Valentines Day 2017

We started out the day excited for school because of our cute Valentines boxes! Ivy had decided she wanted to make a cupcake box and so we used a sand pail and she folded the paper accordian style for the cupcake wrapper and glued it on. Then we used strips of cardboard paper bent over the top to make a frame and she spent the next two day gluing squares of pink tissue paper onto the top for the frosting. She didn't want anyone to help her but she did allow Jocelyn to cut out some sprinkles so that she could glue them to the frosting.

Jocelyn thought a toilet would be a fun idea for a Valentines box so she covered a few empty containers in white paper and glued them together, added a toilet seat and handle, and then made a tiny toilet paper roll out of real t.p. and glued it to the top.

She was pretty proud of it, that is, right up until it was time to go to school the morning of the Valentine party. As they were getting ready to walk out the door she turned to Mom and said, "I don't want to take this, I'm embarrassed of it!" Mom told her it was cute and funny and asked her what she meant. She told Mom that she was afraid the kids would laugh and make fun of her and she started to cry. Mom tried a pep talk but she didn't want to ride the bus with it and so Mom took her to school. At drop off she was so anxious and scared of her classmates reaction. Mom gave her a hug and told her to go to the office and call home if she didn't feel good about it after going to class. Mom never got a call and when she got home with all of her candy inside she said that her classmates had liked it, Claire had given her a high five and Hadley had said, "That's a really good idea."

While the girls were at school, Mom and Millie did a little baking!

We made Great Grandma Talbot's sugar cookies and took one to Grandma Marj after the girls got home from school. We saved a few for ourselves as well :)

Millie and Mom also went to a little cookie decorating party at a neighbors house, The Woodburys. Their girls are close to the same age as our girls and Millie and Lila are less than a year apart so they enjoy playing together. Another family was there as well and Millie enjoyed eating lunch and frosting and sprinkling her cookie all herself.

When the girls got home Mom was really excited to give them the Valentines present she'd been working on for them all week. She gave them each a watercolor painting; Ivy was of parakeets and Jocelyn's was of bunnies blowing bubbles up to a sky that had a bunny in a hot air balloon with other hot air balloons around it. The pictures were definitely flawed beginner pieces but the girls didn't mind at all and were very excited and surprised. They hung them up by their beds. 

Later that evening we had a "fancy" family dinner with soft music, fairy lights, goblets, candles, and rose petals. Mom cut out heart pepperonis and the girls decorated their own little pizzas. Mom and Dad had shrimp scampi and the girls shared some of the noodles as well. We all had some Martinelli's bubbly and the girls really enjoyed drinking out of their plastic goblets. Mom and Dad used the crystal goblets Grandma Marj had given them for their honeymoon. 

We really enjoyed our fancy dinner and next year I think we'll try dressing up fancy for it too!

I love Valentines as a family holiday - family love is the BEST KIND!