Love is in the air.

Perhaps you can't tell because your nose hair freezes right when you walk outside, but it's that time of year when love is in the air!  I am talking about Valentine's Day.  I have to admit that this holiday was never really a big deal to me prior to having kids, but the past few years this has started to become my 2nd favorite holiday (after Christmas).  Just like at Christmas time when we are extra kind and cheerful, I feel this way around Valentine's as well.  It might be that RED is everywhere you go and I happen to really love that color, but I think it's more that I get the opportunity to do something extra special with my kiddos to make sure they know just how much they are loved.

I remember always getting a card and small Valentine's gift from my parents growing up (I still wear a bracelet that I got from them 15+ years ago).  I will never go overboard with Valentine's gifts, but I think it's fun to give my kids a little something and remind them that I love them so very much.  Rylee still remembers the chocolate she got last year and she keeps reminding that she wants the same one again :)  In addition to a gift, I will always try to do something fun with them on that day.  This year we have a birthday party for my niece and nephew that day (roller skating - yay!!), but I will probably add donuts for breakfast and making a heart shaped pizza together for lunch.  On Friday of this week Rylee is going to her first Daddy-Daughter dance.  She has never really dressed up before (she hates dresses just like her mama), so we picked out a dress and shoes together and hopefully she won't have a meltdown when she has to actually wear them!

I have to admit that I also LOVE Valentine's candy.  Specifically I like the gobstopper heartbreakers...but I swear they used to be all colors...I can only find them in pink/purple/red.  I'm doing good this year though...I have stopped to look at the candy twice, with full intentions of buying and I walked away empty handed both times :)

Not Valentine's related, but some other things I'm loving this week...

My new pedometer!
Through our health insurance we can earn extra money by tracking our steps each day and meeting a specific goal.  I was contemplating a Fitbit, but decided just to use the free one I got from the program.  It really is helpful to see how many steps you have taken so you know if you need to do more activity or not.  But I have to say...I have no idea how people get 10,000 steps in a day!!  That is the number that the Japanese discovered is optimal for our health.  I thought for sure I would hit that many yesterday.  We have a 4,600 square foot house and I dusted every inch, vacuumed and mopped floors.  I also worked out for about 25 minutes, and made sure to include lots of leg movements. When Rylee took her shower, I marched in place instead of just sitting down next to the tub like I normally would have.  I also had to go out to the garage several times to put wood in the boiler.  This requires several trips back and forth from our wood pile to the boiler each time.  Another thing I did was walk laps around the house while I was waiting on water to boil, brownies to bake and laundry to dry.  But even with all of this and normal walking around the house, I still only made it to 6,100 steps. I guess I need to leave the house to get more steps in (which is probably the point).  I know my calibration is correct, because I will walk 10/20/30 steps and check it and it definitely counts the right number.  The only time I sat yesterday was an hour in the morning to eat breakfast and check the news (some call it Facebook), an hour after lunch when I was writing a blog post, and an hour in the evening when I watched my favorite show....

Chicago Fire!  I love love this show!!  I have been watching it since it first started and I loathe weeks when it isn't on.  I love the characters, the story, and I always have a new realization and appreciation for what fire fighters really do.  I also like following the show on Facebook..they post fun things they do on the set and they appear to have a lot of fun together.  I just have one thing to say though.....Lady Gaga, really Taylor??

I also love the show Nashville and it is finally on again tonight after 2 long months!!  I'm not sure how I would live without these 2 shows.  Here is some really shocking news....get ready....I finally gave up The Bachelor!!  Do you believe it?!?!?!  I watched the first two weeks and even though I really like the IOWA Farm bachelor, I just decided it was now or never. I've been saying for the last several seasons that I'm not going to watch anymore and then I always get sucked in.  As I wasn't overly excited about the first 2 shows this season I decided it was a great place to stop watching.  I have to be honest, it feels pretty good!  I watched the show for 12 years. On that note though, someone tell me when they will be airing clips of Iowa :)

Time to stop typing and get some steps in...only at 807 at 10:20AM...YIKES!!  Have a great day!!