Valentines Day!!

To be honest, I really don't consider Valentines Day a holiday. It's not that I don't like showing those I love how much I love them. And its not that I don't lilke them showing me. I feel like we are pretty good at doing this for each other through out the year. I also can't help feeling like it's a holiday contrived by greeting card companies and Candy companies. That being said, Sam loves it, so I play along.

We bought the valentine cards, and Sam spent some time a couple of evenings this week putting names on them and "signing" them. He was so excited. He took them and put them in their little mail boxes on Wednesday- a day early. Today (Valentines Day) after school he had his not so little shoe box, all decorated and jam packed full of cards and candy. On the drive home he said, "Where are we going tonight?" I told him we were going home and that is where we were going to stay all night. He said, "Oh, well then who is coming over?" I told him no one was. "But mom, it's Valentines Day." Then all of a sudden he came up with one of his brilliant ideas. "Let's invite everyone we know over for a party." I said, "Um, no."

But I had told Matt about two weeks ago that I would make a German chocolate cake and so I said he could invite Grandma and Grandpa A., Becky and Nathan, and Peter over for cake. That way there wouldn't be as much cake sitting around for me to want to eat tomorrow. So he promptly called them when we got home and then he stood less than a foot away from the TV for about an hour. While I was busy trying to make the cake and figure how many points I should count for my one piece and the frosting and stuff, I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing. Then I saw him standing over by the coat closet looking at it with his hands in a praying stance up by his mouth and he was reading, "Watch TV." He looked at the TV, "Check. Play in Sam's room. Check. Play with Play dough. Not Check." Then he ran into the kitchen and pulled a stool over to the refridgerator and tried to get into the cupboard over it. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was getting ready for the party.

Here are the signs. He numbered them......

The TV Station was already set up, obviously, he said check. And I took care of the cake station, by making the cake.

This is the playdough station he set up. He rolled out the mat and displayed all his beautiful colors.

This is stations 2&4 there are a bunch of little video games in that bucket that he has collected from happy meals and then he pulled a few choice games out of the game closet. ( Risk - ewww, chess- yes he can play it, but he can only beat me, pictionary - we bought this but no one ever feels like playing it, and Leaping Lizards.) His board game sign origionally said Play in Sam's room, but since he hasn't cleaned it since he ran way I vetoed that idea. After he set up the playdough and the games (all the while talking about how this is the first party he has ever planned) he went back to the closet and started his evaluation over,"Playdough, Check. Board games, Check. TV, Check. Video games, check. Cake, Check. Everything is ready, now I can just relax until they get here." The whole time I was picturing him as a grown up and the picture was alot like Fraank (Martin Short) in Father of the Bride. The closer we got to 7 the more he talked- What time is it? How many more minutes? When will they be here? What do you think they will want to do first? etc.

They came and the first thing he did was direct their attention to his menu of activities. They were good sports and played along.

Here is Sam at the cake station.

Play dough station. He kept telling people they could switch any time. And he told Becky while she ate her cake to take her time.

Here we are at the TV station, competing at Jeopardy.

Becky, pleasing Sam by playing video games.

Becky and Sam playing Leaping Lizards.

Sam about to lose.

He had so much fun. While he played with playdough and tried to make sure everyone was having fun, I couldn't help thinking about how different life would be for him if he had some siblings. He would be such a good big brother, always entertaining and keeping them busy. But I am praying he doesn't grow up to be a wedding planner.