Cheers!

I am not big on Valentine's Day. I mean, I love telling those I love that I love them, but to force a holiday upon people that puts unnecessary pressure on men and women to do something above and beyond - and spend lots of dollars - is just not fun in my book. That said, we still "celebrate" Valentine's Day, but on ground level.

Usually my husband and I give cards to each other expressing love, appreciation, and devotion. Occasionally some flowers show up from one of us. Tonight, we celebrated a little early as work calls my husband out tomorrow night.

Today, the kids and I made homemade cards for my hubby: Little dude listed out 20+ things he loved about Daddy while "Sunshine" wrote "DADDY" out for the first time and mastered her name after learning to write a "D" today. {So proud of my writers!}

I'm not sure a boy could adore his father more.

Did I mention she's just 2?? {Insert proud Mama smile.} THREE this Monday!

Daddy loves fresh fettucini with a hearty, vegetable-heavy Bolognese sauce, finished off with homemade chocolate chip cookies, so that was the menu tonight.

Eager to try out a new, but basic, chocolate chip cookie recipe, the kids and I made these cookies from Allrecipes.com earlier in the day. I tried Yummy Mummy's Kitchen first, but realized I could get lost on blogs quickly if I searched so I settled for AllRecipes's "Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies", with a few alterations {agave nectar in place of white sugar, egg whites in place of eggs, whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour, dark chocolate chunks, and reduced amounts of "Smart Balance" - I resisted the urge to add ground flax or chia seeds}.

Dinner was delicious. Conversation was sweet. Then we started a new tradition: "cheersing" with our cookies in front of the fire, eating slowly, and taking turns singing whatever song comes to our head. We had some great laughs.

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I *did* find this great recipe for Apple Oat Breakfast Cookies from Yummy Mummy's Kitchen that I look forward to making some time in the very near future. I'll let you know how they turn out!

Wishing you much love in your life.

.molly