Happy VaLILYentines Day!

ell here they are... my little family: Shauna, Dylan, Micah and Lily. As you can tell the kids get their great looks from the 'hot chick' in the middle.
It's Valentine's Day today. I've never been great at this holiday and I'm not sure why. Perhaps its because there seems something a little disingenuous about stopping off at the grocery store after work to purchase a wilted rose and a bundle of baby's breath for $1.99 (because I refuse to pay $20 /rose at the local florist); then signing my name to a Hallmark card, which was composed by a hermit named Leon...living in Montana... sitting at his desk... overlooking Lake I-Should-a-Been-a-Uni-Bomber; then presenting her with a stash of Andes Chocolates I swiped from the Olive Garden.
Shauna doesn't like chocolate. She thinks flowers are a waste of money. She doesn't wear jewelry. Lingerie seems more like a gift for me than her. So, what's a fellow to do? The older we get the more utilitarian these holidays become. Maybe that's why I'm not very good at this holiday.
You need to understand, if I was to break down and ask her, "what would you like for Valentine's Day?" the conversation would look like this:
"I want a trip to Tahiti!"
"Seriously, What would you like me to give you for Valentine's Day?"
"I want Ballroom Dance Lessons!"
(Ballroom Dance Lessons: The Fox Trot; The Waltz; The Tango; The Rumba; The Cha Cha; etc.)
When she says she wants ballroom dancing what she is really saying is, "I want YOU to take dance lessons with me." There are two problems I have: 1) Apart from some mean break dancing skills... I don't dance, and 2) I'm sure it would only be a matter of time before I found myself sitting in the corner while a young Latino named Ricardo de Valentino whisked my wife through the air "showing" me how to dance. I think I'll stick to the buck ninety-nine rose.

The bottom line is that I love my wife. I don't mean that to sound mushy and gushy... I really do love her. If Valentine's Day doesn't do anything else it makes me stop and remember "Hey! I'm one blessed ragamuffin to be spending my life with a girl like this."
Besides the fact that she is scorching hot:
She's the perfect mom to our boys. She knows the delicate balance of protection and permission, encouragement and instruction, discipline and spoiling. She knows how to get in the floor and wrestle with them.
She's the perfect role model for our daughter. Lily will see the embodiment of grace and beauty, wisdom and truth in her mother. There will come a day when she will strive to emulate the external and internal beauty she has seen lived out before her. She will take Lily's hand and show her how to walk with elegance, live with passion, and dance with grace.
She's simply the perfect wife for me.

To quote the Song of Solomon:
"1 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.

2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.

3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors."

(I told you I wasn't very good at this holiday!)