The night before Valentine’s this is what our kitchen island looked like. It’s hard to even decipher what is going on here but let me point out just a few things:
Bennett was trying to do homework surrounded by a stack of mail.
There were three open bags of chips and two dips and Hunter was making a plate of nachos.
Briggs and Cannon were working on signing all of their valentines.
The wood glue is still out on the counter from when I built the soccer goal for Cannon’s box.
And for some reason my nice sewing scissors are by the pile of mail – you know the ones that can’t cut paper or you’ll go to jail – those ones.
And by some miracle just three hours later we were ready for the holiday.
Steve nailed the pink pancakes…
And Hallie sent us a picture of her special Valetine’s breakfast – complete with her own pink pancake.
Hunter had a friend over that evening to make and decorate sugar cookies (we used the modernhoney.com recipe). At the end of the night (a little later than anticipated), they cut out construction paper hearts, made plates of cookies and quietly decorated doors of several widows in our neighborhood – and also made a few plates for friends that didn’t require quiet deliveries!
It was fun driving by the next morning and seeing their handiwork.
It used to be I was making Valentine’s boxes with my kids every year. And then Valentine’s paper bags decorated in class started gaining popularity and the need for boxes was minimal. This year Cannon came home from school saying he needed a box and Briggs’ said his class was decorating bags. Easy enough.
Cannon I were sitting at the lab waiting to get his blood drawn and he scanned through Pinterest for a few minutes and he made a quick decision. He wanted a soccer goal. It sounded easy enough which is why I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to get started on it. He asked about it almost every day but there was soccer or tennis practice or Hunter’s soccer games – so it never made it to the top of the list. This week I started mapping out my week and realized last week would have been easier to get it done!
But I was determined to not let him down. There are very few things my kids ask my help for these days (besides driving them all around town) and I know it’s only going to get less and less. He drew up his design, so today I ran around to just about every store trying to collect supplies. At my third store (which consequently had gone out of business) I realized this was going to be a larger task than I anticipated. I eventually found everything I needed. So grateful for the deserted Joann Fabrics that happened to have a single roll of discounted green wrapping paper leftover from Christmas – which eliminated me having to paint anything and was worth going to multiple stores.
I made the soccer goal using a flat wooden dowel and wrapped it with some netting.
As we were putting the finishing touches on the box, I received the best compliment from a 5th grader, “Mom is a vibe!” For those not in the know – that is the highest of highs. 🙂
Briggs told me he was making a bag but then came home yesterday and said his teacher said they could make a box if they wanted to. I did a pretty good sales job on the lego box Cannon had made two years and had shoved under his bed. It was dusty, but nothing a little soap and water couldn’t take care of – and Briggs added his own flare with a colorful BP at the top.
We used the mini boxes of tic tacs for their Valentine’s cards. I’ve seen these for a few years and had a hard time finding them around Valentine’s in the past. But Amazon had them this year and they were just as cute and fun-sized as I imagined.
I walked in the door late last night with Hallie and Steve after having been gone the whole evening. I was surprised to find the kitchen had been decorated for Valentine’s day. (I’ll be honest, the idea of decorating the kitchen crossed my mind earlier that day but I hadn’t pulled anything out. I’m sure I would have remembered as I lay in bed that night trying to fall asleep long past midnight!)
Hunter was the only one up by the time we got home and I quickly confirmed he was responsible for pulling everything out from storage and setting it up. I was so grateful for his small but very perceptive action. We have decorated the night before Valentine’s since the time he was little and I appreciated him stepping up because I’m sure he’s somewhat outgrown the tradition but he knew it would be important to the younger kids.
The last couple years, Hallie has made homemade cards for all of us and she pulled through another year for us so I just had to put out drinks and candy.
Cannon and Briggs made their class valentine’s but neither needed to bring a box in this year (both of their teachers decided on decorated paper bags). Cannon kept his Lego creation from last year and was hoping to get another year of use out of it but it looks like he’ll have to save it for another year.
Several years ago when Briggs was just a baby we took the family out to Red Robin for Valentine’s dinner. (We’ve done several different restaurants on this holiday but they only talk about this one.) Every year since they’ve talked about the Red Robin “tradition” that happened one time.
We opted for a family dinner at Red Robin tonight knowing very well they will speak of this tradition for years to come. 🙂
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. 🙂
