Valentine's Weekend

For the majority of my life I despised Valentine's Day.  As a teenager and even into my college days, I never had a Valentine to speak of and felt like it was simply a day to make me feel down on myself even more than I already did.  Once Matthew came along, I started having a little more fun with it but I still think it's a pretty silly holiday.  Personally, I'd rather be shown love in the small, everyday ways than once a year on a commercialized holiday.  That's not to say we don't celebrate it, but we definitely keep it simple.

Kyndall was excited to pick out Valentine's Day treats for her classmates at pre-school.  I let her help me assemble them and she even signed her own name on each card this year.  Another reminder that she's growing up way too fast.

Ready for her Valentine's Day party on Thursday!

She was completely wired when I picked her up from school that afternoon!!  She didn't stop talking or moving until she hit the pillow that night!  Even her carseat couldn't keep her from dancing!

On Friday we met up with our best buds for lunch and an afternoon of jumping at Sky Zone.  The perfect way to burn off all that extra sugar induced hyperness!!

On Saturday morning I left the house at 7:00 to drive to Nashville, leaving Matthew and Kyndall in the bed asleep.  It was very important to me to attend my monthly "Girls with Guts" support group meeting and it just happened to fall on a Saturday this month.  Matthew knows how important this group is to me and encouraged me to spend the morning in Nashville and assured me he would take care of everything back home.  Not only did he hold down the fort, but he also got Kyndall dressed (this includes fixing her hair!), took her out for a Valentine's Day breakfast, then brought her home and gave her a bath and had her ready and waiting for me when I arrived back in Jackson mid-afternoon.  To me, that is how you show your Valentine that you love them!  My love language has always been acts of service and by doing these seemingly little things, it helped my entire day run more smoothly and that is worth far more than flowers or chocolates!  Plus, he totally won brownie points with me when I found out he did something special for Kyndall!  There is no doubt that he loves his girls and we are blessed to call him ours.

He ran into a friend at breakfast who snapped this picture from across the restaurant and sent it to Matthew!  How cute!

About the time I got home from Nashville it was time to take Kyndall to Pam and Jeremy's house.  They were taking their kiddos to Monster Jam in Memphis and invited Kyndall to join them so that Matthew and I could have a date night.  (A what??  We don't get those very often!)  She even offered to have Kyndall spend the night and told us she would meet us at church the next morning.  

Pam sent me this picture of Kyndall enjoying an Icee while watching the monster truck show.  

Oddly enough, Matthew an I ended up in Memphis as well.  We decided to drive over and have an early Valentine's Day dinner while we had a kid-free evening.

Of course, we had to make a stop HERE......

I think he could spend days in the Bass Pro Shop and still want to stay longer.  It doesn't help that this is the biggest one in the country!  One could easily get lost in that place.

I cooperated and followed him around for a few hours like a good little wifey would do.  I didn't see anything that interested me much, but I did find these super ugly sunglasses for $400.

To my surprise, Matthew walked out empty handed!  He went in with the intentions of buying a new scope for one of his guns but couldn't settle on any of them.  DARN!  I guess we'll have to find something else to spend that $350 on.

I've been doing a weight loss challenge since January and I've been pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and making better choices about the things I eat as well as spending some much needed time at the gym.  I decided not to blow it at dinner so while Matthew enjoyed a steak and french fries and tea, I happily munched on a SALAD and a diet coke.  However, sometimes you've just gotta indulge!  I told Matthew I had been craving cheese cake and if I was going to splurge that night, I wanted it to be on a piece of cheese cake.  

I consulted Google and came up with a recommendation for a place in downtown Memphis called the Cheesecake Corner.  The reviews had only wonderful things to say about it, stating that it was the best cheesecake these people had ever tasted.  One called it a diamond in the rough and said it was one of Memphis's best kept secrets.  They had me at best cheesecake ever, and we were on our way to find this hidden gem.

The place was a little hole in the wall with dim lighting and limited seating but the line was nearly out the door when we got there!  They had so many choices and it all looked amazing.  I was shocked to find that they wanted $9 per slice, or $80 for an entire cheesecake.  I knew right then it must be some dang good cake!  They were most well known for their cheese cake paired with coffee or wine but since we don't drink either one of those we settled on bottled cokes instead.

