Valentines Fun here in the Koll House

So, I'm only a few days late getting this posted . . . my original plan was to post it on Monday since my husband wouldn't be home to read it anyway but between 3 little boys, trying to get plans together, and a badly broken toe . . well . . I'm running behind (well, not actually running due to that already mentioned toe . . and the fact that I hate to run . . .hahaha)

Still, there is no time like the present!  This year, I really focused on my family and let me tell you, I had fun.  Besides doing things like the countdown calendars

The calenders were for my husband - The 14 Days of Valentines - and my kids - we are still doing activities!  I also planned stay for the day of Valentines.

Yes, we had fun!   First of all, I put together this awesome gift, if I say so myself, based on how I love my husband with all of my senses.  I found the original idea over at The Dating Divas and than tweaked it a little to make it my own.  I left his bucket of gifts by his bag so that when he went to leave he would see it.

Here's a picture with the "loot" - honestly, other than the Coke bottle, everything else I already had at home.  The rolled up paper are two certificates - one for massage by me whenever he wants it (he has a bad back so he loves a good massage) and the other is for his favorite dessert made by me whenever he wants it. 

And all boxed up in the Valentine's container I picked up at Meijer for $2.00

The best part about this idea is that you can go to the link I gave above and print off the gift certificates and all of the cards right from the site.  Don't worry that Valentine's is done - this would also make a great Anniversary or Birthday gift too.  You could purchase different gifts or be as creative as you want.  Needless to say, he loved finding this on Valentine's morning.

Than, I made up a candy gram for him and taped it to our big slider door (which is also our main entrance) just before he got home.

If I had it to do over (maybe next year??) I would take the time to print out the words in different fonts/colors and glue those down to the board but between two monkey's crawling on my legs and that terrible broken toe . . .he's lucky this got done!.  I found almost all of the candy at Walgreens - they often have candy 2/$1.00 or less.  You can even print off a copy of a poem here.  This came from another date idea by the Dating Diva's that I used bits and pieces from but this is where I wanted to include the boys too.  So we had a nice homemade Spaghetti Dinner (check the end of this post for the awesome recipe) with Garlic Bread From Heaven, Green Beans and Salad.  I chose this menu because my boys love it too!!

After Dinner we dipped Strawberries in chocolate.

Ok, so, maybe licking the chocolate off the strawberry and double-dipping is more fun!! 

Someone loves chocolate.  Can you guess who?

Needless to say, we cleaned them up, and put them to bed!

Finally, I had a fun dessert and drink planned - check this out!

Oh, and I almost forgot!  I found this cute candy bar wrapper on a site and printed it off, wrapped it around my husbands favorite candy bar and stuck it in his bag - he was very surprised when he found it later that day!

You can find that document here.  I did not create this but right now, I cannot find where I actually got it from, when I do, I'll link back to that as well.

One last thing - this is what I got from my Mister:

Now on to the recipes:

First up is the Spaghetti Sauce!  This is a "Family" recipe that my sister-in-law Lynnette gave me (which is why it is a family recipe, right?)  It is fantastic and super easy to make and freeze.

Spaghetti Sauce

Lynnette McMaster

1 pound hamburger

1 pound sausage

1 onion

2 16-oz stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato soup

1 can tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon sugar

garlic, onion salt, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, salt, pepper

1 large jar Ragu Spaghetti Sauce

Brown meat; Combine in a large pot. Sprinkle spices on top and mix in (to taste).  Add all other ingredients and simmer on the stove for several hours, stirring occasionally. 

(make several batches and freeze!)

  

The drink recipe I found over at MooMoo's and Tutus and is a great refreshing drink.

Love Potion

Here's what you need...

-12 oz. can Pink Lemonade Concentrate

-1 cup Raspberry Sherbet

-12 oz. can Lemon-Lime Soda

Here's what to do...

1.  In a pitcher, mix the lemonade concentrate with the recommended amount of water.

2.  In a separate pitcher, combine the sherbet with 1 cup of the lemonade mixture.

3.  Add the soda, stir, and serve.  {makes 3 cups}

And, finally, the fantastic dessert recipe (and SUPER easy) I found through that same The Dating Divas date that I mentioned earlier.

A Valentines Dessert for Two

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp seedless red raspberry jam (I used my homemade jam which did have seeds in it and it was fine)

1 cup fresh raspberries

2 Twinkies

1. Stir jam and 1 Tbsp water in a bowl until smooth.  Add raspberries; toss gently to coat. (I ended up adding a little more water but that could be because I used homemade jam)

2. Cut Twinkies in half diagonally, starting about 1 inch down from top left to 1 inch from bottom of opposite side.  For each hart, put 2 halves together on 1 serving plate.  Spoon raspberry mixture over and around the hearts. Garnish with mint, if desired

That's it - I think we all enjoyed our day very much and I look forward to keeping some of the things we did as family traditions in future years!