Valentine's Day!

I can't even believe Levi was actually around for Valentine's Day. I mean, its not like we make a big deal about holidays like this, but it was nice knowing that he was here to spend the day with me. And to make things even more exciting, Grant got to spend the day with us as well! He had been sick for a few days and wasn't fully 24 hour fever free to send to school, so he got to spend the day with us! We spent the morning getting new military ID's- mine was about to expire and since Grant is almost 10, he needed one too! Can't believe I have an almost-10 year old!! {{sigh}}

Since that adventure didn't take near as long as we imagined it would, we took a trip to the mall so Grant could stuff his BAB shark he ordered a few weeks prior. Oh how he still loves his furry friends!   We took a spin around a few stores and we were done with the mall.

 Our plans were to go on a date to Outback for dinner, but since we were right by there AND we were starving, we just decided to have our date for lunch, with Grant as our chaperone :) Conveniently, he was able to document our date, which we probably wouldn't have had otherwise! Two actual pictures with Levi! Never happens!

After lunch, I headed up to school for the Valentine's parties! I am room mom for Grant's class, so it was weird partying without him there, but we still had fun! I also managed to get down to Wyatt's for a little bit too. I love that little boy!!

Once we got home, we went through their Valentine boxes. They checked out all their goodies! So many yummy candies and goodies! I thought their boxes were so cute this year! They were very creative!

 Since we had a huge lunch, Levi and I weren't wanting any dinner, so I used that as an opportunity to make the boys a special dinner! 

Heart shaped food is always more delicious!

It was a special day spent with my special fellas!!! 

Lots of Love

We've always enjoyed February because its a good time to focus on LOVE! Not that we don't everyday, but its always fun to go above and beyond our normal talks! We've always made a big deal of the 14 days leading up to Valentine's Day and the boys get giddy when I pull out the February decor box!! This month was a little different, as we had a lot of germs invade our house and Levi was gone, so we didn't get to do ALL the things we usually would, but we still made the most of it!

We set up our little mailbox station! Typically, I'd leave a tiny treat and a note in their mailbox each day for when they came home from school. I always found special notes in my mailbox once in a while too!

This was our bin of all the love letters written over the few weeks! So sweet!

One of their very favorite traditions is our candy countdown and 1 Corinthians study. Each day, we'd take a line from 1 Cor 13:4-8a and talk about what it means in our daily lives. The boys will act out good examples and bad examples- oh that was their very favorite!! Munching on candy while they did it made it even that much better. They always tell me this is their favorite part of Valentine's Day! I love that they love learning about love :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from my little love bugs!!!

 And of course, some outtakes, because you know it took me about 100 pictures to get these 3 good ones!

Valentine's Day!

We LOVE celebrating LOVE around here!!! The month of February is always a buzz with all things red, hearts, and LOVE!!!  Come February 1st (well, maybe even a week before!) we pull out all the goodies! This year, I bought the boys some new Valentine mailboxes (and use the old standby Mom and Dad mailboxes) and some little pads of paper. I left them on a tray on our "school table" which became the "Valentine table" this month! It was so fun writing a little message to someone and slipping it in their mailbox. Lots of love letters and little surprises were sent to each other!! It's so much more fun that the boys can read and write!! We also enjoy studying 1 Corinthians and playing a little charades game to act it out! SO FUN!

The boys designed these Valentine boxes for school! Wyatt made a Pokeball box and Grant made a Pikachu. So cute!!

 On Valentine's Day, I made the boys some special heart pancakes! Mimi left us lots of Valentine's surprises on our "Valentine Table." Such a fun and exciting surprise when we woke up!

 We finished our Valentine Countdown and got to enjoy a heart full of M&Ms with our pancakes!

 Grant's class did these pictures at their Valentine's Party! So cute!

It was a day filled with fun and lots of LOVE!!!

Valentine's Day!

We love Valentine's Day around here! We don't do anything fancy- no fancy dinners, or trips, or dates, of anything like that. Just pure family love and togetherness and that's just fine with me!! We exchanged Valentine's in the morning! Wyatt made me this sweet card he made playing at the art center at school. Grant made a pretty oil pastel picture that I will probably frame because its so cool! We made Levi a heart wreath! And don't forget the sprinkle heart pancakes I painstakingly made for my three favorite fellas!!

 The boys appeased me and let me do some cute photos with them! We've done these the past few years, so even though they hate me taking their pictures, they smile and make their mama happy, and I'm so glad they do! Just look at these cuties!

 And if you think they're perfect angels that just sit so still and give me a great picture right off the bat, you're wrong...

But I LOVE them all the same!

Valentine Cake Wars

One of our very favorite parts of February is Valentine Cake Wars!!! While we don't physically bake cakes, we definitely do a good job of pretending we do!! We use the next best thing- chocolate playdoh! This is probably the boys' most favorite thing about Valentine's Day!! We've collected some fun doo-dads over the years to accessorize our cakes! The boys like for me to give them a challenge and then I come back to judge their displays! They're so cute!! I love that they love festive holiday play still!!

Grant's Valentine School Party

First graders are so much fun! They're goofy, they're silly, they're witty! Just a ton of fun! I've had fun being room mom for their class this year! I also help out in the class once or twice a week, so I get to see these kiddos quite often! I love seeing Grant interact with his friends and teacher. Makes my heart happy to know he likes everyone and everyone likes him!

Planning the activities is always fun too! Gives me flashbacks to some of my teaching days! They all seem to like what I come up with, so I feel like its been a successful school year as far as parties go!! Woohoo!

 Owen, Rishi, Keegan, Grant, and Max

February School Fun!

Holiday themed school games are still all the rage around here! I'm hoping that doesn't change anytime soon because its just so much fun!! Of course Grant never gets closet to this table, but Wyatt can still often be heard asking, "Do you want to play a school game?" We have fun and he doesn't even know he's learning. Well, I'm sure he does because he's just that smart, but at least he's smart enough to know that learning through games is the best way to learn!!

This game here he is adding red and pink hearts

 Here, he is reading and sorting long vowel and short vowel words

 Here he is reading and sorting CVC words

 More long vowel, short vowel! I just love the footie jammies!

 Using pink and red hearts to make and write words

 I love my little learner and his eagerness and excitement throughout each holiday!!