Valentine’s Day is coming up. Does Zach have any plans for you/Violet or vice verse? 💌💌💌
Answering this like two year late, I am so sorry…But thank you so much for this ask! The LONG response is below the cut!
Violet’s Response
Zach and I initially had other plans for Valentine’s Day, but since I woke up at 4 am yesterday with severe cramps from my monthly gift, Zach re-evaluated our plans, and he took the lead in planning our new Valentine’s Day celebration! We will be taking a short solo trip together in a couple weeks for some alone time, but we had a perfect Valentine’s Day yesterday! It was such a special day from start to finish!
When I woke up feeling unwell this morning, he helped me get some pain medicine and a heating pad and helped me get back to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up still feeling unwell. Zach had already gotten up and started his day by that point and on my bedside table he’d left me a bouquet of white and lavender flowers (of course made by his mom especially for me 🥰) and a two pound box of KitKats (which given my current condition is very fitting 😂).
Zach also informed me that he and the Zachbots were going to take our children sledding so I could get some extra rest and have a quiet start to the day. I’ve always been super involved with the kids each holiday morning, so I immediately started protesting.
Me: “But the kids need breakfast! They are going to want their Valentine’s Day goodies!”
Zach: “We got the Valentine’s Day doughnuts from Gourmand and Amy yesterday, I’ll give them one of those each and some fruit and milk, they’ll love it! And they will be fine waiting until they get back for their Valentine’s Day stuff, they will be too excited about the sledding to think about that.”
Me: “Well I can just go with you guys, I’ll sit and watch you all…”
Despite my protests that I’d be fine and I could go with them, Zach wouldn’t hear it. He kissed me and was off, leaving me alone for the next few hours. I laid in bed about another half hour, watching footage supplied by one of the Zachbots of Zach and the children sledding outside our mansion, then I got up and begrudgingly got ready for the day.
Although Zach made sure the children ate before they went outside, I knew they would be starving by the time they got back, so after downing another dose of pain medicine, I started making brunch for them. I made heart shaped pancakes, I made another fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, red and green grapes, mango, kiwi, and mandarin orange pieces (my children and I go through fruit like no one’s business), and I made some sausage links.
After I finished the breakfast (and ate one of Gourmand and Amy’s doughnuts myself, I wasn’t really hungry), I left the pancakes and sausage in the oven to stay warm, and I laid on the couch while the Zachbots brought me the Valentine’s Day goodies for the kids, which I left on the coffee table for them to open later.
Zach and I personally love giving the children a little something on the less important holidays, some people might not think it’s necessary to give gifts on Valentine’s Day or days like that, but we always have given something to each other and our children. This year Varina and Vera both got a little basket filled with their goodies and Victor and Vallen’s were in toy dump trucks (I saw that idea on YouTube 😊).
We opted to get each of the children similar things: a book, a small stuffed animal, a little bit of their favorite candy, a coloring book, bubble wands for each of them, a puzzle for the girls, animal alphabet go fish cards for the boys, and a couple other things they liked that were tailored to them.
For example, Vera’s been stealing my makeup, so we got her some clear and pink (only clear or pink) lipgloss of her own (no eye makeup yet though, she lost that privilege when she snatched mine 😂). We got Varina a few new bottles of purple nail polish, and Victor and Vallen each got a set of binoculars.
Once Zach and the children came back from sledding, as I expected, they were starving. The boys immediately tried to jump on me wanting to be held and fed, but Zach stopped them, “mommy’s not feeling well, we have to be nice to her today.”
The kids were very concerned, thinking I was sick, but I just told them my stomach was hurting, and they understood, somewhat 😂. Zach had the Zachbots set the table and we all ate brunch together, after brunch the kids opened their Valentine’s Day gifts and spent a little while enjoying them while we watched them on the couch. Zach held my stomach the whole time, trying to help alleviate the cramps, “at least you’re not pregnant,” he whispered.
Me: “Well that can’t happen anymore anyway…I was just late this month so my body’s making up for lost time.”
Zach: “hehe, yeah…it can’t happen anymore…” (JIG: psych 3 years from now).
Then we spent our afternoon together as a family making sweet treats and Valentines together like we do every year. This was a tradition Zach and I started with each other our second Valentine’s Day together. We would make some type of sweet treats and Valentines for each other. Once we had children, we continued this tradition. Granted when the kiddos were babies it was us making the Valentines/treats, but it still meant so much to us as a family!
We started with the Valentines, and this year was particularly special because every single one of us was able to make the Valentines virtually by ourselves! Our little boys asked for some help, but they didn’t need us to do it for them! Zach and I made very heartfelt Valentines to each other, and the children made the sweetest Valentines to us and their siblings.
