Being as large as an elephant, having two rambunctious children running around shrieking like banshees, I don’t feel very romantic at times. However, I always want holidays to be special. So, I’ve been thinking of ways to make our Valentine’s Day special.
I plan to:
Change the sheets. All through the house. Clean, lavender scented sheets are such a treat!
Deprive the children of sleep. Wake them early on Saturday, make them run laps around the yard, and refuse them their naps. Then maybe they’ll go to sleep at a reasonable hour and stay in their beds, which would give Dan and I time to read a book… at least.
For breakfast, I’ll set the table with my white table cloth, pink rose petals, and little heart candies scattered about. I plan to make my little secret (not for long) pink latte, and I will also serve the girls warm, pink, frothed milk in dainty tea cups.
Write Dan a love letter. I used to do this much more regularly, but lately it seems like we’re more like fox-hole buddies trying to survive the battle of raising children together. If I get the chance to remember how wonderful my husband is, it just goes a long way to making the whole day glow.
Light lots of candles. Of course, they all have to be as near to the ceiling as I can get them without starting any fires, but it should still create a romantic and cozy ambiance.
Play some Spanish Guitar music. We used to play this in our cozy little honeymoon trailer, and it just sounds like romance, to me.
Light some pinion incense. See above.
Bathe children and lather sweet smelling lavender baby lotion on their itty bitty selves. Inhale deeply.
Set out a basket of clean, fresh smelling throw blankets in the living room.
Get cozy in the evening and read our newly acquired (library) copy of Wind in the Willows together.
So, that’s the plan for now. How do you make your Valentine’s Days special?
Gentlewood Cottage 
teddy and I both ‘drew’ his dad a card, but we’re going to celebrate his return by hiring a babysitter and going OUT for a movie and dinner. wow.
it’s going to be kind of hard for me to make the house romantic, being that it’s filled with boxes and all. and all my candles are in those boxes.
Thanks for the sweet and inspiring suggestions!
Love the Spanish guitar music. (Hmm, wonder where I could get some on short notice?)
I’m making some “confectionery” today and planning out Saturday….the kids are so excited!
Did you mean pinon incense? I think of Aspens as kind of stinking, when they get wet.
Also, did you mean fresh sMelling throw blankets, or do they have letters on them?
Love,
Your editor
PS: I hope we will get some time Saturday to remember how blessed we are to be married (I am blessed absolutely, and you think you are, so that’s good). The chattering toddlers are a mighty distraction sometimes, but they’re just the outpouring of life from our union, and I know we would never do without them, and would even miss the chatter if they went to live in some other house.
PPS: You aren’t even as big as a baby elephant yet, and you are as pretty as ever, in spite of having to carry the boy out in front of you 24/7.
Rachel F – I know what you mean. But, romance is a state of mind I think, and it involves treasuring every thing, no matter what the details are. I’m sure you and N will have a wonderful day, maybe more special than ever if you are able to leave the house and ignore all those boxes!
Rachel E – It turns out that we will be in your town at some point during the day, so I’d be happy to bring you a CD, if the timing works!
Dearest Editor – Thanks! I’ve made the appropriate changes. Looking forward to our weekend together… do you think we might have yet another little creature to hold and enjoy by then?
Great ideas, Candace! We haven’t decided yet what we’re planning to do, but we miss Kai so much when he’s not around, I don’t think we’re going to bother retiring him any further than his own bed. 🙂 It’s funny, the older he gets, the more we miss him when we’re absent.
Rachel E — I have no idea who you are, but I venture to suggest Pandora radio? If Candace will give you an artist or two, you can get at least an hour or two of good listening for free!
By the by, is that photo yours, Candace? It’s lovely.
The girls could come out to Marme and Granddad’s for a while if it helps.
I found a bunch of mistletoe in mom and dad’s yard and just tied it to the ceiling fan in my room. 🙂
Monica –
Pandora is a great idea. For some reason I keep forgetting how much I like it.
Rachel E is a very good, child-hood friend of mine. We’ve managed to get into lots of scraped together over the years… see her blog Song in My Heart to get to know her. Unfortunately, her internet provider is keeping them in the dark ages without dial-up, so Pandora probably won’t work so well for her…
I know exactly what you mean about Kai. We feel the same way about the girls. In fact, that’s the main curse of being a parent… we can’t enjoy each other the same way with or without our little rascals…
The photo is not mine. It’s something I’ve had on my desktop for so long now that I can’t remember who did it, but I found it via the Creative Commons search on flickr (which, by the way, I love)!
Marme – Thanks for the offer. I think we’ll probably just plan to have a cozy evening home, together. Like I mentioned to Monica, we miss just don’t enjoy ourselves the same way when they’re gone, so I guess we’ll just have to accept the insanity that comes with the package!
Rachel F – I’ve always wondered what real, live mistletoe is like! What a great idea!
Hi. This is my photo. I do not mind you posting a low res version of it, but you have saved to your photobucket site as though it were your own. I have sent a copyright violation notice to photobucket, FYI.
– Tracey