14 Days of Valentines...for the 13th time

Yes, January eventually ended and February first came rushing at me. Most of you know that we have a little Valentine's Day tradition in our home. It started the year Chad and I were dating (1999) and continues still. This year was no exception...with one exception. I'll share that exception at the end. :)

Each year I try to have something that's the same every day...like a theme, of sorts. This year, I used my new Christmas toy to make 14 boxes. They all nest inside the one after them, so I didn't end up with a pile of boxes toppling all over the place. Inside each box, I placed a brain teaser or puzzle of some sort. They had no real meaning...it's hard to find Valentine's Day-themed puzzles in large quantity. I just made a little attempt to have them increase in difficulty as the days progressed.

Here was the first day. The lid of the box is decorated, but you can't see it in this picture. The puzzle was very easy. The pin taped to the bottom of the box is crucial to Chad's safety...as I learned about 10 years ago.

You see, it's hard to drive when there are TOO MANY balloons in the same space as your feet. But it's a balancing act because if Chad doesn't bring home as many balloons as he can, the kids will be disappointed. After all, they watched me blow them up (all 50 of them) and were very good not to play with them...even though they really wanted to.

Incidentally, I can't figure out how I do it, but I seem to catch the coldest days to carry out this act of vandalism. And the windiest.

The next day was another box with another puzzle, but this time it was 15 (because that's how many fit in the pan) mini chocolate cupcakes. There were 12 heart picks (because that's how many were in the package) and I wrote a highlight from each of our nearly 12 years of marriage on the backs.

The days went by, and so did the gifts. On Monday, we had waffle cones with the waffle cone maker that was the treasure at the end of a long hunt. I wrote one or two-word clues on hearts, but scrambled the letters. The kids had fun helping and Daniel proved to be quite adept at unscrambling some of the clues. But I do think it was kind of sad to see how long it took for them to unscramble "erci."

YUM!

Other highlights include putting paper conversation hearts on the windows of his truck at work. (That day, the temp was -4 degrees at 9:30 AM! I can't catch a break.) The kids and I wrote things we loved about him on little hearts and put them inside plastic heart containers. I slipped a half dozen large sugar cookies into his truck one night. He found them early the next morning and ate them ALL before lunch! Other things were simple gifts.

And this year (here is the exception I teased about at the beginning), Chad reciprocated! I haven't expressed to him how much it meant to me that he did. I'm not very good at that...I need to be better. It has included several foot rubs, some Girl Scout cookie Samoa ice cream, a HOT bath (in which I read a whole book and the water was still warm), a colorful message on my mirror, a dozen roses and some other gifts. No wonder Chad likes this holiday so much!

Here are the roses...the kids picked them out. :)