Happy Valentine's Day

It was a terrific Valentine's Day today. Once Benjamin, Anna, and Emma were off at school, I took care of feeding Cameron and laid him down for a nap. He has been dealing with a cold recently, so I laid him in his carseat so he was more upright. Plus, he tends to sleep better and longer that way.

Once Cameron was asleep, I left Justin and Cameron at home with Clinton and headed grocery shopping. I was gone for a few hours getting groceries and some Valentine's Day treats for my kids and Clinton. When I returned, the preparations for our special dinner began.

The main dish that I fixed is something that everyone enjoys - Lime Basil Chicken. Along with it I fixed green beans with a twist (beans, mushrooms, bacon, and ranch), lemon-pepper broccoli, chocolate covered strawberries, this beautiful fruit tray with fruit dip, and heart-shaped raspberry jello. The jello that I made is not the regular jello, but the one I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas (raspberry jello, jellied cranberry sauce, and sour cream). The kids love it. Everything looked beautiful and tasted wonderful. For dessert, we had chocolate cake and ice cream. I had hoped to have time to make a special peach cobbler, one of Clinton's favorites, but I didn't. I'll have to make that another time here soon.

Benjamin, Anna, Emma, and Justin received their own movie-sized box of candy and a box of Cheez-It crackers. I don't normally buy them, but they had a variety, so everyone would have similar things, but not exactly the same. Justin received Cheez-It crackers with the "Cars" movie cars on them and a box of Swedish fish, Emma received Cheez-It crackers that were Scrabble Junior (they had letters on them) and a box of Junior Mints, Anna received a duo pack of Sharp Cheddar & Parmesan and a box of Cookie Dough balls, and Benjamin received a duo pack of Smoke Cheddar & Monterey Jack and a box of Reese's Pieces. Each of them also received their own movie-sized box of candy.

After the kids went to bed, Clinton and I had IBC Cream Soda and watched the movie "Contact". Clinton said he chose that Netflix movie because that is the movie we watched the night we got engaged. I probably would have remembered that years before, but once he said it, I was surprised that I didn't remember. At first, I couldn't remember what the movie was about, but once he started to tell me about it and we started watching it, I vividly remembered the movie. It is a terrific movie. One that is very touching and thought provoking. I was also quite touched and impressed that he had been thinking of a special movie to watch and how he chose one with significance - one that I hadn't remembered about.