Roses Were Red - and Pink

We have now officially celebrated every holiday under the umbrella of covid. By St. Patrick's Day last year, school had just been suspended. We would not have predicted this - but we did it. All holidays were appropriately acknowledged and celebrated. There was often cake. 

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year. Which meant Hockey. Both Quinn and Dec had games, so I convinced (coerced) Bugs that we should show them we love them by masking up and going to cheer them on. She was on the fence (at best), but she agreed. I'm pretty sure she knew how much her presence would mean to her sibs.

Before hockey, however, it was quite the festival of love at our house. The kids woke up to find gifts at their table spots and everyone had our annual heart where each family member writes why they love that person. I especially enjoyed reading what the girls wrote to each other - you can tell the past year has really strengthened their relationship. Fiona wrote that she loves Quinn because "she will always understand me." Quinn wrote that she loves Fiona because Q can "always make her laf [laugh] easily." Both of these statements are so true!

They had fun with their gifts (D had legos while the girls got new dresses and body spray) and were quite pleased with the day. We also mixed up some red velvet cake batter, tossed some mini chocolate chips in, and made cupcakes. Then the neighborhood parade to our front step started. Our neighbor Mary dropped off some candy for the kids with a Valentine's Day wish. The Es came over with a homemade decorated cookie and a couple other treats. And then the Gs came over with treats and cards too. Grinchy Mike joked about disabling the doorbell. [Fiona and I had made our neighborhood deliveries on Saturday.]

Both hockey games were over lunch, so we grabbed a late morning snack before we left for the rink. Mike and Quinn left first for Q's game. Then I brought Fiona and Dec around the time D needed to start. Fiona and I watched the end of Q's game, met Q in the locker room, and then the three of us watched the end of D's game. 

Both Q and D got roses at the end of their games from the hockey association. The tags on the roses read "Red lines are red. Blue lines are blue. Hockey is Awesome. And so are you." Q's team loved it. Dec's team mostly handed over their roses to their moms. But they were both really excited to get a flower. While Fiona pretended that she hated going, she was delightfully happy for the rest of the day. And freely admitted that getting out of the house was a big contributor to that. 

After the games, Q and I ran to grab tacos at the drive thru. We were all so very hungry and ate our weight in tacos and potato oles. At 2pm. I should have considered that schedule before I made a nice turkey dinner. But the kids were so excited for our fancy holiday dinner. The girls put on tights and dresses and did their hair and makeup. Dec put on a button down shirt with his sweat pants. So Mike and I put on nicer clothes too. Dinner turned out really well. But holy smokes, we were painfully full.

Nonetheless, we made room for the cupcakes that the kids and I had decorated that afternoon. Fiona was very excited about the cupcake she decorated with white icing and mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top. She was going for a cookies and cream theme. She made the mistake of asking Mike what he thought the theme was. His answer: "poop on a cloud." And with that, our fancy dinner devolved into a pile of giggles and ended with milk coming out of Mike's nose. This is why we can't actually go out for a fancy dinner. But you sure can't say we don't have fun.

We had a great time throughout the early days of the month making homemade notes and cards for our family and packing up treat bags to spread the love to our neighbors. All the deliveries and flowers on Valentine's Day made them feel so special in return. It was a really great day thanks to really good friends and family. Plus there was really good cake.