There are many things that I have learned from my mother but the one I learned recently is that Valentine's day is not just to celebrate that special "person" in your life. I have never been a big fan of Valentine's day. Growing up I never had a Valentine and even when I got married my husband and I never really did a big ta do for the day. The past two years however I have really grown to enjoy and anticipate the holiday thanks to my mom. She loves Valentine's day...always has, I guess she is that romantic type. She started a new tradition last year that I love. She throws a Valentine's day dinner for us kids, her parents, sisters, brother, and a few nieces and nephews. She does a sit down dinner on the fancy dishes and then we play games. It is such a good time to see relatives outside of a formal holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas to just be together. My mom really enjoys throwing the party and we enjoy going!
Did I mention my mom went to culinary school? She is a creative chef!
This year at my mom's party we ended up turning it into a surprise 50th Birthday party for her! She practically threw her own party, which was easy planning for us, but I think she was surprised to have some close friends show up as well as her relatives to help celebrate her. One thing we did to make the party extra special is have all of the guests tell my mom what about her makes her so special. I think it is important to let people know how much they are loved and it was a great way to show my mom how much we all care about her!
This attitude of showing lots of people in your life how much you care about them on this day is a great thing. It has made me appreciate the holiday in a way I never have before. On Valentine's Day I even made a nice dinner and invited my mother-in-law over. I think people thought it was inappropriate because they think I should have just had a special dinner for my husband but I wanted my mother-in-law to know that I care about her as well and that is why I wanted to have her over!
We decorated the party with some ideas from martha stewart. Enjoy the pictures and see the link to the tutorial below to make this decorations yourself!
NC being her crazy self!
I had a wonderful time on Valentines Day! I look forward to it every year now too. I'm glad it's becoming a tradition. I love spending a day about love with those I love!
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