It's 11:11pm. The kids are asleep. Over the Rhine is playing on the ipod. I just finished cooking roasted garlic mashed potatoes, Tim is finishing up with the pan-fried ribeye steak (recipes from the Pioneerwoman.com - amazing.). This is exactly how I would choose to spend Valentine's Day. This morning we slept in, then took the kids out for doughnuts. On a whim, we decided to make heart-shaped cookies and deliver them to all the grandparents. Then we came home and made a heart-shaped pizza for the kids and watched "the Bee Movie" with the kids. No obligations today....just doing things for the fun of it. I do love Valentine's Day...because you get to say "I love you" just for the sake of saying it. Tim and Janie brought home these flowers from the store today, and they are so lovely and cheerful. See that beautiful fuscia Gerbera daisy on the left? When we got home from our cookie-delivering trip, we found every single one of its petals scattered on the table. It was either Henry or Charlotte (our best guess is Charlotte...she's sneaky like that). Sigh. Oh, well...the rest of the flowers are still lovely and cheerful! You won't find many things at our house that stay new and perfect for very long......and this condition I would also choose any day of the week! It's now 11:25pm, and our Valentine's Day dinner is ready...........candles lit, great songs on, and my best friend sitting by me at the table. Happy Valentine's Day.