Tuesday, February 14, 2012

happy valentine's day!

valentines in progress
I had a lovely Monday off and it was perfectly timed. I so enjoyed getting to spend extra family time and it was super fun that it fell on a school day for the boys so I could experience drop-off and pick-up on a regular school day. I love getting a little glimpse into their "scene."

valentines in progress
The timing was also perfect because I got to work on Valentine preparations--both alone and with the boys. The valentines in progress here (above) are fingerpainted hearts (large fingerpainted sheets done a couple weeks ago, and then punched with a heart punch today) glued onto index cards. All Dieter did to finish these was glue on a greeting that we printed out on computer paper (he chose the font and cut them out with scalloped scissors). Super simple but still cute. I love that each fingerpainted heart is unique.

rainer's valentines
Here are Rainer's valentines. He worked on these a few weeks ago and then we finished them with the greeting today. He worked really hard cutting out many of the hearts and sticking on stickers. I helped him glue on the greetings. We have had tears over valentine making in the past, but this year it went really smoothly. They are growing up, and also grasping the concept of making simple, mass-produced valentines (which is necessary with the large class sizes these days).

at school
{paintings at school pick-up}

valentine packages, wrapped and ready
{packages wrapped and ready for the big day}

valentine packages wrapped and ready
{gifts}



brownie hearts
We also made brownies and cut them out in heart shapes--very fun, and such an easy way to make a valentine treat without rolling and cutting sugar cookies (although I love that too). I saw another cute idea here, maybe for next year.

brownie hearts
What are your plans for Valentine's day?? We will go to work and school, have dinner out at a Mexican restaurant, and then celebrate with our annual trail of hearts. I hope you have a wonderful, love-filled day full of hugs and kisses.

7 comments:

Andrea said...

You're so much more organized than I am! I love your gift-wrapping! (I bought my boys books, but didn't think of wrapping them so cute!) My oldest son has a guitar lesson tonight, so this morning I suggested we have our Valentine's celebration tomorrow and everyone looked at me blankly--what Valentine's celebration? Oh, well, let them be stcks-in-the mud; tonight I'll make a heart-shaped cake and tomorrow I'll go home early and prepare a feast.

BenBirdy1 said...

oh, how delightful. i was here reading along happily, like i always am, and i move my cursor over to see what you're linking to, and it's *me*. scrumptious small-world-itis. happy valentine's day! xo catherine

Jenna said...

Yum! I love those brownie hearts (what a great idea for school class parties!) and that mushroom plate is soooo sweet.
Hubby and I had a date night recently so tonight it's all about the family: fondue dinner (same as last year...I'm afraid a tradition has been born) dipping cheese, broth for cooking shrimp and chicken and chocolate for dessert!
This is the first year my boys didn't have to make cards for class (mixed feelings about that) and my daughter found the Valentine's craft box at the end of January and made cards for her classmates all by herself. Amazing how just a few years makes such a big change.

Madame Melville said...

I'm loving those little finger-painted hearts. Such a sweet idea.

We enjoyed a fun family evening with some homemade heart shaped pizzas - super simple but the kids were tickled about them.

Those brownies are very cute too!

Faith said...

I miss the trail of hearts! They hung up paper hearts all over Stevenson though and it was cute

Sophia said...

I adore the valentines! I took a break from reading blogs, and now that I am revisiting some, it is like visiting an old friend. I missed you!

Heather said...

I love the heart shaped brownie idea. So adorable.