Valentine's Day

We're having a great Valentine's Day this year! The celebration began early at Solana's school. The students made Valentine bags at school and her teacher sent home a list of names so that the kids could write their own Valentines. They had all week to bring in their treats, filling their friends' bags more and more every day. Solana and I made crayon hearts (the same fun craft we did last year). She finally got to bring all her Valentines home on Friday. Out of curiosity, I looked at them and got to see a sample of her classmates' handwriting. I noted that Solana's handwriting is far superior to the other kids' handwriting. Now, I'm not saying that this means she's the smartest kid in her class. Just...that she's probably the smartest kid in her class... ;-)

The girls also received packages in the mail from Grammy and Grampy and Aunt Carol. Chloe loves her monkey!

Then my friend, Kim, offered to babysit so Dave and I could go out for dinner and we were excited for the opportunity. The problem was that we didn't realize how many other people would be celebrating Valentines Day early so we waited until the last minute to make dinner reservations. Our favorite places were all booked! But Dave did some searching online and found a French restaurant in Centerville - only 5 minutes from our house. He read that they specialize in using local ingredients and organic meats and the dress is smart casual. We decided to give it a try even though we know nothing about French cuisine. I was reminded that sometimes things really work out well. I can't even begin to say how AMAZING the food was. If you're looking for a very special restaurant in Centerville, Ohio I give my absolute highest recommendation to Rue Dumaine. It's located in the Sam's Club shopping center of all places! I never would have guessed the classy casually elegant restaurant inside. We had the best time and the best food. This is my new favorite restaurant and Dave hesitates to rate it over Flemming's but I'm going to go ahead and make the call for him. I think I know where we'll be headed for our anniversary... :-)

Meanwhile, Solana had a great time playing dress-up with Sophia and Chloe had fun keeping Kim on her toes! Thanks Kim!

This morning the girls and I woke to a surprise on the kitchen table. Chocolates for me, stuffed animals for the girls, and cards all around. Dave and Solana go out ever year to the local chocolatier and pick out chocolates for me. Solana loves it! The only problem is that I have no self control around those things. They're sooooo good! Yum yum yum!

We also surprised Dave with a cake. Yellow cake with cream cheese icing and strawberry filling. All from scratch. Solana helped decorate the top. This was my first cake with filling and also my first attempt using the convection feature on my oven. I was a bit nervous but it turned out great! Here are the three recipes I used: Cake, Frosting, Filling.