{ Valentine's Day... and a Birthday Thrown In }

I have always valued time with my man, but now that we have two children, I value that time to a whole new level. Being alone is a treat, and being able to talk uninterrupted is enough to make an evening spectacular. We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day the Saturday before. Tim arranged to have my parents come up for the evening and he lined up a very special evening for us.

 We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant downtown that we've been hearing good things about. The food was delicious!  We savored our meal and lingered over it: appetizer, meal and dessert.  It was wonderful just to be together and have the time to talk and to just be quiet.  I love that we enjoy a comfortable silence.

After dinner we headed to a local winery.  Tim had intended this to be a surprise.  He is always a little frustrated that he struggles to come up with original date ideas. Being in a small town contributes to that! Earlier that week, he received an email invitation to a local winery where a friend of ours would be performing with his band (he played at our wedding reception). The trouble was, my dear husband left the email up on the computer and I happened upon it! Oh well, it was the thought that counted. It worked out well in the end, I think, because it would have proved a little disappointing had that been the only thing we did. This was my first time to visit a winery and it wasn't as fancy as I anticipated it would be. It was rather cold in the building and very casual. It was a fun experience overall, though. We enjoyed homemade chocolates along with our wine.  We laughed and flirted and held hands.

The evening was still rather young when we left there, so we decided to go listen to jazz at a pseudo Irish pub downtown.  We stopped back home first to feed and put Katy Grace down for the night.  On our way out the door, Tim couldn't find his phone.  After looking for it for a few minutes, I decided to make things easier on us and call it.  It was in my purse, which I was holding at the time... oops!  We left and a little while later, when we were settling in, I decided to check Tim's phone to make sure my parents hadn't tried to call (I'd left mine with them).  I realized I had a missed call from my phone so I went outside to call them back.  They told me they hadn't called.  I was confused.  Then I realized that was the call I made to find Tim's phone.  I wish I could say this is the first time this has happened to me, but it's not!  It happens on a rather regular basis!  Oh, dear!

Then came my birthday.  My poor husband has Valentine's Day to remember, followed by my birthday a week later, but he always makes them both very special.  He surprised me with these beautiful roses.  I love them because they remind me of my wedding roses. 

We did the majority of celebrating on Sunday.  Tim helped me go grocery shopping and put up with me while I shopped for jeans at the mall.  Thankfully I found a pair so it was time well spent!  Later in the evening he got a babysitter and took me out for dinner and dessert.  Over dinner we had a fun time talking about the re-decorating we want to do in our master bedroom.  It was fun to dream and look forward to the completion of this project someday in the future. 

{ Birthdays just aren't complete without cake.  My mom had given me fun cupcake supplies for Valentine's Day so it was perfect.  They were soooo yummy! }

{ And my guys did the dishes! }

This is my last year to be in my twenties... and probably the last year I'll admit my age.  I actually received a card that referenced getting old.  *Sigh* I knew it had to happen eventually.....