Three Things + 1 : Lots of Love (and giveaways)

I love Valentines' Day. I love to cook something chocolate and make it in a heart shaped pan such as cake, cookies or even brownies. My husband shows up with a new plant, something fun to do or we watch a movie. Whatever we do, we make time to be alone and remember how blessed we are to have a 19 year marriage.

I usually send my parents a valentines card. For my fiance I usually make a nice dinner and have some 101 time with him. Last year I made your little "I love you" album.

When my girls were little we spent the week before Valentine's Day making cards for all of their classmates and friends. After the cards were all finished we would bake special cupcakes or "heart" cookies for their classmates. Then we would have a special dinner with a small gift basket of cute treats (usually socks, a colouring book and some candies) for them.
Now that they are older and a long way away at University I send them a box a week or two before the holiday with all the stuff to make some Valentine's card for their friends and the makings for a special treat for themselves for dinner along with a few chocolates tucked in. While I miss them at the holidays this at least makes us all feel like we are connected by the old traditions. Dianne

I've made heart shaped snacks all day for my kids as part of a tradition. We have heart shaped sandwiches, hamburgers which dont always hold their shape and heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. The kids that go to school get to join in when they come home!

Hi there,
We try and have some red/pink food with dinner, followed up by heart shaped jelly/jello for dessert.
Last year my son gave a card to every girl in his class, plus his kindergarten teacher, because 'they were all so beautiful'. Aaawww, how cute.
I think Americans go harder on all the holidays that we do here in Australia so when my son gave out all those cards, most people were pretty taken back.

My girlfriends & I celebrate Singles Awareness Day (even though I'm no longer single!) lol... it's still nice to get together w/ my girlfriends for a nice dinner.
~Cori S

I love Valentines Day! We usually try to make some heart shaped food...this year I want to try to make as much as possible in heart shapes. Pancakes, watermelon, sandwiches, burgers...maybe fries, brownies :-) Lynn Y.

We usually have a chocolate cake! My husband and I exchange gifts - I always give him a hockey stick and he usually gives me a necklace :-) Kids give us handmade cards, which I love!

We celebrate valentines during breakfast with lit candles. It's a really cosy and lovely way to start the day!
We've been renovating our house and have a new kitchen now, so we are looking forward to having a fun family cooking session this year. A new tradition, maybe!?

Since Valentine's Day is also my birthday, there are lots of traditions, celebrating all of us. Small gifts, love notes, Chinese food for supper, and a cake we make together - all combine for a day that make me very grateful.

This year there will be a new baby girl in the house so there is already a lot of pink in the house. Maybe I will get my 3yr old son to make a card for her and for his Grandma who is visiting. Thanks for the give-aways!!

Since our very first Valentine's Day as a married couple, Steve and I have given each other a movie- used to be VHS, now it's DVD. As the kids have gotten older, we do the same thing. Then we watch each others' movies together as a family. It's so much fun and every one is happy because we all get to watch something we want.

Valentine's Day the past few years have lead me to a sorority conference in Michigan. I get to be surrounded by sisters from all over the country!

We have 2 different traditions in our house...I make a red and pink dinner- usually heart shaped ravioli in red sauce and some kind of shrimp and then red meat and then a cherry pie. Also, my husband gives each of our 3 daughters a pair of Valentine themed boxers! Not sure how that got started but the girls love them and we have quite a collection.

Valentines days are always a little lower keyed for me these days. My kids are grown or away at college, but I always create something little to show them how much they mean to me. My dad, who is now 84 and lives with me always bought something special for his three girls. Even to this day, I know I will get a little valentine from the most important man in my life, my Daddy! And while that sounds silly from a 44 year old woman, it brings childs joy when I get it. I love him so much. So I in turn give my son and daughter something they will always remember, usually hand made.

I normally make something for my husband. Last year it was a mini album. As a family we make biscuits with a heart shaped cookie/biscuit cutter. In the past we've also filled a clear glass vase with some candy hearts. I always send valentines to my best friends. For the papst few years I've placed heart shaped stickers on the yoga mats of my yoga students.

We usually celebrate Valentine's Day by putting together Valentines for the children in my kids' classes at school but I am so bummed because this year my daugher has started Middle School and is officially "Too Old" for this little ritual. Bummer! So, we'll have to think of some new tradtions this year!!

I don't really do anything different on valentines day that I don't do normally...I always say I love you at least every 20 minutes....

Our 5yr old has asked for a special Valentines Day this year. We're gonna make heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, heart shaped sandwiches for lunch, and then have dinner out as a family (we have to drop a friend off at the airport right before dinner time, so we'll already be out). WE'll give the kids some little treats (probably no candy since DS needs some dental work shortly thereafter) and then put them to bed, watch a romantic flick in the candle light and call it a night!
And hopefully I'll remember to take some pics!

We don't do anything out of the ordinary. We will make dinner together, as we do most evenings, and probably have a glass of wine or two....but, I will think about how thankful I am to have so many loving people in my life all day.

My daughters and I always get a small gift in the morning - like flowers or something - from my father. Then, we celebrate that evening with a heart-shaped pizza and a heart-shaped box of candy.

Usually my fiance and I celebrate Valentine's Day at home cooking dinner together and enjoying a nice glass of wine. This will be our fourth Valentine's Day together and I'm hoping to scrap him a mini-album to show how much I love him.

My husband and I have a tradition of going to this little Vietnamese restaurant every year. It's like a great little secret, because it's never busy, since it's kind of "off beat." So we chuckle to ourselves as we drive past all the steakhouses with people waiting outside for an hour, while we enjoy delicious hot Vietnamese and great conversation and each other's company. We also both make a point to send flowers to our moms, instead of to each other.. and they love that!

My husband thinks that Valentine's Day is a conspiracy, but he caves every year and comes home with flowers and a card. We were on Weight Watchers several years ago so I got creative and put kimchi on a plate of rice in the shape of a heart instead of cake. It's become a tradition and even though he'll never admit, I think he looks forward to it! LOL

My valentine's day these days consists of special phone calls to my close friends and loved ones. I don't get to see my family very often since I've moved for graduate school so it's a nice treat.
Thanks Ali.
Heather