Happy Heart Day!

Mark said it best on Valentine's Day: "Boys, one thing you'll learn quickly, is that Mommy loves LOVE." It's true. I do. I'm a sucker for it! But I come by it naturally...

I posted this picture on Valentine's Day. It's from one of my most memorable Valentine's Days. My awesome Dad fought crowds and waited in lines to surprise me with this adorable Cabbage Patch Kid for Valentine's Day. I LOVED Allie Kelly! And it's one of those memories that is unforgettable. I got my love of gift giving from my Dad. And I can't forget my Mom who also instilled in me my love language of acts of service. They did and continue to do these two things so well. And so, I in turn, love any reason to shower my kids with special memories big and small. 

The weekend before we got to work on the boys' Valentines. This year I actually let them go to Target and buy their Valentines instead of me making them at home. I had to let something go. And this was it. And they thought the store bought ones were cooler anyways. 

Nolan only had to sign his name on his. 

So he whipped out his 22 in about 2 minutes. Ha! 

Heath, on the other hand, had to address each one individually to his 12 classmates. Good thing there were only 12, because it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! We did 6 one day and 6 the next. It was good handwriting and letter formation practice and he did a really good job, but we learned quickly that it would be impossible for him to fit the kids names on the actual Valentines, so we found these bigger envelopes for him to use. And then it was much easier! He just couldn't write small enough for the tiny Valentines he picked. 

He chose these gummy band Valentines. 

While he worked on his Valentines, I worked on the "Love Bugs" he picked out to make for his party. 

They were super cute and actually very easy to make when wielding a glue gun. 

The finished products! 

He was super proud of all his work! 

We also made these chocolate pretzel bites for his teachers. 

We slipped in a Starbucks gift card too for a little treat for the teachers that we LOVE so much! 

The boys both had their Valentine Parties on Thursday and had no school on Friday. 

Nolan was so sweet, when we were shopping at Target he spotted these "Teacher candies". And he just HAD to get them for Mr. G. Now, as a teacher I appreciate every gift my students give me, but I do get A LOT of chocolate. I like chocolate, but imagine coming home with 10 boxes on any given holiday. It's a lot. So I love when my kiddos get me gift cards (no matter the value) or think out of the box with gifts instead. I tried everything I could think of to sway Nolan to pick out something else for Mr. G.'s Valentine's Day gift, but he was not havin' it. So we got the chocolates and I taped a Starbucks gift card to the back for an extra treat. I loved how thoughtful and sweet he was about it all and I would never want to squelch his sweet heart. He was super proud of his purchase! 

Ready to spread some love! 

Nolan's party was first thing in the morning. As his Room Mom, we got there early before school to set up. Here he is with his friend Riley, her mom is also a Room Mom,  we've had a lot of fun planning the parties together this year. These two were also in the same Kindergarten class. So they have become good buddies. 

Party pics...

Minute to Win It Games: Candy Heart Stack

Chopstick Candy Transfer

Marshmallow Toss

Cookie Head! 

Passing out Valentines- always a kid favorite! 

Fruit Kabobs

They also made friendship bracelets. Mia made one for Nolan and Nolan made one for Jacob. He also made himself this necklace. The kids were all very blinged out after the party! 

 Then it was off to Heath's classroom. 

Showing off his Valentine Bag. Oh my! I'm not quite sure what he did to decorate it!

Heath made us the sweetest Valentine EVER! 

I mean…come on…melted my heart! Miss Karen showed it to me right away when I got there. She said most kids had answers like, "because I just do" or "they love me". She said that as soon as he gave her his response that she had to run and tell Miss Liz because it was just so precious. I teared up immediately. I just love his sweet heart. 

After school that day, Heath and Brooks went to Oma & Opa's house for the afternoon as usual. Landon bought them each some cool Spider Man chocolates and Oma & Opa gave them each a little treat bag, which included a 2 dollar bill…their favorite part! H & B were so excited to come home and share their fun gifts with Nolan that night! Thanks Jansen fam for loving on our guys! 

2 parties down…1 to go. Friday was my class' Valentine's Day Party. Mark had the day off, which was nice, so he was home lovin' on the boys while I went in to school to set up. I do not have a Room Mom, so it's all on me. 

 I loved these fun bags that I found this year. We usually decorate bags, but we were in the midst of a busy week of 2nd Trimester Assessments, so I decided to save some instructional time and just buy some this year. 

We did a craft, had a snack, and exchanged Valentines. Simple and sweet, just what I needed for party number 3. 

And now for the main event...

Valentine's Day! 

I had the table all set to surprise the boys when they came down for breakfast that morning. But they surprised me with the beautiful roses! They went to Costco to buy them and they hid them from me the day before. They were so pretty and the boys were quite proud that they pulled off the surprise! 

We had heart shaped bagels topped with strawberry cream cheese, strawberries, and sprinkles for breakfast! 

They each got a cute little stuffed animal that Brooks specifically picked out for his brothers and "101 Dalmatians" on DVD.

Mark only has eyes for me! Ha! Heath said he looked like Donny from TMNT because he gets hearts in his eyes when he sees April. Ha! It was funny that he made that connection. 

 Breakfast with Rubble and his new furry pal- Duke! 

Showing off "Owliver". 

Heath got "Zippy". Brooks and I thought Zippy kind of looked like Heath. Ha! 

This was Nolan the week before, sending Grandma & Grandpa this giant Valentine! 

We were excited to Skype them and watch them open it! 

Grandma & Grandpa sent the boys this HUGE package! They were SO EXCITED to open it! 

Skyping with Grandma & Grandpa…see them in the background! Can you tell how awesome my Mom's hair looks! She fixed it just for this picture. Ha! Silly Grandma! 

Opening their Valentine Gifts...

Grandma made them each cozy pillows. 

Perfect for movie watching! 

 Thanks Grandma & Grandpa! They love their pillows! 

 After Skyping, the boys picked to go bowling as a fun family Valentine's Day activity. 

We had a great time! We played two games and ate junk food and it was a blast! Daddy, of course, won each game overall. The boys beat me both games but used bumpers. Heath beat Nolan the first game and Nolan beat Heath the second game. And N, H, and I each upped our scores from the first to the second games. And Brooks, he just preferred eating pizza to bowling…but was a good boy. 

After bowling, we came home and hung out, Skyped with Auntie & Flobby, and then snuggled up to watch 101 Dalmatians for a Family Movie Night! 

The Urbiks sent the boys a Valentine's Day package too. They gave them these cool popcorn bag/bowls, some candy, and a "Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers" DVD. Such a fun gift. They've been loving watching Rescue Rangers episodes. Such a blast from the past. 

 Thanks Auntie & Flobby! 

They had never seen "101 Dalmatians" before. It's always fun to watch a movie with them for the first time. And it's one of my favorite Disney movies too. The puppies are just so cute! 

After the movie the boys went to bed and Mark and I got sushi take out and watched Parenthood. It was simple and perfect. 

We had such a nice day. I am so thankful to have these four precious boys to love and to love me back!