This guy was my Valentine. He’s been my valentine for 16 years now and is still my favorite. This year he added to my orchid collection with some mini “tea cup orchids” (I’ll do a whole post on them later). They live on my windowsill next to a large orchid that Neil got me for Valentine’s Day six years ago.
It’s a pretty cool thing to be more in love with someone every year and decide that you are only becoming better suited to each other as time goes on. As you are probably aware I could go on at length about all the things I love about this man, but I’ll spare you. And you’re welcome.

I’m also in love with these critters. Monkeys. Babies. Sugars. I had a fairly substantial list of pet names for my children before we even moved to the south. I’ve been adding since then and now that list has gone from awesome to ludicris speed. I love them and I love celebrating love day with them.

We decorated cookies with friends and did crafts and called it school. Don’t judge, it’s one of the big perks of homeschooling.

Naomi called dibs on Valentine’s Day dessert I think two months in advance. Ever since she heard of a cherry cake and almond frosting she’s been dying to make one. Well this day was the day. She dressed up a box mix and it was a terrible texture, and it fell apart as she frosted it. But she learned the value of freezing the cake first and the truth that a good frosting covers all evils. Life lessons, right here. It tasted amazing and she was thrilled with her improved skill at using her russian icing tips.

She also covered breakfast by sharing her Unicorn Granola. Her writing course did a unit on writing a tutorial or guide and she did hers on making Unicorn Granola. It was beloved and it meant I didn’t have to do breakfast. Winning was had by all.

This is the part where I would insert the selfie that I was supposed to take of myself and my hunny. Yes. Well. You’ll have to visualize that because I just didn’t manage to get a picture. But I assure you that we had a lovely, low key Valentine’s Day. For a while I bought into the “hate this holiday” trend. I’m better now and I really enjoy the cheesiness and the excuse to make heart stuff. I also love the extra smooches all around.