My Kinda Valentine's Day!

Whoa!  

Halfway through February in ONE POST!

And its only JUNE!

Oh well...

A few days before Valentine's Day

a friend and I sat down and 

cut out TONS

of paper hearts

for a little project.

Then the night before Valentine's Day,

I finished up...

Then when my kids woke up 

the next morning,

they were each greeted with this:

Rico's Door

 Lex's Door

Jackson & Tony's Door

Then these little goodie bags on the table.

Then the kids and I made and decorated 

Valentine Mail Boxes.

We had a Valentine Exchange at our co-op.

And let me tell you how excited I was this year

to have 2 additional writers!

I think we had about 45 Valentine's to write out....

times 4!!!

I am SOOOOOOOO

thankful the older boys could help

and Lex could write her own name!

Mercy!!!

The boys totally decorated their own boxes.

I had to help Lex and really did Tony's for him.

I didn't realize that I had not taken pictures of 

all of them!

But I did get a couple of pictures of Tony's

I used a cereal box and turned it into a rocket!

Then decorated it...

wait maybe Tony did help!

We did the decorating while we were sitting

at basketball practice the night before the exchange.

But I think it turned out cute.

Jackson's was Minecraft related

Rico's was football related

and 

Lex's was a bunny!

Then...

then...

then....

above said "friend" 

that helped cut out TONS of paper hearts...

offered to add my 4 to her 4

and wrangle 8 kids for the night

so the hubs and I could go out on 

Valentine's Day!

I almost didn't take her up on it...

I considered bailing...

because,

that is EIGHT

kids.

And only half were hers!

But the kids all get along so great...

they really do!

Promise!

And it makes it so much easier when they do!

So the hubs and I went out!

To dinner

and

drinks

BY OURSELVES!

Whoa!

We had to make it somewhat special

since these types of things are few and far between

lately!

We decided on 

The Boiler Room Oyster Bar

in Kinston.

We grabbed a drink at the bar,

after we muscled our way up,

while we waited for our spot

at the oyster bar (my preferred seating).

We started out with 

an order of 

"Southern Poutine"

(pictured below)

 this dish was a pile of fries,

topped with southern chopped bbq

smothered with gravy

and it might have had some cheese on the side 

(I am guessing that is what the white stuff is)

This was not a fave of mine.

The hubs ate most of this.

Then the oysters started to arrive.

We ordered a peck of steamed.

I am picky...

I know I am,

I might even fit into the 

"high maintenance" 

category occasionally...

this night was one of those.

Typically,

the oysters are steamed in the back,

then shucked into a small metal bucket.

Then the shells are discarded

and you are served your shucked oysters 

in a small metal bucket.

Um, no thanks.

I requested that they shuck them

and leave them on the shells.

They graciously obliged.

These babies were served with 

HOMEMADE saltine!

What?

Those were INSANE!

They were quite oily and buttery,

but scrumptious!

 Here was our full spread...

After this spread,

I wasn't ready to go

so we ordered something else just as an excuse

to sit and enjoy being a couple

and not parents

for a bit longer.

I settled on the 

Fried Popcorn Oysters.

These were

hands down

without a doubt

ain't no comparison

the 

BEST

fried oysters

I have 

EVER

had 

in

my

LIFE!

I only wish I would have had them 

FIRST!

Because that is

ALL

I would have EATEN!

I asked what they were breaded in

and 

the only response I received

was

"cornmeal".

Sigh...

Oh well.

We walked around the booming 

town of 

Kinston for a few minutes,

stopped into a couple of places.

Then headed back to retrieve our 

brood.

The family watching our crew,

offered to keep them overnight!

What?

Kidless dinner

and 

house?

We graciously accepted their offer,

but did retrieve our littlest person

and brought him home with us.

We poked our head in and checked on each

of the others before we left.

A dark headed sleepy beauty

(er, Cousin It)

rose up from her spot in the 

twin bed with the other 2 little girls,

long enough to give us a kiss.

Then the 4 boys

(2 of mine, 2 of theirs)

THOUGHT

they were all going to sleep on a FUTON!

Yeah!

Or not!

They did NOT 

stay this way.

The next morning,

we had another day full of basketball...

and we had ONE kid to get ready

(along with snacks and lunches)

but our sweet friends had 7 kids

to get up and fed and ready...

and WE were late!

So when your mom & dad are running late

to pick you up from a sleep over...

and you have a basketball game

you have to brush your teeth in the 

gymnasium bathroom at church!

But because your friends' mom is 

the bomb!

She makes cool designs in your hair,

so you look freaking adorable

while you brush your teeth,

sitting on the counter,

in the gymnasium bathroom at church.

Then to round out our Valentine Day celebration,

we had an excuse to go to Krispy Kreme.

And a cool dozen works out great with this family.

Everyone gets to pick 2.

Then this mom of 4

pulls the permanent marker out of her purse

and proceeds to make a map

on the lid of the box.

Its amazing how easy 

and 

effective 

that is!