Valentine's Day--Family Style

Still trying to get that perfect toothless photo . . . this is close, but not quite what I hope to capture.

We did a lot of our usual things--Morning Meeting, Symposium, Academy, one-on-one school, evening reading, outdoor play, church activities--and we had significant successes.

Look at all of the finished workbooks!

Took her almost 2 years to finish this course, but she did it!  I am so proud of her I could burst!

But what mattered was Valentine's Day.

We didn't celebrate until Friday.

(Sir Walter Scott had to work on the actual holiday.)

And in spite of our best efforts, we couldn't get Rose Red to join us.

(But we did tape all of our valentines to her onto her bedroom door.  We'll tell her we love her no matter what!)

It was stressful . . . getting all of those valentines made. 

I was on high alert for breakdowns.

But, to tell the truth, we didn't have any.

(I was exhausted nonetheless because of my high alert state.)

And on the day of, Sir Walter Scott still wasn't done with his, and Super Star wanted more time to work on hers (she did lots of beading on her cards), and the teens were ready to postpone until Sunday.

But the littles had been waiting long enough.

So after lunch, we exchanged valentines.

It took nearly 40 minutes to get everyone's passed out to everyone else.

And the pleasure on each child's face as he/she handed out the cards made especially for precious sisters, brothers, mom, and dad was priceless.

Little bitty ones fairly danced around the dining room.

Older ones, who thought they were too old to enjoy the tradition, nonetheless couldn't restrain smiles as younger siblings thanked them profusely for cards with just the right sticker or picture or words.

I couldn't even take pictures.

I was so happy to bask in the joy of the moment.

Then I realized I'd kick myself later, and I snapped a few hurried shots.

Our traditional scavenger hunt ended in Lara Bars and new toothbrushes.

The clues were just as cheesy as always.

(I write them.)

But the excitement was visible, audible, and palpable. 

Again, those teens thought it was beneath them, but they ran from clue to clue laughing just as much as the littles.

And now that all is said and done, I am so, so, so glad we did it.

There's not one other thing we did this week that matters more than the love and joy we expressed and felt today.

Oh!  I wish you could have seen Brother's face as I read his valentines to him!  That smile . . . those eyes . . . the joy!


(linking here)