Valentine's Day Party

Can you tell it is nap time?  This is my third post!

I really am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day.  I was when I was younger and in school.  Then I married a man whose birthday is the day before Valentine's Day and it just became another day.  I try to make sure his birthday is special and not covered in hearts and chocolate.  Also, last year when Alex was in school I really got irritated at the push for romance on Valentine's Day.  I mean, he was in kindergarten and was being told to write little love notes to people.  Granted, most of them he wrote to me, but still it seemed excessive.  you should be showing love all year, not just when chocolate and flowers double in price and everyone else is doing it.  With that said I do have a slight Pinterest addiction and I do love kid's valentines.  I like the catchy little phrases that go with treats and, call me cheesy, but I can't get enough of them.  This year I let the boys pick out what they wanted to do off of my Pinterest board.  Eric had a class party on Valentine's Day and I organized a little party with our friends on Friday.  So Eric made 2 different sets of Valentines and Alex made one.  We had a blast putting them together.  I didn't get a picture of the ones Eric made for his class.  They were mini cereal boxes that said "I Cereals-ly Like You".

Eric's--"You Make My Heart Race

Alex's--"You Blow Me Away Valentine"

Friday's party was so much fun.  We had a HUGE turnout and everyone told me they enjoyed it, so I think it was a success.  We had the kids each bring Valentine's to exchange and a snack to share.  The kids decorated their bags first.  Then we had snacks.  Then we had a craft for them to do.  I am so grateful my mom gave me the idea.  I was really struggling to find something for ages 3-13 to do that wouldn't be to messy or involved.  We made "busy bottles".  We had the kids put glitter, confetti and other little things into their bottle.  Then we put about 2 Tbsp of oil in each bottle.  Then we place a few drops of food coloring in and filled them with water.  The kids loved watching them turn colorful when we added the water.  Everyone made one and they all enjoyed playing with them.  The girls thought they were pretty and the boys used them as light sabers.  Then we finished up with exchanging valentines and conversation heart graphing (gotta get a little education in there somewhere).  All in all it was a success and Alex loved having his friends over.  It even spawned off discussion of who was going to host an Easter activity!  I love our community and I have amazing friends.  We all support each other and work together to show our children that they are loved.

Here are a few pictures.  I don't want to post many as I don't think it is right to put pictures of other children all over my blog without their parents permission.

Decorating his bag

Graphing

Graphing

Silly boy