I showed Briggs the magic of pinterest. He chose the snake – which was surprising because I thought for sure he’d lean towards a soccer or football themed box – or even the Suns. But he chose the snake and it was an easy project. This is made from an oatmeal container and some foam that covers copper pipe from home depot. We hot glued it around the canister and then sprayed painted. I wasn’t sure the glue would hold but it held great. In fact, we didn’t even glue it to the box, it’s just glued to each other as it climbs up the can.
I’m grateful for older siblings who are willing to help out. Hallie helped Briggs with hot gluing the hearts on and he was so proud of their work together.
Cannon remembered Hunter had created a lego box and he wanted to do the same. This project was a little frustrating for him as he couldn’t find the right colored pieces and once again an older sibling, Hunter, stepped in to save the day.
I think Bennett felt a little short changed because his teachers decided they wouldn’t be exchanging valentines. It’s his last year in elementary school and he was bummed to miss out. I’m not sure what his teachers’ reasons were but Bennett feels as though childhood is being stripped away a little too quickly. Especially since they even removed one of their recesses this year – he lives for recess. Evidently, they need more seat time in spanish – Bennett would rather skip spanish and get more soccer time!
Hallie enjoyed her first bouquet of roses from her friend. (Oddly enough it was Valentine’s day of my junior year that I received my first roses.) She also received a single rose from a boy in a suit at school today. A senior has spent the last three years handing out roses on Valentine’s day to unsuspecting girls on campus. Seeing as though he’s about to graduate, he decided to go all out and sought donations and they had an entourage in suits handing out 600 roses to girls today. I was on campus and saw so many girls proudly carrying their rose around. There is so much good in our kids today.
I shared previously Hunter had asked a girl to be his Valentine. Hallie and I took him and a friend to target last night and he picked up a little gift and he dropped it by her house today with a scavenger hunt as to where to find it. This kid is awesome and so thoughtful.
We came home this evening to find a plate of home baked goods and a gift for Hunter. (He also made sure to where a pink sure today which happens to be one of his soccer jerseys.)
Our day of love was successful and Steve and I are excited for them to go to school tomorrow so we can extend our love day a little longer as we enjoy our Valentine’s date tomorrow.
It is Valentine’s Day which means kids across elementary classrooms are stuffing valentines in homemade boxes or decorated paper bags. But what happens when you move to junior high and you no longer pass out valentines? Evidently at our junior high, you ask a girl to be your Valentine in advance and then the day of you give them a gift. This may or may not be someone you actually like – they may just be your valentine for the day.
Hunter is a thoughtful and creative kid and he decided he was going to ask someone to be his valentine by making paper flowers (using crepe paper rolls from amazon found here). He downloaded the pattern and followed the directions from this site and he sat at the counter on a Sunday afternoon with a hot glue gun and went to town. This was not a quick project, but he was patient and they turned out great and he had all the girls wishing they had received paper flowers. 🙂
Here’s a round-up of Valentine’s cards I’ve created over the years for my kids’ classroom parties. Click on any picture below to download a free printable for your favorite Valentine’s Day Card!
It was late the night before Valentine’s Day. I had already decorated the kitchen and as I made my way to bed, I remembered the treats I had bought for the kids that I was waiting to put out until Hallie went to bed. I turned the lights on in the kitchen to find hand made cards lining the counter for each of the boys (and for Steve and me) – Hallie’s handiwork. I’m not sure why she is so good to those brothers but they don’t know how good they’ve got it.
I added treats to the cards she made and realized I couldn’t leave her without a special note. I quickly replicated her idea and made a card for her.
The next morning I asked her when she made cards for her brothers – she replied, “several days ago.” She is more than I could have hoped for and I love how thoughtful she is and how much light she brings to our family!
I only had one elementary school child that needed a valentine box this year, the other two decorated paper bags with their class. I think the oatmeal container is my favorite base for a valentine’s box because it’s so versatile. We used the oatmeal container for a bumble bee, a shark, a gumball machine and now an owl.
Hunter gets the award because he helped Briggs cut out all these hearts – and he couldn’t be more pleased with the final result. And I couldn’t be more pleased to see my kids helping each other on a project like this.
Bennett was funny about Valentine’s this year because he was on the fence as to whether he wanted to do them at all – after all they are optional. I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around the idea of him showing up without a bag of Valentine’s when the majority of the class would be handing them out. I had already bought the candy for his cards and wasn’t going to put the effort in if he really didn’t want them. When he realized, he too would be getting a ring pop, he was just find handing them out to the class. (And I had to go buy another bag of Ring Pops because I found out last minute they were combining two classes for Valentines, I was lucky to find just two bags left on the shelves.)
Although he didn’t love my original idea of “Let me “Pop” a question, Will you be mine?” We settled on “You are a real gem”. Far less embarrassing for a 5th grader.
Cannon went with an oldie but a goodie – the original Charms blow up sucker, “Blowing kisses your way”. I can’t remember who used this printable previously, but I was just happy to not have to design another card – when I already have an extensive library!
Briggs handed out little bags of chips with – I ‘heart’ our friend “Chip” – stapled to the top. He was concerned not all of the Valentine’s he would be handing out would fit in his little owl container – luckily it was nothing a Wal-mart bag couldn’t fix.
Everyone came home pleased with their bags/boxes of valentines and quickly devoured their favorite candies. I think our monthly sugar consumption was reached in one day!
