We had such a fun Valentine's Day!! In the morning, the kids woke up to hearts all over their doors with little things we love about them.
That morning, we watched Megan's two little ones, Taylor and Micah, while she went to Allie's preschool party. They came over early and Megan and I got to visit for a little bit before the party started while the kids ate a "red and pink" breakfast of red heart pancakes, strawberries, and raspberry yogurt.
Kate was in heaven having little Micah here. She's a tad obsessed with babies. He was so content to sit on her lap and she was just loving it!
Megan and Allie came over after the party and we ended up making lunch for the kids and letting them play outside because it was a GORGEOUS day!! I wish I would have gotten a picture. Everyone was in their cute Valentine's clothes and the activity they chose was digging in the flower beds, of course. Little Taylor had dirt stains all over her white tights!
They left and the kids took naps. I had planned a fun night, so we were anxiously awaiting Mark's arrival!
Last year, we did this great scavenger hunt all around the house and the kids got a little treat/surprise at each spot. This year I thought it would be fun to have a sort of scavenger hunt, but to have little activities we do together at each spot. The first one was kinda goofy, but Kate thought it was cool. I typed up a long sentence and then cut it apart and numbered them and Kate and Jack (mainly Kate) had to put the numbers in order so the sentence made sense. It just said, "We are going to have a great night full of FUN activities and surprises!"
Then, I handed them a clue that took them to the kitchen.
There, we made homemade pizza. I had made Pioneer Woman's pizza crust (SO good, by the way) and had it all rolled out in the pan ready to go. Kate and Jack made a pizza and Mark and I made the other one. They had never done that before, so they were loving it. I cut some of their pepperoni into heart shapes. That wasn't the easiest thing to do, so not too many were like that. ha!
When the pizza went in the oven, I gave them a clue to go look on Jack's bookshelf and they each found a bag with some scratch off Valentine's and a coin to pass the time while the pizzas cooked. I found these for 50 cents at the Dollar Tree and they looked like they were from the 80's. But, the kids thought they were awesome.
After that, our pizza was ready. Kate thought it was pretty cool to eat something they made all by themselves!
Then, they got another clue.
On the picture of us kissing, there was a little note that said to hug everyone in your family and tell them something you love about them. So cheesy, but it was fun.
Then, they got a clue about an art project we were going to do. This is where things went a little downhill. I found this cute project on pinterest to make a Valentine's tree.
See how cute? Paint the stump part, use their hand for the branches, and use fingers or thumbs to make little heart leaves. Easy enough, right? Kate didn't want her hand painted and Jack licked paint off the paintbrush for starters.
I let Kate paint the branches, and then she wanted to just paint the leaves and wanted some to have fallen off the tree. So, her's wasn't bad, but not what I was going for. Oh well.
And, then there was Jack's...
I gave up after he dipped his whole hand in red paint and put them in my face saying, "creepy hands".
Let me just say, I feel for Jack's future preschool teacher. Maybe his painting skills will turn around by fall.
Ok, we put that project behind us and sent them off to wash hands. On the bathroom mirror, there was a note to head back to the kitchen after washing up because we were going to decorate pink Valentine's cookies. Our pictures didn't turn out from here on out, but I had made some pink cookies earlier in the day and they decorated them with way too much icing and tons of sprinkles. Sugar overload!!
On the bottom of their plates, there was a note that said, "Ready for some friendly competition? Let's have a conversation heart stacking contest! Don't worry, everyone gets a prize." So, this was comical. Kate is all serious about it, and Jack... well, not so much. He would stack two and then just sit and eat some. It wasn't much of a competition. But, they both got a big boxed chocolate heart and on the back was a note that said, "Now, go put on your jammies and meet back in the living room for Charlie Brown and popcorn."
We ended the night watching a Charlie Brown Valentine movie (they say stupid, dumb, and hate a lot in those movies!). I love spending Valentine's Day with our family.
Mark and I went out on a little date the Saturday after Valentine's Day.
Thankfully, I looked a little better than this on our date night. I'm thinking Valentine's Day five or so years ago I didn't look this tired. Spending my days with our two little crazies takes it out of me, but I wouldn't trade it for a second!
