Molten Lava Chocoate Volcanoes..and the very detailed weekend

nathan took a wedding on this valentine's day, i'm not sure why, i didn't make a big deal about it or anything, but secretly i was a little disappointed. I would have loved to celebrate with him on the actual day, but i also know we don't just celebrate our love and pursual of each other on this one special day so it didn't have to be that big of a deal if we weren't together on Valentine's day. Also, work is work, so i wanted to be understanding of that too..if it was a choice between making money or spending it, i would encourage him to make it:)

Everything kind of came to a little heap as the weekend arrived. I had been sick since sunday with all the fever/chills/gritty cough/head&neck ache/runny nose you could imagine, so it had not been a super energetic week to begin with. I was draggin, but nathan had been a gentleman and a servant to me all week. He pulled extra duty with the kids, made meals, got ben to school, and tried to give me as much opportunity to rest and recover as possible, so i was so humbled and appreciative of his help, but it's not like we got a lot of one on one quality time.

i didn't want to have any expectation for the weekend, i already knew he would be gone on saturday, so i kind of gently felt him out to see what he might have planned. well, it turns out he DID plan, and i shouldn't have doubted him. He told me he had gotten a babysitter for friday and he had made reservations for a surprise date on friday. He asked if we could celebrate then? i was so excited and felt so special that he still took the time to make the holiday special for us, even if it was on a different day.

I was still pretty tuckered out and rather lethargic by thursday, so i was being super shallow and second guessing what i would even wear and i wasn't feeling too peppy to get all beautified and fancy for our night out. By thursday night, Nathan started to come down with the nasty bug too, so we had a restless, sleepless night with him dreading this dooming sickness, me trying to get over mine, along with our youngest being up every 3-4 hours being sick as well...

Friday rolls around, and i still wanted to make it special for the kids. This holiday isn't just about my husband and me anymore, it is an opportunity to make it fun and festive with the kiddies too.
we whipped up pink and yellow frosting, and made sugar cookies to decorate, and they loved that. We sprinkled them with colored sugar sprinkles too, so that added to the fun.  I also made them nutella and strawberry sandwiches that i cut into heart shapes, and they thought that was just the most wonderful thing. They wanted to know how i got the heart shape without a heart cutter, but i just used a scissors.

Friday afternoon nathan and i are wrestling with what to do..do we still go out? or do we stay in? we are both sick now and feel pretty crummy, but he already made reservations and the babysitter was coming too. So i suggested we just cancel the fancy reservations-take the pressure off to enjoy a really fancy dinner and looking top notch, and maybe just get out for a while together, maybe get an easier bite to eat, and just enjoy being together [as much as two sick people can] and nathan thought that was a good idea. He was planning on taking me out to Holland and had reservations to Butch's Dry Dock, an amazing restaurant we both love and often times drive out to on our anniversary and other special occasions. I would have loved to go there, but i knew we both would't enjoy the full effect, plus the weather wasn not super great and safe to be making the trek all the way out there. And, nathan was getting sicker and sicker and just emotionally sick about the huge day he had to face the next.

i managed to curl a few hairs and put on some stylish boots that my sister had just given me a week or two ago that she didn't want anymore. I was just relieved not too look like a truck ran over me. maybe a car or a bike, but thankfully not a truck:) we chose Carabba's feeling like it was a good compromise [for us] not too fancy, but not mcdonald's french fries..I love their Lobster Ravioli and the sausage lentil peasant soup. yum yum. can't go wrong with either of those...

Nathan got me one one my most favorite gifts of all time [i've already decided:)] after pinning and eyeing about 3531978504 gorgeous pins on pinterest, as well as finding some beautiful ones at the Indian store down the street, nathan gifted me with a spectacular gorgeous emerald green sari with gold embellishments and border. i. love. it!!!!! it was such a thoughtful sweet gift. i love it that he picked it up and out all by himself and had to go into the indian store by himself and hunt it down.

