This year in lieu of making a bunch of New Year’s resolutions, our family decided to just focus on one theme. 2014 is the year of service for the Roper family, and we thought Valentine’s Day would be the perfect chance to act on our goal.
It started out with decorating the kids’ doors. A very small act of service to our children that they have grown to expect and be excited about every year.
The boys and I planned a little service for Glenn as well. Not only is his car missing a side view mirror, but it was quite in need of a good cleaning both inside and out after a combination of driving around in snow and Glenn using his spare time to take care of the rest of us rather than making sure his car was washed. We decided something needed to be done!
Once Glenn was safely on the light rail on his way into work, we raced over to the train station parking lot where we stealthily located his car. With laughter and excitement, the boys grabbed a trash bag and went to work on the contents inside the car while I installed car seats so we could all squeeze together into the little Camry to go give it a bath. We parked the van where Glenn’s car had been and off we went to the self-serve car wash!
After a good scrub down, the next stop was our house where we rubbed the whole car down with a towel for a spot-free shine, washed all the windows, and vacuumed the interior. That little ‘01 Camry was starting to look good as new! Finally, on the way back to the train station, Derek took some cleaning wipes and spiffed up the interior- cup holders, dashboard, and all! We stuck some hearts on the steering wheel, swapped back the parking spot, and cheered! Valentine’s Day Surprise #1 was complete!
Next we decided to deliver valentines to some people we love. We had prepped by making valentine cards and memorizing a poem on Monday during family home evening, and I had purchased flowers. As soon as we pulled in after the car wash, the boys ran upstairs and changed into their Valentine Duds. With remarkable cooperation, they were back downstairs all dressed up within 3 minutes.
Not a bad looking group, huh? The boys had the drill down. They would go up to a house and ring the doorbell.
When the valentine recipient answered, they recited enthusiastically together, “Today as valentines go out to people near and far, this one we’re giving right to you to say how nice you are!” As they recited the poem, they handed the recipient the card. When they were through with the poetry recitation, hugs were given all around and flowers were handed over.
I watched the boys go through their little valentine performance 5 times, and every time it brought a smile to my face. They were so cute! They ended up changing in and out of their suits three separate times on Friday in order to get all their deliveries made, and were amazingly cheerful and cooperative about the whole thing. It gives me hope that these boys might turn out to be gentlemen yet!
We all ended Valentines Day with hearts full of joy. We decided that happy surprises and spreading cheer is a pretty good way to go! Happy Valentines Day 2014!
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