Valentine's Day - Plainfield,IL

we're just getting each other cards, since neither of us care about valentine's day.

We don't celebrate it - never have, never will. My hubby and I believe its a Hallmark holiday. We randomly take the opportunity to express our love towards one another throughout the year and those surprises mean much more than something that's "forced" by a holiday.

My hubby doesn't really expect anything for Valentine's. He always gets me something (usually flowers and something special like jewelry, or one year he bought me a jewelry box). If I get him something, it's usually a video game or something fairly inexpensive that he really wants.
(And my hubby's bday is today, so I feel your pain about running out of ideas for gifts!)

I always get my SO boxer shorts on valentines day. I have been doing it since we got together. Valentines day, for us, falls right by our daughters birthday, the next month is our anniversary, and then the next month is my birthday...not to mention Christmas was just 2 months before. So for this holiday its boxers for him, usually a small box of chocolates for me, and a great home made dinner together. Nothing huge.
It's funny though cause when I do the laundry I can tell you what valentines day went with what boxers. Ahhh the memories. And yes, he always wears them, even if they are covered in hearts. =)

we have a cologne & perfume tradition between the adults :)

Our son, however, gets quirky with his gifts to us (he has 99% control - the 1% being a price limit). Dad's getting a donut maker from ThinkGeek ($20). I'm hoping for a car charger for my iPhone... but it's anyone's guess. :)

For kiddo I/we give him balloons (he has a crazy fixation on theme balloons) and a daytrip of his choosing.

We NEVER get each other anything. We enjoy spending time together and with our family. Usually we do a weekend away during February vacation.

We actually don't do too much. It's not one of those holidays that *really* matters to me -although I like just a little something special -for both of us and our kids. My husband usually gives me flowers and we go to dinner or steal away for a day in the mountains or something like that. I like to give our boys a little card and a piece of chocolate or make heart-shaped cookies or something and tell them it's just an extra reminder of how much I love them. For my husband -if I see something cool that I know he would like, I'll get it for him (nothing insanely expensive) -I'm talking about framed festival posters from festivals we've attended or music he loves or something he's remarked on like a special pocket knife -that sort of thing. If he gives me a gift, it's usually along the same lines. My birthday is 2 weeks after Christmas -so usually by February, I'm not expecting another big gift!

We actually do whatever we decide to do on February 13th. That's "our special day." I was BLOWN away when my husband proposed! I wasn't looking for it and really didn't care at the time. We lived together, and I had told him that unless we decided to have kids, I wasn't on a "ring hunt" or anything. Marriage had come up a few times, and I told him if he did ever propose to me, to just not do it on Valentine's Day or my birthday -that I wasn't into that. SO, of course he thought it would be funny and really surprising to do it on Valentine's Day! It was a Monday that year, and we had arranged to take off work, go hiking and have a romantic picnic. However, we were buying our first home at the time, and we had to have inspections done that day and a few other things, so our plans were ruined (and I had no idea how much -he had a perfect place on a great hike picked to propose). Instead, he suggested we at least go to a nice dinner on the night of the 13th. So, here we were -having our nice dinner out and suddenly he's on his knees proposing! I was so shocked! He had even spoken to my dad about it two weeks before that and my dad had kept it to himself! Ever since then -the 13th is our day!

We ALWAYS celebrate.....pretty much anything we can come up with! What a shame that people don't take advantage of an opportunity. We make up holidays too, and anniversaries for anything. For Valentine's day: I answered a post of ideas you can do with kids and stuff (a couple crafts or nice ideas). We always have a special dinner (though I cook it at home) because we would go to the Reata downtown for our anniversary in January....then we'd have a babysitter take the kids so we could go downtown and just enjoy each other's company, taking in the sights, walking the square holding hands, pop into a jazz club, simple stuff. Or like this year, we'll be having "date night" at home which is not a bad thing. As for real tangible gifts though, hmmm. We don't often do gifts as much as "events". But a gift that rocked my husband's world last Father's Day was making a book for him, about him, using kodakgallery.com. For Valentine's Day, perhaps you could make a book using photos showing why or what you love about him, why he'll always be your Valentine, with captions, or whatever you want. I did "The ABCs of Daddy" last year because my oldest was learning the alphabet and everything centered around that. I titled the book and had a few pictures on the cover, just random photos of him that I liked. The first photo was of the boys standing over an alphabet chart and pointing at the camera as if to say "YOU". The next page was an introductory page explaining what the book is and why, and then an interview I conducted with our son and typed the answers exactly as he responded. (All questions to do with "dad"). Then it'd be like A is for....and photos that would go with it (the dallas Aquarium, travels Abroad, etc). It took some work and time, but it came out beautifully. He actually teared up. It wasn't just a boring photo album, it was all about him and had photos of him with all of us, doing things we think of when we think of him. I think a book like that would be awesome. It shows thoughtfulness and takes a little work, but doesn't break the bank. (Mine cost $50 I think, but it was bigger than "standard"---I had to add pages to mine)

My husband and I each have a birthday essentially within 2 weeks either side of Valentine's Day so it isn't something we normally celebrate. When we do decide to do something it is usually something like planning a romantic evening to ourselves without the kids. When we do get each other gifts he will usually get me flowers or a movie for the occasion and I will get him a CD or music. Every once in a while we will splurge. One year he gave me a necklace and I gave him a nice watch but with the holidays and our birthdays so close together that Valentine's Day usually goes unnoticed.