Surprise for Daddy

Ben and I have made it a point to never celebrate Valentine’s Day. Call us silly, but we just didn’t want to be forced into a Hallmark Holiday. Everyone has to protest something, right? Some people it’s Wall Street, and us, it’s V-day. So, it was a perfect time for the boys and I to have a little surprise for Ben.

We made very special Valentine’s, that were created in several phases. Phase one: with friends Brock and Jayden they finger painted/sponge stamped big pieces of construction paper. Next I cut the painted murals into smaller hearts. Then the boys and I glued them onto red heart dollies and Seth and Sam decorated them with stickers. We even got festive and added glitter. Finally I glued a smaller picture of the boys in the middle of the hearts of them posing next to the chalkboard with “Happy V-day, love Seth and Sam” written on it. Everything was purchased from the dollar tree, and the stamps I just cut out of sponges that I had on hand. Probably under $5 for about 15 cards.

Then I planned a very special menu for us: shrimp stuffed tilapia and asparagus wrapped in bacon; for dessert I made Oreo balls and chocolate covered strawberries (Ben’s favorites).

When Valentine’s Day arrived, we first delivered treats and Valentines to our neighbors. When I told the boys that we were going to do this, Seth asked, “We get treats too-like Halloween?” I can’t believe he remembered that far back! It was hard to describe that no, this was not the same process as Halloween. We were only GIVING the gifts. Then to complicate matters, Seth and Sam received beautiful Valentines the mail from their cousins, Miriam and Aidah. Seth and Sam thought they had to give THOSE Valentines to the neighbors. “No, no boys. We RECEIVED these cards. So we keep them.” Very complicated, as one can imagine.

After delivering and chatting a bit too long, we rushed into the house, I threw a movie on for the boys so that I could make the special dinner. Plus, the plan was that we would be all dressed up for Ben. So, with dinner cooking I threw on his favorite dress, curled my hair, put on make-up, slapped dress shirts on the boys, and decorated the table. When Ben opened the door, Seth and Sam yelled, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” and handed him their cards. He then saw me, and the candle-lit table and smelled the scrumptious dinner—oh it was magical!

It’s a funny thing about being a homemaker…for some reason purposing to do special events like this is difficult (at least for me!). It’s much easier to piddle through the days on a slow routine. But I tell you what, the joy of doing a surprise like this for the man of your house is PRICELESS. Later Ben told me with a huge grin that he felt “like the king of his castle.” And he should—because he is. And I should do things like this more often. Because not only did it make his day, it made mine. It was so fun to have a special dinner as family and break out of the routine.

And even though we’ll probably never forget it, I even documented it through pictures (surprise, surprise):

Phase 1 of cards: making collages with Brock and Jayden Sam, Seth

Phase 2 of card making: stickers and glitter

I couldn’t decide which photo I like best, so we did cards with both

Seriously, how cute are their expressions in this one!

Even the boys got to eat on adult plates. And I pulled out the wine glasses for Ben’s Pepsi and my water :) High class if I do say so myself.

The BIG moment

Me and my boys: pure joy!  Ben even let me take family photos because he was so thankful :)

Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Sam, Mommy, and Seth