Valentine's Day Sweetness.

Yes, I did LOVE that Mark surprised me and ordered my favorite chocolates for me - from a shop in Iowa. However, even sweeter than that for me was being able to spend some time with all three of my boys! And some other family too!
Yes, Mark was able to make a daytime cameo on Valentine's Day between shifts & we were also able to enjoy the benefit of living close to family during residency...grandparents from both sides of the family were able to drop by. Sweet! It was so nice to see everyone! Here is Noah playing with great-grandma Janet. He loves playing with her cane!

Our sweet little Lincoln's first Valentine's Day!

I think that Noah was pleased to get something sweet - what do you think?

So, what started out as a sweet little surprise for part of Mark's Valentine's Day turned into much more of a project than I had anticipated. I obviously need some serious tips from some more exprienced moms on how to do something like this while juggling more than one kid!

• I made the dough in the morning & put it in the fridge to firm up...then had to quickly clean up things & hide all the decorating stuff once I found out that Mark was going to be able to come home for a while between shifts (to keep it a surprise).
• After he left I started rolling out dough, and wrapping each heart gumdrop, and began the experiment of exactly where to place the skewer (if it was not placed well then the gumdrop would crack in half during baking).
• Of course, going back and forth between a baby that needs to be held & nursed - and a toddler that demands various types of attention...and then only five or so skewered cookies fitting on the baking sheet at a time - this "sweet" little project turned into a several hour merathon (for me - the unexperienced baker, and someone still adjusting to juggling two kids anyway).

So! Finally, just after 10:00 at night, all the cookies were baked and cooled & I was able to quickly drizzle some of them with chocolate before Mark got home...

...and arrange them in a vase. One cookie for each year that I've known him. I love you, Mark!

Oh, and here are the boys in their new Valentine's Day hoodies...
Pretty sweet, huh?