The sweet treat Zach and the children decided on for this year, I left it up to them, were conversation heart sugar cookies! We mixed up different colors of icing and let the kids decorate them with the icing and left the words up to the Zachbots (Zach and I made it easy on ourselves 😂). I’m not the biggest sugar cookie fan, but these turned out so well. They were so cute and delicious!
Zach had initially planned to spend the evening with me alone. His mother was going to come to the mansion to watch the children, and we were going to fly into the city for dinner and to spend the night at his headquarters. He wanted to take me out for dinner at a restaurant near his headquarters that we like and then we would have spent the night in his headquarters, but, as with Valentine’s Days in our past, our plans changed last minute, this time thanks to my moon cycle.
So, for dinner we improvised! Zach and I were going to get Italian food, but we had Italian at home…we had make your own heart shaped pizzas! The kids, Zach, and I all joined in adding the toppings we all liked best. As you can guess this meal was a big hit with everyone. Our boys were covered in pizza sauce! We paired the pizza with vegetable and fruit salad, and the kiddos ate some more of the cookies we made.
Our Valentine’s Day together as a family ended with all of us watching the Charlie Brown Valentine’s Day special and the kiddos bath/shower/bedtime routine. Zach let me take the girls since they are much less demanding at bedtime. Varina, Vera, and I read one of our favorite Valentine’s Day books, The UnValentine by Sam Beeson, and I tucked them in and kissed them goodnight (Zach gave them goodnight kisses after he finished with the boys).
Zach wrestled with the boys for nearly an hour after their baths before they finally laid down in bed and I came in to give them their goodnight kisses and read them one of their new Valentine’s Day books: Little Blue Truck’s Valentine by Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry.
After the children went to bed, Zach and I enjoyed some alone time together. Zach ordered some Valentine’s Day chocolate covered strawberries for us that we made sure to enjoy together and hide the ones that were left over from the kids (Our kids love them and will devour them leaving us without any, don’t worry though! I’ll make them some myself soon, it’s a fun cooking project for us! And I can ensure the chocolate is peanut free for Vallen by doing it myself). We ate these, exchanged our gifts, and watched the Wedding Singer, one of our favorite romantic comedies.
As with our children I had to do a little gift basket for Zach….except his basket was a small, CLEAN trashcan he can reuse wherever he needs one. I gave Zach a box of his favorite black and white cookies that I made for him and a box of some conversation heart sugar cookies with messages just for him 😉.
I also gave him some of his favorite body care products (his shampoo, conditioner, and body wash), a new set of silk, black pajamas with the Varmitech logo sewn on the pocket (many thanks to Donita for making these!), and a coupon book for him to cash in throughout the year. With coupons such as “tomato soup lunch,” “foot massage,” “10 minutes of saying how amazing you are,” and others that range from cute, to sweet, to spicy. Zach’s very, very, very happy and thankful for all his gifts, but he’s especially excited about the coupon book.
Zach: “Can I cash in one of the bubble baths together now?”
Me: “Ummm, given the circumstances I’d rather you not…but that does sound nice, I might take one later to feel better.”
Zach: “Can I sit in the bathroom with you and give you a neck and shoulder massage and talk to you while you take a bubble bath?”
Me: “Well…if you want to, I’m not saying no to pampering.”
Zach: “You shouldn’t. You deserve it.”
Zach’s gift to me was a bit more extravagant, I always tell him that I don’t need expensive gifts. The beautiful Valentine’s Day we shared together and the flowers, candy, and strawberries he gave me were more than enough and meant the world to me, but Zach could not stop there. He gave me a gold butterfly bracelet with diamonds, and a new dress to wear when I accompany him to Varmitech Industry events.
Me: “Zach they are beautiful, thank you so much…I love them, but…Zach this is too much, you are always giving me so much, you didn’t have to do this…”
Zach: “I wanted to, Donita loves making dresses for you and when I described what I wanted she just had to make it…and the bracelet is the perfect representation of our family. We are the two butterflies together, the two bigger ones are for Varina and Vera, and the two smaller ones are for Victor and Vallen.”
Me: “Aww Zach, I didn’t realize that…that is so sweet…thank you so much, I love it…”
We ended our night with the bubble bath Zach and I had agreed on, was it a romantic one with both of us? No, but it was romantic and sweet nonetheless. Zach lit candles and created a calming and peaceful atmosphere. He gave me the neck and shoulder massage like he promised and we talked, kissed, and reread out Valentines to each other; taking the time to truly enjoy each other’s company and remember how much we truly love each other. Not just on Valentine’s Day but every day.
This year’s Valentine’s Day was not an extravagant romantic affair, but it was unbelievably special because we were able to enjoy it with one another and our beautiful children. We would not trade the time shared and memories we made for anything.