I ate every bit of my gi-normous slice of cake and it was worth every sinful calorie and every pound that I probably gained that night!  I will just say it's a good thing we live an hour away from this place or y'all might need to stage an intervention!

After I rolled myself to the car, we decided to call it a night and head back to Jackson.  Not long after we got back, I received a text from Pam saying something was wrong with Kyndall's eyes and that she probably needed to be seen at urgent care.  Since sitting in a waiting room full of sick people isn't the best idea for my non-existent immune system, I sent Matthew in my place to meet Pam and take Kyndall to see a doctor.  (Another reason he's a keeper!) At 11:15 they arrived back home with a diagnosis of bacterial conjunctivitis and antibiotic eye drops with strict orders to stay away from other kids for 24 hours. Kyndall was upset that she didn't get to spend the night at Pam's but she got over it.

Since we were house bound the next morning we missed out on spending our Valentine's Day at church.  Instead, we gave Kyndall her gifts and spent the day at home, together.  I cooked a roast for lunch which is Matthew's favorite so it turned out to be a pretty good day.  There was freezing rain outside as well as a little bit of sleet so we were happy to stay indoors.

Anyone else's kid obsessed with these silly little things??

Daddy surprised me and Kyndall with a cookie from his favorite bakery

Matthew and I agreed not to do gifts for one another but earlier in the week Kyndall asked me to take her to the store so that she could pick something out for her Daddy.  She wanted to buy him a card and a box of his favorite candy.  She was so excited to give it to him Sunday morning....

We received a sweet and adorable Valentine in the mail from Wyatt which is now adding tons of cuteness to our fridge!

Last week Kyndall was asked to be a model for a new type of photo shoot that our favorite local photographer is currently promoting.  Kyndall loves to have her picture taken and I think it's pretty obvious that she loves to be the center of attention, so you can imagine how excited she was about this.  Megan asked us to curl her hair for the shoot and told us she would provide the dress.  In 5 years I've never been able to successfully curl Kyndall's long stringy hair.  That all changed yesterday when I sent Matthew out in the freezing rain to buy some hot sticks.  (Reason number 2,398 why he's the best!)  Finally, we found something that works and Kyndall got a huge kick out of wearing these on her head all afternoon.

The photo shoot was an absolute BLAST!  Granted, we will be finding glitter all over our bodies and all over our house for the next six months, but it was SO much fun and how gorgeous are these proofs??  If you're local and have a little girl, contact Megan Shaw of Megan Shaw Photography to schedule your glitter mini session!  You will not be disappointed!

 That night Kyndall requested a heart shaped sandwich for dinner and some "special grape juice" in a "fancy glass".  Super fancy!

I would be remiss in documenting Valentine's Day if I didn't mention that February 14th is also National Donor Day.  As with every other holiday, I couldn't help but be thankful for my donor and the simple three letter word that saved my life.  Because they said YES, I have been able to celebrate two more Valentine's Days with my loves.  

Valentine's Day 2014--I had just been added to the national transplant list the week prior.  I had forgotten how sick I really looked back then.  The undeniable yellow tint of my eyes and my skin was a dead giveaway of the war that was raging on inside of my worn out body.  

It's weird for me to look back at pictures like this one and wonder what my donor might have been doing on this very same day?  Was my donor a Mommy like me, making Valentine's Day cupcakes with her kids?  Was my donor a child who was exchanging cards with their friends at school?  Who was this person and did they have any idea that it would be their last Valentine's Day and that their life would soon save the life of another?  Probably not.  Just seven short months after this picture was taken, two complete strangers would forever be connected in a tragic but beautiful turn of events.  Thoughts like these may seem weird or morbid to some, but they are a reminder for me to be thankful, always and to never take a single moment for granted.  

On a funnier note, my Valentine's Day ended with Matthew sending me this picture in a text message while I was in another room doing something before bed last night.  There was no caption, just this picture of our little Huckabee.  And no, he did not get up there by himself.  He was most definitely placed there.  So random, but so typical of my goofy husband.  I suppose that's why I love him!