A peek into our Valentines weekend

As my days get busier I am constantly reminding myself that

it's the little things that make special days extra special. 

Heart hair was one small thing that put a BIG smile on my second graders face.

Happy Valentines to me from my best friend. (Pink and red roses, although BEAUTIFUL, not pictured).
My hast tag for this photo was #hetotallygetsme.

Every time I see this quote, I LOVE it even more.

We were getting ready for company that night so Joel helped me by bringing dinner home.
The kids LOVED it!

I LOVE giving my kids little gifts for the 'small' holidays.
They get so excited to see what prizes they will receive!

Saturday, we boarded a train with some sweet friends and spent the day in The Windy City.
This was little Buddy's first train ride. And, of course, he was an angel the whole day.

{We all had fun at the Aquarium.}

We LOVE time spent walking in the city. This is how you do it in February!

He keeps my heart warm.
So glad he is mine.

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Kid Valentines

I love the idea {especially for little ones} of NOT giving candy as part of a Valentine. 

I know, I know... what fun right? 

Well, if you saw the candy, cupcakes, brownies, and suckers my daughter brought home from her school Valentine party, I have a feeling you'd agree that non-candy Valentines can be just as fun!

Here are two we made this year...

For Graham, I fell in love with the idea of bouncy ball Valentines when I first spotted the ones Dandee made HERE.

What 3 year-old boy doesn't love bouncy balls? 

I started by printing the Valentine messages on card stock to be cut...

Then little {super excited} hands helped fill the small clear bags I already had on hand from a craft store.
We decided to include several ball accessories into the Valentines. We found small bouncy balls, ball stickers and assorted ball mini note pads in the party section at Wal-Mart.
All things 'ball' that my 3-year-old would love to receive!

I rounded the corners of the Valentine message before stapling them to the bag.

He was one proud little guy carrying this box of Valentines into his Wednesday night Church class to pass out to his friends!

Reese's school Valentines took a little more time.
Gone are the days of braiding three strands of embroidery floss and tying a knot at the end and calling it a bracelet.
Now, you need time, patience and one of these....

I'll admit, you can make some pretty neat bracelets with that machine, but since it was my first time, I decided to start with the least-complicated version. I kept it easy on myself and made all the bracelets the same, just changing the colors. That part, Reese gladly helped. :)

This was another idea from Dandee and I was able to print her Valentine Message for these adorable 'Knot' Valentines HERE.

After I printed them on card stock, I cut them out in circles and hole punched two holes in each to hold the bracelet.

Reese's gift to her teacher was a 'Cupcake Box'. All the things, in one box, that she will need to make herself cupcakes! (Valentine oven mitts, hand towels, and spatula, a cupcake holder, a cupcake corer, cupcake liners and sprinkles. And of course, a box of cupcake mix and frosting!)

I found these super cute boxes with chalkboard windows. I think I'm going to go back for more! I keep finding things to use them for!

And for Reese's School Valentine party, we signed up for Rice Krispie treats. Her Daddy makes one killer Rice Krispie treat! ;)
(I threw him a curve ball when I suggested making them look like ice cream cones.)
They turned out adorable!

He put the Rice Krispie treat in a cake cone and then we melted chocolate for the top.
Topping it with a little love in the form of heart sprinkles.

Don't forget your lunch!!!!

(A heart-shaped PB&J sandwich, of course!)

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Valentine's Day 2013

Our kids woke up on Valentine's Day to these....

Daddy and Mommy 'heart-attacked' their door in the night. Each heart has something we love about them.
I could have easily made 5,873 more hearts. There's just too much to love about my kids!


Other than the necessities, it's very rare that we buy our kids 'stuff' when we're out. (That's what grandparents are for, right?!?!?!?) So, when holidays come around, they get fun,
not-necessarily-needed treats from Mommy and Daddy.

This year's Valentine's included, shovels (for snow playing), cups, forks, spoons, candy, note pads, new shoes and their current favorite thing to play with, Playmobile.

Hand made notes for Daddy from the kids....
And I do mean hand-made. They painted their hands to form heart shapes!

A little love goes a long way....
So does a tooth pick and red nail polish!

Dinner was Peppered Chicken that I posted about {HERE}, served with a sweet pea risotto.
And OH MY! I forgot how good this chicken tastes! (This time, I added grated lemon peel to the pepper mixture to rub the outside of the chicken.)
It's been about a year since I made it, but I won't be waiting that long to make it again!

And for dessert....
Magic Mousse Jello (recipe found HERE) and Strawberry Brownies cut into hearts.

The Magic Mousse was easy and delicious. I even made mine sugar-free!
And the Strawberry Brownies couldn't have been easier either!

{Mix a box of strawberry cake mix with 2 eggs and 1/3 cup of oil. Spread it in a 9x13 pan and bake at *350 for about 15 minutes. Top warm brownies with a glaze by mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of milk. Cool, cut and enjoy!}

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Valentine Mantle

I love Valentine's Day!

And I love having a holiday to decorate for when all of the Christmas things come down.

Here is my Valentines mantle this year....

I am loving all of the FREE Holiday printables that are out there!!!!
I thought this one was especially adorable. You can print one HERE.

 The string of red hearts was a craft project I did with Reese one Sunday afternoon. All you need is paper, scissors and a stapler. She had fun making decorations for her room too! You can view the full instructions HERE.

I love making a little banner to add to just about anything!
For this one, I cut burlap into 'flags' and hot glued them to twine I had on hand. Then I glued pink hearts I cut from paper. My original idea was to stamp "L O V E" on them. When I got it hug up, I liked how it looked without the letters.

And my favorite piece....
My new canvas of my beautiful children. I got a 16x20 canvas for a steal during a Christmas sale.

They are the perfect touch to my mantle of love!!!!!!

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XOXOXO

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day!
We sure did, but then again, every day is filled with
L-O-V-E
around here!

Here's a sneak peek...

So I have been pinning left and right these GREAT ideas for cute, DIY Valentines for Reese to hand out at school. We took a little trip to Wal-Mart to get the supplies I needed to make them. Well, of course, the Valentine section is hard to miss. We ended up walking through and this is the face I saw as she spotted Rapunzel Valentine's...

(I had her reenact the 'face')

Could you say "No." ?

Well, I didn't. The thing she wanted most only cost $2.47. My supplies were going to be 3 x that!

Sometimes, even though you have great ideas, it's better to go the easy route!

Valentine's Day Morning...

She was busting at the seems to give me my Valentine.

A metal heart hook.

How adorable, right??

My husband has an uncle that has a forging hobby. She saw a picture WEEKS ago of a heart, that he had made, and asked if he would make one for her (to give to ME)!

PRECIOUS! And to think she kept that secret all this time!!!

Breakfast with the Little Love....

Heart toast and bananas.

And lunch...

 HEART PB&J.

We spent the afternoon playing and crafting with some friends.

We made Valentine Bookmarks out of paint samples.

Valentine Dinner....

Chicken Bruschetta Skillet

And we finished off dinner with dessert.

Chocolate Cake (of course)

Then PRESENTS!

 And from my first LOVE....

(He's so sweet to me.)

XOXOXO

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