I LOVE LOVE!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love all things Valentine's Day! It is probably my favorite holiday! I love hearts, red & pink, cheesy cards, flowers, crafts! I love it all. 

It probably started when I worked at Streamwood Florist while in High School. I loved the crazy amounts of roses we got in. I loved the giant white teddy bears holding red fuzzy hearts. I loved staying until midnight filling orders. I loved the last minute rush of men dashing in to pick up flowers before their dates. I loved that my mom would call me in sick from school so I could work on Valentine's Day! It was just all so great! 

I love this holiday so much that I started celebrating a little early this year. Starting February 1st it was Valentine's Day every day at our house. 

I made this fun garland to adorn our front staircase. 

These two monkeys had fun helping me string the hearts! 

And we did a fun art project to hang in our kitchen window.

We drew with markers on coffee filter hearts and squirted water on them to get a tye dye effect. 

Nolan thought Heath's and Ella's were pretty cool, so he wanted to make one of his own that evening. He drew our family and then had fun squirting us with water and spreading out our little ink bodies! 

Also starting February 1st, Mark woke up every morning leading up to Valentine's Day, to a little love note and treat! I found this idea on Pinterest and it was super fun to do! 

Here are a few examples... 

One night we even got to go out on an early Valentine's Day date...

Ernie & Kim watched the boys for us and we went out to dinner. 

We went to Mt. Fuji, right here in Parker, for a fun hibachi night! We had so much fun laughing and talking at dinner without picking up crumbs or shushing screeches! 

Last weekend we got to work on Nolan's Valentines for his classmates. 

I showed Nolan a bunch of ideas that I had found on Pinterest, and he chose a fun Swedish Fish valentine to make. He did such a great job writing his name over and over. 

Then he stuck a heart sticker on each one. 

After signing them all, we stuffed them in treat bags, 

and he counted out 4 Swedish Fish to put in each bag. 

He was so proud of them! 

And I thought they turned out so super cute! 

He loved passing them out at his school party! 

We also made a special Valentine for his 3 teachers! {Another crafty blog find!}

And I designed this quick Valentine to send to family members! I stepped right up to this Kissing Booth  for sure! Who could resist these 3 cuties?

To say our boys are loved would be an understatement. They received so many fun Valentines this year! 

Here they are reading and putting on Hot Wheels stickers in their card from the Sloothaaks. They also got fun cards, candy, & cookies from Oma & Opa and cousins. And Grandma & Grandpa sent a package. Auntie Mal sent one too! We had fun Skyping with them all while the boys opened up their fun boxes! 

Check out these cool Valentines Grandma made! The boys loved their "spotting scopes", as Heathy called their magnifying glasses! She also made these for all of her preschoolers.

Here are the Valentines that I made for my students. 

And my kiddos made these cool Valentine Bags too. I adapted the coffee filter hearts that we made at home and used Bingo dobbers at school instead. The kids folded the filter, cut the heart, then folded it a few more times and dobbed away. The ink soaked through the thin paper and when the Kindies opened them back up, it had symmetry! The colors were so vibrant and beautiful! Then we stuck on some foam hearts for a little extra pizzazz! 

Nolan, Heath, and Brooks also had a daily Valentine to look forward to each morning. I added one heart to their door each day that had a reason why I loved them written on it. Buy February 14th their doors were filled with love! 

Heart Attack!!!!! 

They loved waking up each day and hearing what I had to say! 

A few of Nolan's...

And a few of Heath's...

Here are some of Brooks'...

While Nolan was partying at school on Valentine's Day, Heath, Ella, and I made some fun Valentines together. 

Some "Bunny" Loves You! 

The bunny is made from their little white handprints. {minus their thumbs} Then we drew on eyes, a mouth, and whiskers. And we added a puffy pink ball for the nose. 

Here is what the inside looks like. So sweet. My Kinders made these for their parents too. And Heath really wrote all that himself! He is doing such a nice job. With just a few verbal cues, he can write these letters! Love it! 

Here's my tiny Valentine sporting his new shirt from Auntie. What a Ladies Man! 

As soon as we walked in the door Valentine's Day evening, Nolan plopped down on the floor to read all his Valentines and check out all his candy. You can see the Valentine Bag he made at school with paint and heart cookie cutters. The pink card is also a card he made at school for Mark and I. 

He told me all about his Valentine's Day at school: Valentine Bingo, frosting cookies, strawberries, pink lemonade, passing out cards. Every preschooler's dream day! 

And he also made these precious pieces of art at school this week. Flowers and hearts for his Mommy! 

On Valentine's Day, I just planned a few fun things for us to do as a family that night. 

We started out by making our own, Home Made with Love, heart shaped pizzas. 

pounding out the dough

putting on the toppings

And while the pizzas were cooking, we played Valentine Bingo with candy hearts as place markers. 

The boys sipped pink lemonade with red heart silly straws. 

And then they munched on their pizzas and watched a Valentine's Day DVD that Auntie Mal had given them a few years back. It was a simple and special night together! 

Mark and I also made our own heart shaped pizza and once the boys were in bed we cuddled up together with a glass of wine and the newest episode of Scandal. {our OBSESSION}

And he surprised me with roses and season 2 of my new addiction: Everwood! 

Finally, here is a picture, the day after Valentine's Day, of all of the boys' loot! Wow! Pretty incredible! And this doesn't even show all of the crap {I mean amazing chocolate gifts.} that I got from my students. Ha! We are set on sweets in our house for a VERY long time! 

Woo. That was a lot. A LOT of FUN! I L-O-V-E doing special things for the loved ones in my life! And I LOVE any excuse to be crafty and creative. It's kind of my hobby! So Valentine's Day was the perfect reason to go all out! I hope you and yours had a wonderful, lovey dovey, day as well!