BE MINE VALENTINE

Oh Valentines Day.
Here you are again.

Same old spiel, year after year: Tim and I really have never been big Valentines Day people.
And still aren't.
But I do think some of the festivities are kind of fun, and the decorations are fun, and the candy is really fun.  And the girls DO love it, and doing things with them is fun!  And as long as they are still happy with easy, cheap, and last minute, then we're all for a little celebrating.

So we did a little decorating, and treat making, and card making,

and look what we have here!
Mommy does occasionally get out of the house, without kids!!!
I do NOT however usually wear terrible pinchy high heels when I get out.  This was a one-time deal. Big thanks to the girls for letting me borrow from their dress-up box!
Yay for GAL-entines 2017!

Our actual Valentines Day was a little full.  We did a special Valentine preschool day and did all kinds of fun games, and crafting, and door-bell-ditching treats to our neighbors, and candy eating!!

Right at the end we did a little valentine exchange.  The deal was we had to wait until our school friend went home, then we could check out our stash.  The front door had barely closed and I went to find these two already elbow deep in heart shaped cards and chocolate candy!

I made the girls a quick little something to have from mommy.  I didn't know it would be such a hit!

Tim is a cookie lover, and particularly a snickerdoodle cookie lover.

I also am a cookie lover.

However, I do NOT care for snickerdoodles much at all.

And yet, fresh snickerdoodles got made.

Now that's love.

Daddy was home decently early, which was nice!  We were able to enjoy our Valentines pizza all together.

It was actually the perfect kind of day. 

It did end up pretty full though, and I had promised the girls some special pancakes.  Nothing wrong with carrying the festivities over just a little and firing up the griddle just one day late, right?

Yay for "day-after-Valentines-Day" pancakes with these little bedhead cuties!

At preschool we talked about how we can love in different ways.  You can love people, you can love pets, you can love things, or places, or experiences and memories.  The girls made little books of things they love, which turned out darling.  But I was wondering while they were working what I would put in my own book if I had to choose a few.

That's a tough one.  There are so many!

But I think today I would have to say I really love my little family.  I love being a mom!  I love to hear these two laugh.  I love to watch them play.  I love their hugs and kisses.  

And I love being home and having the time to do dorky little things like make valentines and cookie-cutter pancakes. 

ODUS 2.0 vol 11: HAPPY HEARTS DAY

Oh Valentine's Day.

I think I've mentioned before that neither Tim or I have ever been real big on this holiday.  

But having two cute little girls to get you into the spirit of things has made it a little easier the past couple of years to get a little more motivated about it.  And it fell on a Sunday this year even, which is a family day already.  So, it only seemed natural to spread a little love.

It actually started a day or two before when the girls got an awesome Valentine's box from MawMaw and Aunt Amy complete with treats, stickers, and cuddle buddies!  They were in heaven!

The Friday before Valentine's day Brinlee's Joy School group did a little party with a Valentine's exchange.  I let Brinlee browse Pinterest with me and she decided she just had to make these.  And wouldn't you know, we actually had all the stuff!  Brinlee colored the clips, filled the candy bags, put the clips on the candy bags, and wrote her name on all the notes all by herself.  They turned out darling, and she was over the moon proud of them.

On Valentine's day Sunday, our church was actually cancelled (something about frozen pipes?), so we went to a 9:00 sacrament meeting in another building and then scuttled on home to enjoy the day together.  It was quiet, relaxing, lazy, and perfect!  We had heart shaped pizza (special request from Brinlee), decorated dishes, pink cupcakes, and all made possible by my two little counter-top cooking companions.  Love my little Valentines!

One morning I was getting some clean sheets on our bed, and the sun was shining awesome through the window, and the girls were actually dressed for once, and I was trying to get myself into the Valentine's Day spirit anyway and had a few fun things lying around, and I thought to myself, "Self, the camera has been a little neglected lately, why don't we try to see if we can get a couple cute pictures of these darling girls!" And so, that's exactly what we did.  And what do you know?  We did end up with a couple cute ones!

Hope your Valentine's Day was fun-filled and magical!