twas the night before valentine's

Twas the night before Valentine's, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, except for Mama Mouse.

The Valentine's were written and sealed with great care,

In hopes that lots of love and joy would soon fill the air...



I love, love, love celebrating holidays. Heck, if others were on board, I'd be up for throwing an annual Flag Day shindig.

However, I have to confess that I'm not huge on Valentine's. In fact, your hubbies will be so envious, but I actually tell Kevin to NOT get me anything for the sappy, heart-filled day. That's right...no card, no flowers, and no chocolates.

I've been stuffing myself with more than enough Thin Mints over the last few days so even an extra excuse to indulge with delicious chocolates is unappealing.

And let me reassure any of you doubters, this is not a "don't get me anything, but I'll secretly give you the silent treatment for days if you don't get me anything" kind of deal.

Instead, I want to celebrate it with the kids. So tonight we prepped Valentine's for classmates...



I must admit that I love the cheesy store bought Valentine's. My kids love making their own personal selection and I reminisce about getting a small paper with Judy Jetson that said, "Valentine, You're out of this World!" Maybe it was an early sign of my OCD tendancies, but I'd immediately go home and make 3 piles after the party: the girl Valentine's, the boy Valentine's, and the candy stash.

It is those fond memorines that propel me to sit with my boys while they write, fold, and seal with a red heart sticker. We chat about the different kids in their class as we write their names and it actually creates a good launch pad for conversation. Luke and I had an interesting chat about a particular boy in his class who was a real behavior challenge in the beginning of the year. I asked Luke if he ever plays with him. Luke responded, "No, because he plays bad games." This led us to discuss good vs. bad choices and showing kindness towards a classmate even though he doesn't have to be friends with him or her.

It was a good reminder for me too.

Once the boys went to bed, I set up our table with balloons and boxes filled a sweet card written with encouraging words and a few of their favorite things.



Luke: A pop-out book on Jungle Animals. He is particulary curious about parrots lately. He's a skittle guy.

Charlie: Dinosaur stickers and skittles.

Jack: Jungle animal stickers and M&M's.

And no, they will not be eating the entire bag of sugar high goodness in one sitting.

Finally, I made sure everything is set for our "lovely" breakfast: Pink smoothies with pink straws, heart pancakes, bacon (on a weekday!), and strawberries. I'll let you know if they reject the pink straws.

Teacher gifts, juice boxes, and pink Gogurts-check, check, check...






I can't wait! I'm also experimenting with an easy recipe for dinner. My college roomie who knows my kitchen limitations sent it to me. I'll keep you posted.

So I guess I've found a way to L-O-V-E Valentine's Day after all.

Much love,
Katie

P.S. I'm linking up this post to Life Made Lovely over at Blessed Little Nest.

P.S.S. Did I mention I purchased all the V-Day goods at the $ Tree and spent a total of $14 dollars? Hey Yeah!

P.S.S.S. Sorry for the lazy iphone pics. I was too beat after a day of riding bikes around S.D. Bay, grocery shopping, and V-Day prepping. You know how it goes.