Sunday, February 14

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have no set traditions for this Hallmark holiday, often letting the run of the week determine how much we put into it. We like it that way but I am trying to put a little more effort into it for the boys, especially since they're at fun ages to get it going. They've really enjoyed giving Valentines out in the evenings and it sure was fun! Besides, the world can do with more of us telling each other more often how much we love one another! I think this tradition's going to be a keeper!


This is my first year doing Valentines with the boys for school. We were only able to finish Easton's kindergarten class and then, as fate would have it, school was cancelled due to snow and ice. Now I have to re-bake the sugar cookies for their party pushed to Tuesday. As for kid Valentines, I've never really liked the store bought ones and know I'll succumb to them soon enough, but thought we'd try our hand at making some ourselves. I gathered pictures last week of ones I thought he might enjoy making and he'd settled on a cute simple bear hug Valentine. But as we went to sit down and make them earlier in the week [I was so proud of myself for starting early], Easton only wanted to make the conversation heart ones like those on our windows. Oh well, there's always next year! Easton even brainstormed with me about the messages. It was good handwriting practice for him as we chatted about spaces between words and trying to get each word to fit on one line. Watching him pick just the right message for each classmate was really adorable!


McKay almost sabotaged the effort until I remembered he's a pro with a glue stick. He glued almost all of them and did such a great job. I love watching them work together!!!


We finished these Thursday evening. Earlier that day at school, the kids both celebrated Fasching, or Carnivale. Easton came home with a great pirate mustache and McKay refused to take his costume off for anything until Friday afternoon. At the kindergarten, McKay's class had quite the decor! They'd had the kids helping all week to make the decorations of origami, blowing and filling up balloons with confetti they'd punched, spreading machine shredded paper everywhere, streamers and special lights . . . it was something! And what a mess in the end! OIY! However, I loved seeing the kids pushing the many kid-sized brooms right along with the teachers and parents.
Valentine's Day has been great so far! Ryan gave me some photo software I'd had my eye on and a laugh-out-loud card which he seems to specialize in now and again! I personalized a cute little poem and will bake him cookies this evening. For breakfast, we enjoyed his request for oatmeal the way he likes it with pecans, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and some brown sugar. We'll have Ryan's favorite lasagna this evening which he slaved over this morning and I've been salivating over all day!!!

I've been dying to see how Easton's interaction with Brynna played out today. Easton has been talking about giving Brynna the "I Y U" Valentine from our window since we made them a week ago. We never got around to making his entire Primary class Valentines this weekend so I didn't bring it up this morning before church. But Easton didn't forget! Just before getting coats on, he went over to the window and took the Valentine off the window and told me he wanted to give it to Brynna today. I put it in my bag for him, asking when he thought he'd give it to her. He didn't know yet.

We got to church and sat two rows in front of Brynna's family. I asked if he wanted to give it to her before the meeting began and he looked at me with a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look. I shrugged it off and said it was in the bag whenever he decided he wanted it. I was secretly glad because even though her mom and I have giggled over Easton's crush, Brynna is unaware and I kinda like it that way. They're just so little and I'll hold on to that as long as possible. But at the same time, I love that Easton wanted to give her something special and I want to encourage that behavior in a healthy way. What's a parent to do?! I was a little freaked out that he insisted on the "I Y U" Valentine because she's the youngest in a big family with all teenage siblings. I didn't want them to weird her out or tease her which may come back to Easton. I'm totally over-thinking this, right?

After Sacrament meeting, I asked Easton if he wanted to take the Valentine with him and he said no. I left it at that and we headed to class. After church he told me that he felt nervous and shy because he had pink stars in his eyes when he saw her. Really, he did! I told him I understood completely, can't we all?! I even told him random silly things used to come out of my mouth around Ryan when we'd first met and were getting to know each other because I'd felt that way. What a funny conversation to have with my 6 year old!

Easton did absolutely love the actual conversation heart candie boxes his teacher gave out. I haven't been out shopping a lot lately with the kids so he hadn't seen them in the stores and thought it was funny that the candy said some of the same things our Valentines did -- since he believed ours were the original! Ha!