Valentine's Day Melzer Style

Today was a great day - my favorite kind ever:  minimal effort and cost with a large amount of yield.

The girls didn't wake up to a special breakfast, but they did get pink milk.  They were a tad grossed out by it though.

Then it was off to school for the olders, they were so excited for their first Valentine's Day party (and I was too for that matter).  Leta and Annie ate their favorite breakfast, Mini-Wheats in a bag, milk in a sippy cup.

Then I made a huge banner telling the girls I love them.  This was one of my "Free and Under 5" motherhood projects that I try to do more often, although it did end up taking more like 15 minutes from start to finish.  Still, minimal effort/high yield.

After the banner was hung, I headed out to pick lemons with Kari at Angela's house.  Then we went to the store for a roast. I picked out donuts from the bakery for the girls, although Leta really wanted the mini chocolate covered heart cakes.  But heart cakes were $3, and $3 x 4 = $12, not the $3.75 we paid for 5 donuts.

We made it home just in time to let Lucy and Elsa in, we ate a lot of candy and a little lunch, danced and captured it in pictures, then delivered another banner to another Valentine.

 ("Here girls, take a picture by the banner."  I guess I need more practice on hanging banners straight.  Oh, well.  Minimal effort is the key.)

 (Annie: "Leta, come here.")

 (Annie:  "Leta, get in the picture.")

 Someone touched Leta.

 4 dancing princesses.

 They made these hands at school.  I love these things!

Then we continued to make rainbows with our rainbow maker (old CD) as we have done for the past few days.  So Pollyanna of us.  

Then is was baths to wash off layers of grime and sugar, naptime/bedroom playtime for youngers, and I wrote this tribute to Arizona's 100th Birthday.

Ryan came home and gave me and the girls his usual cards he prints off at work.  This year mine said, "When I'm with you, my heart jumps like a frog.....on July asphalt right before it dies."  Then he hand wrote, "And I will never let you go.  Love you much."  Lucy wondered why her card didn't look like my card, and so Ryan told her, "Maybe you can marry someone who loves you as much as I love mom."  And then he laughed.  Ryan might not be much of a romantic, but he is a keeper.

Then we finished making dinner and went and ate it with my grandma.  We did this last year, and I'm pretty sure we will keep it a tradition.  It makes the girls feel like they are going out, but, we don't have to get ready and brave the crowds with cranky sugar kids.  And we LOVE grandma time.    

Elsa showing grandma the card she made.  I love watching Lucy and Elsa sound out words and write their own cards.

And grandma's is the only place you could take Leta and Annie out to eat looking like this.

Lucy and Elsa picked roast and mashed potatoes with gravy.  I made sure to get sparkling cider so our meal felt fancy.  Then we stayed later visiting with grandma and drinking water out of her water bottle because I don't plan to send the girls to school tomorrow (half day kindergarten + early release and spring picture day that we don't plan to buy pictures from anyways = why even bother.)

We didn't spend hardly any money, I didn't get flowers or a fancy present.  I think we successfully avoided the commercialism of Valentine's Day and ended up having a wonderful day being around people I love.

P.S.  On Monday I posted this on Facebook:
Hours of sorting toys, scraping stickers off the floor and table with a razor blade, doing dishes, cleaning the fridge and freezer, laundry, sweeping glitter and half the playground, vacuuming, washing the walls, bleaching toilets, etc. ect....only to know that once I finish, it's time to start again. I can handle the physical aspects of cleaning, but sometimes the mental part gets to me.


Update:  On Monday I cleaned like a mad woman.  Hours and hours of cleaning.  Things were looking promising in the clean house department.  Today, Tuesday, I obviously tried to accomplish other things and the house looks like it hasn't been cleaned in months.  KaBOOM.