The one time each year that I wear my heart on my sleeve

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that once upon a time, I considered my cheesy red heart henley (pictured below) to be a fantastic addition to my daily wardrobe. And not just for Valentines Day, either, as I'm pretty sure it was summer when I bought it during a massive retail-therapy session something like six years ago.  No, I just wanted the world (okay, namely my ex-boyfriend at the time) to see me and feel jealous of my awesome new shirt.

While I will never claim to be a fashionista, I can say this much: thank God my style tastes have improved.  Albeit slightly.

Still, this iconic little shirt has been a February staple for me all through my years as a student teacher, full-time classroom teacher, home-based interventionist, and then elementary school counselor.  It has survived eight moves in its lifetime and has been on the Goodwill chopping block more than once, but I just can't bear to get rid of it. Not yet.

And in 2013, it made its annual appearance at a Valentines Day party with my sister and the twins.  This required a trip down into the panic-attack-inducingly-full storage room in my step dad's basement to root it out of a suitcase and transport it back to Portland, but it was totally worth it for this moment:

Abbey in my arms, Lucas in the background, all of us in our matching red outfits.

Isn't my niece such a doll?

He was pretty busy the whole party making food for me in the pink play kitchen.  A man after my own heart. 

The twins refused to take a picture together with me, and would barely sit still long enough for one with their momma (this was the best of at least 5 attempts), but I had to show off their adorable little outfits.  Plus, how cute is my sister?

Thanks for giving me a reason to continue this cheesy little tradition for at least one more year, Kendra.