Valentine's Week + A Printout

 

Valentine's Day, my favorite holiday! I used to think nothing could beat being an elementary school teacher on Valentine's Day - decorating the classroom, making cute valentines for my students, the party and exchanging of valentines, the overall sweet and happy vibe of the day... but being a mom on Valentine's Day just takes the (heart shaped) cake. Here are a few things I love doing to make the holiday extra special...

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Valentine's | 2019

I've always loved Valentine's Day - simply put, it's all my favorite things rolled into one! Pink, hearts, chocolates, flowers... Husby killed it this year with the ones photographed above that he snuck into the house while I was sleeping so I got to wake up to them! Valentine's Day is just the best. Being a teacher on Valentine's Day was always so much fun, and being a Mom is even better! 

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Life Lately - Valentine's Day Edition

Valentine's Day this year came right off a week plus of illness, right when we were getting back into the swing of things. I feel like we were still a bit slow-going, but so happy to be celebrating my very favorite holiday. I saved up all the valentines that Parker had received in the mail and put them out for him on Valentine's Day morning along with his pink pancake breakfast.

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Five February Favorites

Welcome, February! Valentine's Day is by far my favorite holiday, so over here we're ready for everything pink, red, and heart-shaped - starting with almond butter and sprinkle sandwiches for lunch 😉

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Valentine-ing 2017

I couldn't let February slip by without sharing a bit about our Valentine's Day!

Some people make Christmas cookies. We make Valentine cookies :)



This little guy insisted on orange icing for his. #favoritecolor #allthingsorange


P.S. Going shopping at Target for cookie supplies is almost as much fun as making the cookies! (Find my recipe here.)


We wrapped up some cookie singles as well as a few filled mason jars to deliver to neighbors on actual Valentine's Day. I'm telling you - some people are all about Christmas treats, but Valentine's sweets are where it's at ;)


I mean, add some pink and heart shapes to anything and the cuteness goes through the roof.

The morning of the 14th, Parker woke up to heart balloons... lots of heart balloons. 

We had gone to Whole Foods the day before to pick out roses to give to his teachers, and sweet guy insisted on orange, obviously.


Whole Foods had the same deal going as last year - twenty-four roses for $24. In Valentine's prices, that's a steal (and hands-down the best price I found anywhere). I broke down the bunch and wrapped up bundles in craft paper for his teachers as well as the office staff. Parker was so excited to give them out!

He also had these sweet valentines to hand out to his classmates!

While P was at school, I spent my morning at Pilates. Since Parker was bringing roses to his teachers, I figured I'd give a couple to my instructor! She was too sweet to post this on Facebook :)

Parker came home with his stash of Valentines from school (a first for him) and had fun going through them while munching on a Valentine cookie. 

And I love displaying the ones we get in the mail (I save years' past and put them in the pink tub, but it's getting pretty full).

While Parker napped, I put the finishing touches on husby's valentine, a basket of fun brews. 

We stayed in and had a fondue dinner that night - just me and my loves! The picture below was taken about ten seconds before Parker knocked over his champagne flute of milk (good thing he got the plastic and not the crystal).

Hoping your Valentine's Day was just as sweet!

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Valentine's Day Plans!

Although I do love a fancy dinner out, we're in the stage of life (with an almost four-year-old) where it's so much easier to stay in. So for Valentine's Day, instead of fighting for a restaurant reservation and finding an available babysitter, I'm recreating one of our favorite fancy dinners out - but at home! This way, Parker can participate in the fun, too :) Fondue was one of our Valentine favorites pre-Parker (and I often request it for my birthday dinner, as well!). Fondue is fun, it can be mostly pepped ahead of time, and it feels special - making it the perfect Valentine's Day dinner. The Melting Pot has published their Classic Alpine Cheese Fondue recipe here. I'll be making it in our electric fondue maker: 

My favorite dippers for cheese fondue are crusty bread, cauliflower, carrots, salami and green apple. Really, it's the perfect meal for a holiday since the platter of dippers can be made well in advance. I plan on making a chocolate fondue course as well, and I think Parker is going to go crazy about it! 

During the day on the 14th, Parker has school and I'm planning on picking up a dozen roses (from Costco of course!) and wrapping them individually in cellophane so he can hand them out to each of his teachers and the office staff (because who doesn't love flowers on Valentine's Day?). 

