frame with the picture of the kids and me holds a 4x6 photo and this picture is a 5x7 so I can't use that frame).
I've picked up a few Valentine's Day pieces of decor over the years and love to display them in time for the holiday. What can be sweeter than touches of love in the house? I typically decorate the house for Valentine's Day by Alyssa's birthday which is in late January. This year, at her family birthday party, someone commented that I had my Valentine's Day decorations up early. I guess it's a matter of opinion regarding how soon is too soon to put up decorations. I personally don't think that having them up three weeks before the holiday is early. I like to enjoy the decorations and having them up for less than three weeks seems hardly worth the effort of hauling them up from the basement, displaying them, and then taking them down shortly thereafter.
This picture is one of my favorites for a few reasons. Donnie says it looks like I'm a single mom with three kids since it's a Valentine's Day frame with a photo in it that is not of a couple but rather of me and three kids. To the extent the picture gives off that vibe, that is not a reason it's one of my favorites. Donnie is the photographer of the picture. We have no pictures of all five us from this event- our first ever family vacation. We went to Ft. Myers, Florida for spring break in 2008. It was the first time the kids had flown in an airplane and I believe it was the first time they'd stayed in a hotel. We were not travelers at all when Donnie was starting out in his practice. Getting sufficient billable hours required him to work A LOT. When he started out, he would take a few random days off in the year but not enough for a vacation. So, taking a vacation was kind of a big deal for us and like I said before, it entailed, for the kids, a few "firsts." It was their first flight, their first vacation, the first time they saw/ played in the ocean and played in a resort pool among other things. They were big fans of the good life outside of Ohio :). This picture brings back great memories of a simpler time and special time for us.
No phase of parenthood is without its stresses and I remember vividly one of my stresses about this vacation. A few weeks before we left for Florida, a news story emerged of a toddler getting his (or her) family getting kicked off of a flight because the child had a meltdown before the flight took off. I was really worried about something similar happening to us. Alyssa was not accustomed to my not holding her when she she wanted me to hold her. She'd have her own seat in the plane (of course she'd just turned two so she had to have her own seat) and would have to be buckled in for the most trip. She was used to being buckled in her car seat, of course, but an airplane was a completely new experience for her and I could see her throwing a fit when I couldn't hold her when she wanted me to. Per the picture of the four of us with the pale blue- green sea in the background, it's obvious that we didn't get kicked off the plane. I hardly remember Alyssa fussing at all on the plane :).
I bought these heart balloons at the dollar store to have for Alyssa's Valentine's Day themed birthday party. They weren't filled with helium or anything- I just blew them up with good ol' air. I couldn't believe how long they stayed inflated.
Lots of little hearts...
In the kitchen
A picture of Donnie from 8th grade (I think) with a heart shaped rock
A sweet small table runner that I got from Etsy a couple of years ago.
My Valentine and me- from years ago when we went on a beach vacation and paid to have photos taken of our family on the beach. I should find a frame for this photo and display it (the frame with the picture of the kids and me holds a 4x6 photo and this picture is a 5x7 so I can't use that frame).
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