Happy Hearts Day!

Our day was full of Valentine's goodness...

The kids and Ryan got shirts and I got a lovely new scarf... plus candy all around. Ryan's fancy wrapped Symphony bar had an iTunes gift card stashed inside. We had tasty heart-shaped muffins and strawberries for breakfast... yum!

Fruit salsa and heart cut out cinnamon tortilla chips went to work with Ryan... and I took some to visit my friend Loretta who is in town from Alabama. We had so much fun visiting and chatting that I didn't take a picture. I love seeing her though!

Sophia and I got to go into Coleman's classroom party to help with a craft... we made flowers and cute little mice out of lollipops.

I love being in the kids' classroom, I wish I could find a way to go more often.

Here are my cuties. Sophia's smile is so cheesy! She likes to ham it up when we pull the camera out.

These were the fun Valentines we made for the kids to hand out... Olivia's says "Look WHOOOO's wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Olivia" and Coleman's says, "Valentine, I've got my EYE on you! Love, Coleman." Cute, cute! We made them by personalizing some business cards (only about $6 for a pack of 50--that's like grocery store prices!) through Heritage Makers.

Dipping our own strawberries should be an annual Valentine tradition, I just decided :).

Since someone in our family (who will remain nameless) doesn't like strawberries, I dipped some graham crackers too.

This was my Valentine craft this year... circles of felt, a whole slew of straight pins, and a heart shaped piece of styrofoam was all it took to make this beauty.

One of Ryan's coworkers made a great template that I loved, so I swapped in our names and  made it into an 8x8 canvas. So cute!

I adored all of my love notes from my sweetie and this print... it's our family photo printed on aluminum. It's water-proof and scratch resistant, so it could even go outside somewhere (although it might fade in direct sunlight). It is impossible to capture the coolness of this print in a photo... so you'll just have to come on over to take a look at it in person.

**Did you do anything special to celebrate the day?

Valentine's Treats

We tried out a few yummy new recipes for Valentine's Day. I don't know if you need any new treat recipes, but I thought I'd share the links in case you do!

First are some irresistable Nutella sandwich cookies. They are made with oatmeal and some whole wheat flour... healthy, right?  I heart Nutella in many forms, and these did not disappoint. The recipe is from my amazingly talented cousin, Katie at Kate's Plate. She has a plethora of great recipes on her blog.

My sister in law Laura is always experimenting and making delicious desserts. I love that she shares the recipes (and the treats!).  She made and posted about these Chocolate Mousse Filled Cupcakes with Ganache... hers are much prettier than mine because she used pink non-pareils and cute Valentine's toppers, but ours were just as delicious! They are a chocolate lovers dream.

And finally, strawberries with cream... Yum. Laura provided this recipe and inspiration here. We had some cream left over and some other strawberries that made delicious crepes this morning.

**What Valentine's treats did you enjoy?

Happy Hearts Day to You!

Christ Like Love

Coleman's Valentine

Guess what Coleman gets to eat tonight :) ?

Love Notes

Olivia read about a fun idea earlier this month in the Friend magazine and has wanted to make some cute boxes to hang on our doors. She keeps asking me to get to it, and I finally did. They are the perfect size to fit little notes and treats.

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?

Second graders make really good teachers

As I was helping in Olivia's class for her Valentine's Party, I was taught a valuable lesson.

There is a student in her class who has some form of degenerative disorder that has weakened her muscles to the point that she is wheelchair bound and needs help with everything she does. Despite numerous tests, doctors haven't been able to figure out what is happening or how they can stop it.

Her classmates and schoolmates have always rallied around her--in the fall her neighbors sponsored a carnival to raise money for her and just last month the school held a "Penny War" to raise money to buy her a special computer.

Tiffany comes to school when she is able, but has a weak immune response, so she's been absent for most of the winter to protect her from getting sick.

She wasn't at school the day of the party, and Liv's teacher said she wasn't sure she would be able to come. About half way through the party, as the kids were having fun decorating cookies, playing games, and doing crafts, Tiffany and her mom entered the room.

It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for the kids to realize that she had come in and they all jumped up from their seats and rushed to her, yelling her name and saying sweet things like "Oh, we are so happy you are here!" and "It's so good to see you again!"

The next thing that happened brought me to tears. All of the children burst into a cheer that was obviously well-practiced... and repeated it several times. It is short, but moving:



These children show unconditional love to someone who is their peer, yet is just a little different than they are.

I have been thinking for the past few days that I wish we could respond to each other in the same way--that we could rush to each others' sides and give a cheer for each other, even just a little inward hooray, hoping with all sincerity the best for each person around us.

Second graders make really good teachers.

Update: Thanks to Beckie for pointing out that there is a website for Tiffany: www.helptiffany.org. Visit if you'd like to know more about Tiffany!