I love you, Valentine!

I really love Valentines Day. I put up some decor February 1st, while the kids were at school, just for a little surprise when they got home. Paisley and Zeke were delighted.

Sparkly hearts and Bowl of Cherries from Granny Woolf

One evening Paisley and I sat and made this heart garland together. I think it turned out peachy.

One day in February Adren told me he and his friend would be out "Doorbell Ditching". I told them since Valentines Day was coming, they should give people "Heart Attacks". They spent the next half hour cutting out hearts out of construction paper then headed out to leave them on porches. Wouldn't you just love getting a bunch of paper hearts scattered on your porch?
As the day grew closer, the boys put together their Valentine boxes for school. It just so happened I had an empty laundry detergent box that was garbage-bound. I cut it in half and they each had their own box to decorate, complete with the little slot to slip a Valentine through. (where the handle had been)

I really enjoy sitting around and making Valentines with the kids- lots of construction paper, glue and markers. Paisely made some hearts for some little friends. She tucked them in her purse once when we were picking up the boys from school and asked if I could stop by so she could drop them off. I obliged. I assumed she'd want to give them to her friend face to face, but instead watched her place it on the porch, ring the doorbell then run back to the van. I felt silly, when the mom opened the door, Paisley is quickly closing the door ducking and yelling, "Go, MOM!" I just waved and sped away.

As per tradition, when the 14th arrives, a Valentine's table is set up for breakfast. The kids arrived downstairs one by one, surprised and delighted, they had forgotten what to expect.

 The menu: Heart-shaped cinnamon rolls with pink icing and a (nutritious) Pink smoothie to compensate.

I sent the boys off to school with these Valentines I'd put together~ the idea isn't from me, I got it somewhere (probably Pinterest?) I was at the store trying to think of a Valentine treat they could bring to their classmates and neighbors, saw the suckers and remembered the idea. I put together 4 bags of Blow-Pop suckers! But like I said, I really enjoyed doing it this year. Can't say I'm going to do it every year, this year it just did it for me. I really like a homemade Valentine.

Adren thought it was clever, I don't think Eli got it.

I kept to tradition~ I realized I do this mostly for myself & I enjoy it~  I love this Holiday, and it is what my mother did for me. It's Valentine's Day! This means walking in from school to pink sugar cookies on the counter!

I divided the dough into fourths for one large cookie for each one.

Check out Zeke with that cookie! Easy, Boy!

I managed to do it all without Paisley or Zeke even noticing what I was doing so even they were suprized to see them!
Our evening consisted of the kids leaving our Valentines on neighbor and friends doorsteps, then knocking and running. Adren and Eli had a pretty detailed escape route each time and gave Paisley detailed instruction on which direction to run and where to hide. It sounded like Zeke was content to just hunker down at the safety spot and wait for the others to run to him. I was only able to watch them in action when they delivered directly across the street, and it was the most hilarious thing to see: Zeke sitting with his head down in his lap, the boys army crawling to the door, Paisly crouch-running behind, then a mad scatter back to Zeke.

Once Jon got home we had our candle-light spaghetti dinner. Then our own Valentine Phantom~knocker began. Jon and I took turns placing toys and candies on the porch. Mommy and Daddy came over (they did their own knock-and-run) so it was fun to hang out and be together for the holiday!