Happy Valentine's Day

It has been a busy few weeks for all of us, so we were very excited when this weekend finally arrived.  When I got home from work these beautiful flowers were waiting for me - aren't they pretty?!  Scott and Liam picked them out for me while Karsten was at a play date.  

On Saturday morning, I was going to mix up some sugar cookies so the dough could chill while we ran a few errands.  I forgot that we were out of flour, and my sous chef was ready to go.  So, plan B was rosemary spiced nuts.  They are quite addicting, we had to hide them in the pantry so we would stop munching on them!

We had to run a few errands including Costco and picking up our lobster (or lobserd if you ask Liam). After much deliberation, we chose a lobster to be our dinner.

Scott picked up some flour while he was running errands earlier in the day, and I mixed up the dough before we headed out for errands.  I have previously had no luck at all with sugar cookies, the dough was always too sticky and either stuck to the counter, rolling pin or cutter.  This time I used my Grandma's recipe, followed it to a T and made sure it had plenty of time to chill.

I'm happy to report that I've finally mastered sugar cookies.  I discovered that we like them thicker so they're softer and not crunchy, but they all tasted good and the boys had fun cutting them out.

We made a lot of cut out cookies when I was little, and I always enjoyed it.  The huge tin of cookie cutters that my mom gave me reminds me of all the holidays where we made cookies - I think we'll have to do this a lot more often!

And, the most fun part is the frosting and sprinkles!

And you have to eat one to make sure it's good!

The end result - not too bad!

Then, it was time to cook our lobserd.  He wasn't moving too much in the box, but when Scott put him on a tray, he quickly scurried backwards trying to get away.

The boys wanted to watch him moving around but didn't want to get tooo close that he might snap at them.  We reminded him that the rubber bands kept his claws closed, but they didn't want to chance it.

Into the steam bath he goes!

This is our third annual Valentine's dinner together - we have lobster (lobserd) and steak.  Who needs a fancy restaurant, we can make a delicious meal too!  And by we, you all know that I really mean Scott...right?

We had our Valentine's dinner on Saturday night so we wouldn't be rushed tonight (a school night for everyone except Scott).  Since we haven't had a snow day this year which means we haven't had snow day cinnamon rolls, Scott thought they would be a great way to start Valentine's Day.  Who am I to disagree with such a fantastic idea!

After breakfast, we headed to church and since the boys were so well behaved, they got to open their gifts after church rather than waiting until dinner.  They had already shaken the boxes and ID'd them as Legos, so some of the mystery was gone.

They each got the same Lego car and a book.

Karsten just asked me about the Captain Underpants books, so the decision for him was easy. If they get him into reading, that works fine for me.

Scott got to open his presents too - the boys decorated frames for his office.  He's a tough one to shop for, but I got him a World Series Shot class for his collection and he gets to pick out something else since I didn't know exactly what he wanted.  He's already started shopping!

Scott made me books of all of my blog posts from January 2014 - June 2015.  He said he could have completed 2015 if I would have been caught up.  OOPS, guess I need to go back and do those posts!

I love seeing all of these books all lined up on the shelves - it's so fun to look back and remember all of the fun moments (big and little) that we share together.

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day with your loved ones.