Valentine's Day 2009

We spread our Valentine's celebrations out over the weekend and had lots of lovey dovey goodness which included:

Helping in the kids' class parties. In Olivia's class we made pictures for the kids' parents, just like the ones of our kids below. In Coleman's class we didn't take photos--but we had a great time throwing bean bags into heart buckets and the kids shot off pink balloons at a heart shaped bulls-eye.
Cute Valentine Kids! Liv got her cute sweater from her cousin McKenzie (we love hand-me-downs) and Coleman's awesome heart pirate shirt was saved from last year (although it might be time to retire it--if he lifts his hands up to high we get some serious belly views).

I love flowers--even though Ryan knows I don't expect them, they are always such a nice surprise.

Ryan got a paint can full of memories and coupons and candy. I loved the idea when I saw it on Good Things Utah. You can buy clear, empty paint cans at Roberts (or other scrapbook stores) and with a little scrapbook paper, ribbon, and chipboard it makes a great gift for your sweetie.

The kids got their own little boxes full of treats, a Valentine's book, and a bunch of chipboard notes telling what we love about them.

It was fun to come up with some of the many reasons we love our kiddos.

We ate our heart-shaped pizzas with sparkling cider in fancy red goblets (have I mentioned that I love the Target clearance rack?).

I've always loved eating pretzels dipped in caramel and chocolate. I thought I'd try making them myself instead of spending a fortune for just a few--they turned out so pretty and so delicious! I had grand visions of delivering them to friends, but only a few lucky people got them (we liked eating them a lot).

After a fun lunch and movie date with Ryan (we finally saw Twilight--meh!) we took the kids to see "Coraline" in 3-D. We were all amazed with the effects (it's shot in stop-motion photography) but both of the kids thought it was a little scary. Truth be told, I thought it was a little scary too, but I was so enthralled with the imagery that I got over it.

We heart Valentine's Day!

**Did you have any Valentine's surprises?
**What are your Valentine traditions?
**Do you love hand-me downs?
**Do you love Target's clearance rack (or another store)?
**Have you seen (or will you see) "Coraline" in 3-D?