We had a pretty sweet Valentine’s Day around here — simple, but full of good moments.

It started with Jonas taking an awesome nap, which meant Adelina and I got plenty of time together to make some treats!

This has become something of a tradition for me and I rather like it: making chocolate-covered pretzel rods & strawberries. I LOVE those pretzels, especially with the crushed peppermint. Adelina did a great job of crushing and sprinkling it!

We definitely had to wash hands a few times though, she kept licking her fingers clean ha. I wouldn’t have cared so much except we all had a cold and some of these were intended for other people…

(It’s pretty self-explanatory how you make these, but for a few tips: I hate using the “candy melts” because they taste nothing like chocolate. I use milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, melt, then dip and drizzle. Make sure the strawberries are completely dry before dipping or it’ll make a mess of your chocolate and the chocolate won’t stick properly to the fruit — I usually pat them each with a paper towel before dipping. Oh and cute cupcake liners are perfect for giving the strawberries a few extra presentation points 😉 Crush some leftover candy canes for the pretzels and sprinkle while the chocolate is still wet or it won’t stick. Let cool. Voilà!)

Andrew stopped by for lunch and I handed him a plate to take to his office. I also gave him a little felt mailbox valentine with some chocolates and notes (I loved these prompts over at Marriage Laboratory for 14 days of love letters!). I used to think Valentine’s Day was cheesy and overly commercial (it’s definitely a commercial holiday…), and I still think giant teddy bears and heart-shaped jewelry are ridiculous, but all things considered, I do love the idea of a day to remind the people around you how much you care. Plus you don’t need to convince me to eat more chocolate…

After Adelina’s nap, I had prepared a valentine for her too: a little baggie with a Frozen sticker book, some glow sticks and lollipops. Great way to get over the post-naptime grumpies!

We set off to deliver our treats to a “Galentine” and her little girls — gotta love Leslie Knope 😉 Adelina was excited to deliver them but sad once she realized we weren’t going over to play ha ha!

Later that afternoon, I cut out a paper heart and had her decorate it for Andrew. When he came home that evening, she stood at the top of the stairs, hardly containing her anticipation, crying out “Papa!” and rushing down the stairs to hand him her scribbled Valentine. It was pretty cute.

You know, we haven’t always been very good at holidays around here. You get married and both swear that Valentine’s Day is stupid because you don’t need a special day to say “I love you,” and then several years go by without really celebrating any of the other holidays or milestones either, and you start to realize little holidays really are kind of nice, and that little gestures go a long way. My point being, it takes time to develop rituals and align expectations, and I’m glad we’re getting to a point where traditions are beginning to form.

That evening, after getting the kids down to bed, Andrew had prepared a little surprise of his own! I’ve been on a big hygge kick lately — I’m reading The Little Book of Hygge, which has been really interesting, plus I’ve always had a big crush on Scandinavian cultures. One of the concepts is spending simple, cozy evenings in good company, and I’ve been mentioning lately how we’ve definitely gotten into the rut of collapsing in front of Netflix at the end of the day instead of talking to each other. Anyway: Andrew prepared a “hyggelig” evening, complete with a puzzle (of a scene along a dock in Copenhagen, ha!), candles (proper lighting is very important for good hygge), and hot beverages!

I’m pretty sure the last time I did a puzzle, I was a kid. It was fun and it was something different where we could just have casual conversation for a while. I love that he takes note of things I mention, it’s the little things in life!

Hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day! Have any other fun things you do to celebrate? I think “heart attacks” are pretty cute too, I’m always on the lookout for other ways to involve little ones.