When we arrived home, we exchanged a few little gifts. Back when we were poor students, Adam and I decided that Valentine's Day was a great day for home made gifts for one anther. Adam is always so creative with home made gifts. He knows how to touch my heart so perfectly. He has made me CD's, slide shows and videos, and much more. One year, on Mother's Day, not V-Day, when I as pregnant with Josh and really emotional, I had shut myself in the bathroom to cry a bit (privacy in our 700 sq. ft. apartment while Adam was back in school was hard to come by) and Adam started sliding this cute little "why we love Mommy" photo montage under the door one page at a time that he had made that week. It changed my poor-pregnant-me tears into I-love-my-family-so-much tears in a second. This year's Valentine's gift was another hit out of the park. He and the boys gave me this amazing bouquet... 
Each of the boys had a designated flower color, and Ben and Zach even cut out their own. The vase says "I Love You..." then each of the flowers has a reason why I am loved, who it is from is based on the color of the flower: Zach=pink, Ben=purple, Josh=yellow, Luke=orange. They say things like, "For loving all us kids (Josh)" and "For dancing in the kitchen (Luke)" and "For picking good schools for us (Zach)" and "For hugging me tight (Ben)." Adam just asked them to start listing things and he acted as scribe, except for Zach, who wrote his own. It was my best gift ever, Honey, thank you so much!
Adam got the standard: kids hand print valentine. I know, not too creative, but he loved it and can't wait to hang it on his office wall. 
The boys each got a little stuffed dog (they are really into tiny-size stuffed animals right now for some odd reason) and a small box of chocolates (which were devoured almost instantaneously).
Later that night we hosted a party for all the great kids we know. We had been looking for a way to tell our friends here how much they mean to us, how much we appreciate their friendship and example to us. So we thought, and thought, and thought. And a crazy idea evolved. What is better than actually being able to get a babysitter for Valentine's Day? And what is better than a free babysitter (with the exception of pitching in for pizza)? And what is better than knowing your kids are still having fun on this Holiday of Love, even if you aren't there? And that is where it all began.So we invited a whole gaggle of kids over, a few families had other plans or had sick kiddos, so in all 20 ended up coming, plus our 4, that's a total of 24 kids all in our house at one time. Yes, there is a bit of insanity involved in that kind of party, but who ever said Adam and I were 100% sane? The true heroes of the night are two of our friends, Margaret and Jeff Mitchell, who offered to come over to lend a hand for the party, claiming that they weren't going out anyway since they just bought their beautiful new home. But I think they were just being the kind, helpful people they are! We were sure glad they were there! Having two more pairs of eyes on the gang, and two more hands to help, especially with the little ones, made the evening go extra smoothly. Really it did. Plus, we love hanging out with them, so that made it more fun for us too. It was a great night. Thanks Margaret and Jeff for sacrificing your night out to help!
I am sad I didn't get many pictures, but with 24 kids here, the camera wasn't the first thing on my mind. In the end, the house was messy, but no permanent damage done. One little boy bonked himself by his eye with a dino tail, but that was the only injury of the night, and he quickly felt better. No major fights broke out, just a few grouchy moments. And I think everyone had a good time...I know our friends who got to have a quiet date with their Best Valentine did, that's for sure! And that is what it was all about.
Here are Margaret and Jeff, manning the baby group. 
The boys found plenty of fun things to do.
The boys found plenty of fun things to do.
And, even with our severe lack of any toys that might be called "girly," the girls did too!
All the kids were so dang cute.
This picture doesn't actually capture the moment, but it was so funny to witness the "girl" mind set. You can't tell, but Anna here has found one of Josh's arrows from his bow and arrow set. However, instead of seeing an arrow, she and her sister saw magic wands and flitted about the basement blessing all who were playing there with fairy magic! Awesome.
This was my favorite picture of the night: when Batman meets Harry Potter.
My favorite quote of the night: "I'm a little bored, there are only boys here!" Poor Kamy, she was so sweet, but she is right, our ward is extremely boy heavy, and three of the families invited who have girls couldn't make it. I think she ended up having fun once the Wii tournament began.
We had a Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games tournament set up in the Family Room. And Kung Fu Panda playing on the projector in the other room. Both were hits! 
We had some crafts, but only about 1/3 of the kids did them. Most were too busy playing one thing or another to stop and do a craft.
We had a Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games tournament set up in the Family Room. And Kung Fu Panda playing on the projector in the other room. Both were hits! We had some crafts, but only about 1/3 of the kids did them. Most were too busy playing one thing or another to stop and do a craft. 
We also ordered a bunch of heart-shaped pizzas from Papa Murphy's. Heart-shaped food is a must on Valentine's Day, isn't it? The kids had to eat in shifts, but it worked out well since space in the kitchen is limited.
And the kids got to decorate some heart sugar cookies. Since I had long abandoned the camera by the time we got to that part of the evening, I only got pictures of some of the left-overs that I frosted and sprinkled. 
After 2 1/2 hours of rockin' Valentine fun, I hope the adults had some wonderful time together, the kids went home tired, and headed to bed with little problem, and that our friends and their children know how much we love them.
And actually, the house returned to normalcy quickly. Margaret helped pick up the Family Room before their family left. And our boys were amazing. They cleaned up the basement and didn't even complain about it at all...and that is saying a lot since I think every toy we own was out on the floor (and we own a lot of toys!). We tucked our sweet boys into bed, sending them to dreamland with kisses and hugs.
Don't worry, we got to celebrate too. Margaret baked an incredible chocolate-raspberry cake for the four of us grown-ups, and we each got a whoppin' piece to eat. After the Mitchells said goodnight, Adam and I toasted to a successful evening with some sparkling cider that one of the couples had brought for us and got some good snuggle time watching a show in bed...before crashing into a deep, dreamless, exhausted slumber. So the day ended perfectly too. A perfect day.