Our Valentine celebrations were a bit more subdued this year, thanks to the fact that we found out Lauren had pneumonia just two days before. She had a cold with a bad cough for about two weeks, which finally resulted in a fever of 102 and a rough night with coughing fits that made it hard for her to breath. Needless to say, we ended up at the urgent care center on Sunday morning where they gave her a chest x-ray and confirmed it was pneumonia. The doctors and nurses there were amazing, and Lauren was so brave. They gave her some powerful antibiotics and steroids, plus a bunch of prescriptions, and she started feeling better by that afternoon. But pneumonia is not something you recover from quickly, as she would still get tired very easily. After a week off of school, she seems to be back to herself and we are once again thankful that we have such easy access to wonderful medical care.
All that to say, we didn't get to do all of the Valentine fun that I had planned, but that was okay. It was much more important to have a quiet day at home, helping Lauren feel better. But here's a little glimpse into the Valentine fun that we did have...
We started about a week before Valentine's Day, making special Valentine cards to send to the grandmas and grandpas. We made handprints of the kids, and then measured their "wingspan" from hand to hand with a ribbon. Then we put them in an envelope and mailed a "long-distance hug" to our families. :) I didn't get any pictures of them making the cards (as I was busy making sure they didn't get finger-paint everywhere!) but here's one of the finished product:
The day before Valentine's Day was a holiday for the kids (Lincoln's birthday) so I had originally planned a "Monday Fun Day" with a bunch of heart-day activities for us to do together. We were only able to do a few of them, since Lauren needed to get lots of rest, but we still had fun. We made Valentine Chex Mix...
...and a heart-shaped cake...
...and crafted special Valentine cards for Daddy.
On Valentine's Day, Jon went to preschool in the morning and Lauren was able to go to just the Valentine party at her class in the afternoon. They each brought Valentine pretzel packs (from Target--I can't convince them to make their own Valentines anymore!) and Lauren brought home a bag of goodies from her classmates. She also got to wear a cute new outfit made by Grandma Lillo for the celebration. (Can you tell our sweet girl lost weight during her illness? And she didn't have much weight to spare to begin with...)
That evening we had our traditional family Valentine celebration. It's so much fun now that Lauren remembers all of our holiday traditions, and looks forward to them with such joy. (It gives a mom good motivation to keep doing them!) And Jonathan quickly catches her enthusiasm and joins in the fun. Every year we decorate the dining room...
and enjoy a special dinner together.
The kids get all their family Valentine cards in the chairbackers I made for them a few years ago, plus a small gift from Mom and Dad.
And that was it! A fun Valentine celebration in spite of a little pneumonia. :) Here's hoping next year we're all healthy!
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