I really don’t consider myself to be a High Maintenance Girl. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty girly. I do like flowers, and jewelry, and pink. But, I’m not one of those wives who expects her man to “get it right” on Valentine’s Day, Anniversary, etc… I’m not that into frivolity (yeah, it’s a real word, look it up.) either. So usually if I want a gift, it’s something I really need or have been wanting for a while. Now I’m not saying my hubby isn’t a generous and thoughtful gift giver who, even though not expected of him, makes me and my girls feel loved.  I am saying however, that he is a pretty lucky guy because my V-Day expectations of him are pretty low. Perhaps the fact that the day comes so closely behind Christmas and His Birthday, which results in us being all gifted, treated, and dined out, also lightens the pressure. This year, neither of us really felt the need to do anything special just the two of us. But, I had an idea to do something really special for our girls. Something that would make them feel so loved and appreciated and that they would hopefully remember for a long time. So, this is how we spent V-Day 2010.

We told the girls that we were going to make them a “fancy dinner” in which they could request any dish they wanted. They both agreed on Haitian Chicken, with Beans and Rice and Dad set out to spend hours in the kitchen (that’s one of his specialities.) We told them that they could dress anyway they wanted and even let them put on a little make-up. I had them make some handmade decorations to hang, but didn’t tell them much else about what to expect.

Why would I ever pay for cheesey decorations when my girls make pretty things like this?

Abra was sad when she woke up in the morning and didn’t find her Valentine’s Gift in her room. I wanted to put it on their chair, so they would find it when they pulled the chair out.

Mmmm. Red Velvet Cake is always a winner for Valentines.

The girls saw these “personal watermelons” at the store and wanted to try them.

I made the girls wait till everything was set before they could come into the dinning room. Candles lit…

Crazy Light Up Cups on and full of pink lemonade…

I even put the silverware on the plates to make X’s and O’s.

This was the reaction to all the fanciness.

This was Ashley’s reaction to dad being the waiter, telling her the menu, asking her what she’d like etc… She loved playing along.

They loved their crazy cups.

Dinner is served.

Happy girls.

We also gave them cards with a love letter written to each of them. They felt like pretty special little girls I tell you (which they are.) It was the best Valentine’s Day ever.