All Things Valentines Day 2017

All day yesterday I was a little bit sad because I felt like I had dropped the Valentines ball. I hadn't felt great the past few days, so no cutesie Valentines had been bought for my Valentines. I didn't decorate, and our house was the messiest! I mean, the messiest! I went to bed feeling a little bit defeated. As I sat down to write this post, only for records sake, I realized that we didn't have a crappy Valentines Day, or even an ok one, it was a good Valentines Day! One of the many reasons why I love this blog. Let me rewind to a few days before though, just because I don't want to miss any of the cute stuff.

The Thursday before is when we really started the festivities. Ellie's heaven-sent dance teacher had a little Valentines party that she had been looking forward to all week. Ellie and her 2 friends squealed and excitedly told me about their suckers, glittery hearts, and dancing on floor hearts. It was adorable. After everyone was dropped off we started on some Valentines cards for the grandparents and great grandparents. Fitz loved coloring with the white crayon (???) and Ellie switched between dictating notes and writing her name. Her E's have about a million lines in between, but I think they're coming along nicely. I wanted to get a cute picture to send in the cards, which I didn't get done until Friday, and then realized that I didn't have stamps, meaning the cards didn't get sent until Saturday. Luckily, our cards made it to everyone right on time. Nana & Papa even got to open theirs on Valentines Day.

On Saturday, Jeremy sent Ellie and I to the Sleeping Beauty ballet at Capitol Theater. It was so fun getting dressed up together, walking to the theater, and watching her watch the ballet. I'm still amazed that she'll sit through ballets. The ballet is a little different from the Disney movie, so we got a little lost at parts, but I think I mostly figured it out and was able to explain everything to her. She loved the costumes, especially Maleficent (not her name in the ballet) and her minions. We were pretty high up, but it ended up being for the best because Ellie had lots of questions and needed a 10 minute dance break during the last act. She was sad when it was over but happily danced out of the theater when I told her she got to go home and tell Daddy all about it. I love watching the magic in her eyes when she gets to do the things she loves. I love watching her dance through her days. I just love her.

Now back to the actual Valentines Day, it started very early with a tiny girl jumping on me yelling, "HAPPY BALEMTIMES DAY! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!" We made our way down stairs, grabbed Fitzy and ate some delicious cereal. J.rue texted and asked if we'd join him for lunch downtown and we jumped at the idea. We got ready for the day in our pinkest pink (red for Fitzy) and ran out the door. We met Jeremy at the escalators and the kids ran wild through City Creek. We ate at Johnny Rockets and ended our afternoon date in the Disney Store. It was short and sweet and we all loved seeing Jeremy in the middle of the day.

The rest of the day was pretty low key, but I was feeling bad that I didn't have any treats for Ellie. So, after naps, we went to Target for some last minutes Valentines treats. We started with popcorn and then Ellie very specifically requested goomy, gummy, genie jellies. Ha! Of course they were out of most of their V-day candy, so I found a bag of gummy starbursts and lucky for me, "THEY'RE SO PERFECT! SO GUMMY AND SO STICKY!". Yeah, I'm pretty sure Ellie talks in 92% capital letters. Fitz is of course, the most pleasant laid back boy there ever was, and was also happy with a few handfuls of goomy, gummy, genie jellies. We enjoyed perusing the store to kill time before J.rue got home with dinner. We beat him home by about 30 minutes and hunkered down to watch Sword and the Stone. I had a little tiny on each side of me, and even though we were sitting in a house that looked like a tornado had run through it, it was the best. I too often take for granted that I have the unconditional love of 3 people. It's a very good thing.

We ended the night with stuffed crust pepperoni pizza (a Ruesch family favorite!) and Trolls. After the kids were tucked in tight, Jeremy and I ate hot cobbler and ice cream and watched Timeless. Not watching it? You should.

So like I said, not the most glamorous, but as I write it all down, it was pretty dang enjoyable. I love developing traditions that my family is excited about, but I'm so thankful that they're forgiving when I fall short and appreciative all the same. Happy Valentines Day my loves.