1. Heart Sun Glasses | 2. Heart Melamine Plate | 3. Short Pink Gloss Hunters | 4. Martha Stewart Heart Cast Iron 2 Qt. | 5. Kendra Scott Drop Earrings | 6. Valentine Placemat

Valentine's Day will also be filled with all the red, pink and heart shaped everything I can find! My sweet friend Courtney pointed me to the Martha Stewart heart shaped cast iron dutch oven above, which was less than a quarter the cost of the Le Creuset one I was fawning over. Score! 

How are you celebrating the day of love?

Linking up here for Girl Chat Thursday! 

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The Day It Rained Hearts

 We always seem to gravitate toward the oldies but goodies when it comes to children's literature, and The Day It Rained Hearts is a perfect example of this! The book was originally published in 1983 (so it's practically as old as I am), yet I love the simple story, adorable pictures and sweet writing. The book tells of a girl who collects heart while they rain down one day, and how she makes them into valentines to mail to friends. At the end, the book says that the following years, she "found other ways" to make valentines. This is a perfect jumping off point to ask your little one what he or she would use to make valentines. 

Parker requested stickers and stamps, which he used on the blank cards I scored at The Dollar Spot awhile back. I introduced the trick of making a heart by folding paper and cutting a half heart outline. I traced these both on plain paper and also old pages that P had watercolored.

He was delighted to unfold them after his scissor work to discover a heart! After they were cut, he glued them onto more of the blank cards. The watercolor pages made the prettiest hearts!

You can probably tell which ones he cut out and which ones are mine ;) Although, I must say this was a great way for him to practice those fine motor skills!

To go along with our heart theme, I prepared a sweet snack of heart shaped strawberries, carrots and PB+ Mini Chocolate Chips. (Similar heart plate on clearance here!)

Parker was totally on to me and proclaimed "It's because it's the day that rained hearts!" 

We also had our homemade Valentine themed play dough to work with! Sweet P had helped me make it the day before. Little Man loves to stir, and mixed all the ingredients before I heated them on the stove. 

Homemade Play Dough

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 T cream of tartar

1 cup hot water

1 T olive oil (+ food coloring) 

Mix well, and then heat on the stove while stirring until firm. It keeps for about 3-4 weeks.

And what better excuse to polish off a pint of talenti gelato? The containers are perfect for storing a batch of the play dough! ;)

Happy Love Month!

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Friday Favorites - Valentine's Day Edition

Happy February!! (aka Valentine's month)

 Valentine's Day has been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember. I was smitten with the day back when I was a bachelorette, hosting pink dinners on February 14th... when I was an elementary school teacher planning thematic centers with heart doilies and sweet treats... even way back to college when my roommates and I took over our entire living room to ice Valentine's Day cookies while sipping pink champagne. Valentine's Day was to me (and still is) a day for flowers and hearts, chocolate and the color pink, and all the love. 

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If you know me, you know I love my chalkboards! This week, I started their Valentine's makeovers.

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On February 1st, Parker requested pancakes for breakfast. I couldn't help myself from adding a few drops of red food coloring to make them pink! The secret to colored pancakes is keeping the heat very low - too high and the pancake will brown and you won't be able to see the color. We have these exact heart pancake molds and love them!

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I usually keep themed books in the special bookcase in Parker's playroom. In January, it was full of winter and snow books, but after we switched his calendar to February this week, I brought out all our Valentine books!

I wanted to get Parker in on the Valentine's favorites so I asked him about his favorite Valentine book... Pete the Cat: Valentine's Day Is Cool was the winner!

My favorite for kids is Valentine's Day Is by Gail Gibbons - it goes over the history of Valentine's Day and also explains current traditions. Others on repeat this week include:

Elmo Loves You
(a catchy rhyming book you won't tire of that's perfect for younger children)

Fancy Nancy: Heart to Heart
(a story of valentine making complete with a how-to instructional page_

Happy Valentine's Day, Curious George
(a fun and playful take on a Valentine party)

and
Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse!
(a simple, short board book that features all the characters from the series, perfect for very young ones)

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And because I'll use any excuse for gratuitous hearts this time of year - PB & Sprinkles. Just use a heart shaped cookie cookie cutter on a slice of bread to make the hole (and save the heart cut-out for something else!). I serve them on red heart plates (as I do all our meals, all. February. Long.) Mine are from Target from years ago, but these ones look exactly the same and are currently on clearance for a fraction of the price!

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Finally, this Le Creuset. All. The. Heart. Eyes. While I can't justify purchasing such an investment item solely on the basis of my favorite holiday, I will be admiring it from afar... because it's both pink and heart shaped! I die.

Happy Love Month!

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