Valentine's love

We've always done store-bought Valentine's, but with all the great ideas floating out there on Pinterest, I decided to go homemade this year. Isabel wanted the fish concept, so we did these:

Lucas and his boy-heavy preschool class were a nice fit for the lollipop superheroes (love these!)-

Connor wanted to create his own-

Connor is getting older. It happens, I guess. His teacher contemplated not doing a valentine's party, then ended up doing a very simple one wherein the kids could wear PJs to school, exchange valentine's, and hang out and play games. It doesn't leave much of a need for mom, sniff sniff. At least I snapped him before school with his box.

Isabel, being in kindergarten, enjoyed her first classroom party. She loves the games, the sweets, the crafts, Nate (still), passing out valentines, and all of her sweet girlfriends. I love the picture of Isabel, pettiskirt spread around her she got home, dropped to the floor and poured over her valentines. Totally un-posed.

Lucas had a fun little party with his cute preschool class. And as a side note, he is in this very annoying phase where he either refuses to look at the camera, or else makes very unnatural faces. It is driving me nuts.

Valentine's Day Mason- the only decent picture I could snap of my ever-moving 20 month old, who is largely blocked by his brother's head.

A few fun themed treats: heart-shaped French toast with strawberry syrup, Valentine-dipped pretzels, and salted caramel lava cakes.

I wrote love notes to the kids and put them in their valentine's mailbox along with sweet treats, packed love- and heart-themed lunches, and we also had a fun love-themed family home evening. My favorite part was standing in a circle and tossing heart-shaped bean bags to each other, while telling the recipient something we love about them. These were priceless. I am grateful for my five loves. And I am grateful that they love me.