Valentine's Day 2013

To kick off the day of love, I decided to take a healthy approach, given what I knew the day would bring, and made heart-shaped eggs cooked in toast and berry banana smoothies.

I decided to make cherry popcorn balls for the kids to hand out as their valentine's this year, accompanied by notes that read, "hey Valentine, have a ball!" The kids have fun embellishing these as they signed their names. I ended up making close to 80 of these-

 Brian and I (and Mason) had a fun little lunch date that day; we went to Qdoba, where they were running a BOGO entree if a couple would kiss in line, so we did. It was a snowy day and fun and cozy to get to lunch together.

All four kids had parties this year, which made for a busy week. Mason's was a couple of days before, which helped. He had a darling party with his cute nursery playgroup. Our friend who hosted is a party thrower extraordinaire, and it was truly adorable. So much cutness; I especially loved the girls lined up in the kissing booth next to Mason! I made these heart-shaped red velvet whoopie pies to bring, and they were amazing.

The three school-kids parties lined up beautifully and I spent the entire afternoon party hopping. These are the treats I made for the boys' parties (just brought plates to Isabel's): white chocolate dipped rice krispie treats and pretzels-

Isabel's was first, and was adorable. First grade is really a party year, and she is well-loved in her class (seriously - there were girls crying when she threw up in the cafeteria and missed the holiday party before Christmas break). She loves her teacher, loves school, loves parties and loves all of her friends. They had treats, a craft and of course passed out valentines.

Lucas' party was next. Do you not just love kindergarteners? They are generally so sweet and clueless and still just getting the hang of the school thing. I adore. Lucas is such a fun, easy going kid. His party was by far the quietest with a simple craft and treats. The boy in the Spiderman shirt is his BFF; they spent every recess being superheroes, saving the world.

Connor's party was a whole different kind of party. They just pretty much "hang out" and get sugared up.

Fourth grade is SO MUCH OLDER than the younger grades, it just feels entirely different. And it is. Case in point:

My boy likes a girl!!! Connor has a BIG crush on a girl in his class named Meg. He tells me something about her almost every day, but rarely has the nerve to talk to her. He has been wearing cologne (a very soft, nice after shave in actuality but he loves it) to try to get her attention. He gets so nervous around her, even telling me about her, likening it to Charlie Brown and the red-headed girl. So he decided for Valentine's to give her a giant Hershey bar with a note attached, on which he wrote:

I warned him against this boldness of this, but he was determined. It got a little dicey when some other kids noticed it during the party and asked him if he has a crush on her, but he said no, and fortunately it blew over fairly quickly. According to the teacher, Meg is a very sweet, kind, quiet girl, so that works to her favor in terms of  not spreading the news around the entire fourth grade. But that didn't stop him from faking sick the next morning to avoid any potential fallout. We found him out and sent him on his unhappy way. But it turned out all was well. Yikes, things get dicier the older they get. Matters of the heart are a new topic!

Brian surprised me with these lovely tulips and Ritter Sports-

For dinner I let the kids choose something they LOVE, and it was skillet mac and cheese. Brian and I enjoyed a quiet evening after the kids went to bed. I sure am grateful for my five loves!