Saturday morning would come too soon, and i really wanted to serve and care for my husband as he so selflessly did for me the entire week before. He was full of dread and sick at the daunting task at managing a large wedding party that wanted to bar hop and were not enthusiastic about picture taking to begin with. He had a groom that would rather have teeth pulled than have to monkey around with having his photo taken. All this coupled with horrible headaches, sore throat and body, chills, and constantly having to blow the nose till it becomes raw.

i knew he would forget to take care of himself and probably not eat or drink anything, when when you are are sick-that is so important to do just that, especially on a day that you have to exert a lot of energy.

so i stayed up friday night after he went to bed and tried to prep a little bit of thoughtful nutrients for him. i know they were small things and i wish i could have gone with him on his wedding to help and assist him, but i did what i could to make the morning a little easier..

that saturday morning i thought it would be fun to do something extra special that we normally wouldn't to celebrate valentine's day. the kids got cards in the mail, my folks even stopped by to give them valentines cards and little treats so that made it a little out of the ordinary. i whipped up some chocolate fondue with a little peanut butter mixed in, cut up fresh fruit, and the kiddos dip their sticks in the melted chocolate. they were thrilled and thought it was so crazy to have chocolate for breakfast.:)

And oh, my sweet nathan. the thoughtfulness in him never ceases to amaze me. that afternoon as i was home with the kiddos and he was long gone near lansing wrangling a drunk wedding party in sub zero temps, i heard a knock on the door.

normally i never answer the door when my husband is gone-that i am hardly ever properly dressed, but for some reason i did this time.  A flower delivery. A huge bouquet of 12 gorgeous roses in a sparkling glass vase. from him. i was so touched and could not believe he would do something like that for me.
it was an amazing surprise for a long day with a sick baby and two little kids camped at home. 

all this to say, it was not anywhere near the valentine's day that neither of us anticipated, but it surely was good, whole, and an unexpected gift. i think the Lord retaught me what it is to serve and love and care for someone in a real tangible way, not romantic and carefree,  but to forget myself and put someone else's needs over my own. i had to let go of expectation and disappointment, and allow room for improvisation and creativity in pursuing my husband. 

the last effort i made was knowing my husband would come home sock tired and drained from a long day without rest. i also knew he would come home maybe even feeling a little guilty that we were a part on this day, and i didn't want to give him any of that response or play into his discouragement.  so i decided to make a sweet little chocolate dessert, actually one of my top favorites but nathan loves it too:)

i put together these chocolate cakes that are baked in ramekins and then if you bake them right, should spill out a decadent fudgey chocolate inside. they are so delicious and i always order them at applebee's or chili's,  or where ever i see them offered..

i have never tried to make them at home-i made a microwave version that was loosely based on it, not too bad, but it wasn't the same..

this time, i was so excited and smiling all over the kitchen before nathan came home because i cut one open to examine it and chocolate goodness came spilling out just like i dreamed and it tasted like heaven. i followed a recipe i found on pinterest, but it was only enough for one person so i doubled everything and i'll share that with you, so you can make it for you and a honey..

nathan came home around 11:30pm and i had the house clean,
candles lit, and this dessert waiting. he plopped on the couch with me and he was so encouraging and almost as excited as i was that i had made them and they tasted almost exactly like the ones we used to buy at meijer but they don't sell them anymore.

ok. this is not my shining post highlighting my writing skills-in fact it is quite contrary..it is just a recollection of this past valentine's weekend and i wanted to record it for myself, because i learned and grew-even if just a little bit and i thought it was worth writing down. 

here's the recipe for those who came here for that and are tired of all the chit chat:

you'll need:

2 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 large egg
8 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 ramekins, 
1 baking sheet

preheat oven to 375 degrees 

place a cookie sheet in the oven as the oven heats.
slather butter and flour in 2 ramekins. 


In a small glass bowl, melt butter and chocolate in  in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or until chocolate has melted. give some time for it to cool slightly.


in a small bowl, whisk together egg and sugar. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture, and whisk together until well incorporated. add the salt and flour and stir until just combined.

pour chocolate mixture into slathered* ramekins and place in the oven atop the cookie sheet. bake for 7-10 minutes. [i baked mine for 8-9] 

remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 2 minutes. Using pot holders, carefully invert cake onto a plate.

sprinkle with powdered sugar and melted hot fudge. take it up a notch and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries or raspberries....mmmmm.

enjoy.