Valentines Day

 Valentines Day 2013 

 Ben gets the red Old Navy shirt for his Valentine shirt - he wasn't into the actual Valentine shirts this year. 

 We had to snatch a couple of pictures quickly while we were on our way out the door for school.  We are always in a rush in the mornings!

 We saw this braid online that we wanted to try and for the first time ever we got one of the hair things to work!  Elizabeth has such thick hair that I have a really difficult time making any of those special hairdos- this one was thankfully very simple and she loved wearing it like that to school. 

 Ben had a little party at school.  This year the PTA didn't sponsor a Valentine party so Elizabeth's class just exchanged Valentines and didn't have the parents come watch. 

 Ben's cute class.

 We had our hearts desire dinner and a few little gifts before heading to Elizabeth's basketball practice.  She was pretty bummed they still had practice on Valentines Day. 

 First game of the season!

They won so everyone was really excited.  She learned a lot this season on her team - they are pretty competitive even in the 1st/2nd grade league! 

She had a great time so that's what matters the most. 

(I think some of the other screaming parents on the sidelines would have begged to differ with me - crazy!! :)

Valentines Day 2012

After school on Valentines Day the kids opened their Valentines that they had gotten in the mail.
They sure love to get mail!

And money in a card - whoo hoo!

Then the goofiness began.

Next came our heart hunt. Elizabeth read all the clues for the hunt.

They kept searching and searching...

until they found their special treats! They each got a book, a placemat, a tiny bit of candy, and Ben got a fun workbook (he really does think it's fun!)

Elizabeth got a couple new chapter books - she devours books so we are always on the look out for new ones!

We ended the evening with our hearts desire dinner - each of us picked our favorite thing to eat - it was a fun way to end our Valentines Day!

Valentines Day at Elizabeth's School

The first graders at Elizabeth's school had a program right before Valentine's Day. They sang 4 songs for us, which was so much fun. Elizabeth was so cute and shy. She was so excited before the show, but kept telling me that she was just a little bit nervous. She did a great job singing along, she just looked a little nervous up there!
There she is, way at the top left.

The next day Elizabeth had a Valentine party in her class that I was in charge of. I decided to do a "minute to win it" theme party. We did four different games in four groups. They really had a great time.

The first game was how many marshmallows could the kids pick up in a minute with chopsticks.

Next the kids had to throw as many mini marshmallows into a basket as they could in a minute.

Then the kids all worked together to see how tall of a tower they could make in a minute with candy hearts.

Lastly the kids used straws to move M&M's into a bowl.

After the game the kids decorated a magnet with their photo and an assortment of other Valentine decorations.

Lastly they got snacks and a gift to take home. The girls got the necklace that Elizabeth has on that I made out of gumballs and the boys got a dog tag necklace. I think they all had a great time!

Valentines Day

Since Valentines Day was on a Monday we went over to my mom's house on Saturday for a Valentines lunch. Actually I had a baby shower to go to so my mom and dad babysat while I went to the shower.
I have such a difficult time getting a good smile out of this boy! :)

My friend, Laura, made their shirts again. I love them!

I tried to get a picture of all the "boys" together. Wasn't working too well!
The kids had a great time and I appreciated the time to go to the shower!

On Valentines Day Elizabeth's school had an award ceremony for the K classes and then we had our party that I was semi in-charge of. Here is Elizabeth accepting her awards from her teacher.

Ben and his friend, Nick, hung out in the back of the class during the party. Nick is Emma's little brother, and Emma is a girl in Elizabeth's class who lives down the street from us.

The first part of the party the kids made their own ice cream sundaes,

and passed out their Valentines.
The teacher didn't want the kids to open the cards at the party, so the kids just opened them at home.

After passing out their cards the kids were each given a half of a heart. They had to find their match, which gave them their partner.

Once the kids were in groups of 2 they had to work together to build the tallest conversation heart tower that they could. We didn't get very high!! I think the highest was 6 or something.

I think they all liked it, they were the quietest they had been the entire party!

That evening Tom got home from work and called the kids outside. Ben called me out and I was attacked by silly string!!!

What a romantic present from my husband! ;)

It sure was fun!!

Later we had our hearts desire dinner. The kids got to choose - cheese ravioli, garlic toast, strawberries, lemonade, and cookies. Yum! :)

Oh yeah - and Ben got a pickle and chicken fingers - his heart's desire.

We had a great V day!!