Valentine Love: the wedding of Q and U, preschool parties, and pajamasall around

In my first year of the preschool world, the letter I was least excited about teaching was the letter Q. I was too short-sighted.  This week we rained on Noah's ark with q-tips, made quarter rubbings, took turns being the quarterback, wore queen crowns, and made quilts.

Today, however, on this lovely day of love, we did something extra special.  What better way to celebrate Valentines day than with a wedding--the wedding between the letters Q and U.  This was an impromptu wedding; I got excited while the kids were in chapel, and I hurriedly made cutouts of bow-ties and tulips, used the letter cutting machine to make q's and u's, and craft sticks to make bouquets for the girls and a way to hold the bow-ties for the boys (who, by the way, might have even loved this activity as much as or more than the girls). We lined them up, marched them in (to the Wedding March, of course), and then I officiated the ceremony wearing a queen's crown.  They giggled as they said, "I do," and told all their parents that they got married today at school as they showed up for the party.

After our wedding, my kiddos went to recess, and I snuck over to Ansley's party. Her sweet teachers made the menu completely Ansley-friendly--crustables, pretzels, grapes, oreos, and juice. They are so sweet and thoughtful. You see she eats in the high chair instead of the little table, and this is to prevent her from any milk or yogurt spills, or goldfish/cheese crackers that could come within her reach.  Thankfully, I don't think she even notices.

Her class activity was to make a Valentine's keep sake with all of the Valentine's from her friends.  She loves glue and is constantly asking to do a "project," so she was thrilled with this, and I was excited to get to do it with her.

Meanwhile, my party moms we decorating our table for my cute class.

The kids, of course, bypassed the "growing food" and went straight for the cupcakes. That made for a nice, amped up activity time. :)

These mustaches are all the rage, and my daughter has drunk the kool-aid.

Their crafts were to decorate their valentine bags, make monkey masks, and do these cool hearts with sticks. They played pin the heart on the heart, and then passed out their Valentines. That part was chaotic but fun. Ad is sitting with her two favorite buds below, Addison A and Ivy.

After school, we came home, and the girls were shortly surprised by these pretty tulips from their daddy. We have developed a tradition of getting Olive Garden take-out (we split the Tour of Italy and salad and breadsticks) and eating in the dining room on our fine China. Then we exchange our cards and treats.

This year, we did pjs all around. Patrick and I both needed some, and the girls legs have outgrown most of their pants, so we got them gowns.  We even got Kit one to match Addison and Ansley's baby doll some pjs also.

Ansley definitely loved her treat, but nothing could compare to sweet Addison's reaction. She got emotional and told us that she had happy tears in her eyes, and thanked us for including Kit on Valentine's Day. I have never seen a little girl more excited for bath time and so giddy as she put on her new gown. I have definitely drunk the kool-aid on this American Girl Doll world.

Here are my pretty flowers from my sweet husband. He knows that tulips and Italian food are the direct routes to my heart, and I loved waking up to these this morning.

We have had the chance to go through all of our loot (I got some from kiddos too!), and I picked these two as the most creative ones of the year.  The one on the left is a little hard to read in this picture, but Hayes' Valentines said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Love Bug." Ummm, precious.  The one on the right came from my sweet kiddo Josh. It is brownie mix and a spatula, and you can read the card. Again, too cute!

Now the countdown for Spring and Spring Break begins...

In my first year of the preschool world, the letter I was least excited about teaching was the letter Q. I was too short-sighted.  This week we rained on Noah's ark with q-tips, made quarter rubbings, took turns being the quarterback, wore queen crowns, and made quilts.

Today, however, on this lovely day of love, we did something extra special.  What better way to celebrate Valentines day than with a wedding--the wedding between the letters Q and U.  This was an impromptu wedding; I got excited while the kids were in chapel, and I hurriedly made cutouts of bow-ties and tulips, used the letter cutting machine to make q's and u's, and craft sticks to make bouquets for the girls and a way to hold the bow-ties for the boys (who, by the way, might have even loved this activity as much as or more than the girls). We lined them up, marched them in (to the Wedding March, of course), and then I officiated the ceremony wearing a queen's crown.  They giggled as they said, "I do," and told all their parents that they got married today at school as they showed up for the party.

After our wedding, my kiddos went to recess, and I snuck over to Ansley's party. Her sweet teachers made the menu completely Ansley-friendly--crustables, pretzels, grapes, oreos, and juice. They are so sweet and thoughtful. You see she eats in the high chair instead of the little table, and this is to prevent her from any milk or yogurt spills, or goldfish/cheese crackers that could come within her reach.  Thankfully, I don't think she even notices.

Her class activity was to make a Valentine's keep sake with all of the Valentine's from her friends.  She loves glue and is constantly asking to do a "project," so she was thrilled with this, and I was excited to get to do it with her.

Meanwhile, my party moms we decorating our table for my cute class.

The kids, of course, bypassed the "growing food" and went straight for the cupcakes. That made for a nice, amped up activity time. :)

These mustaches are all the rage, and my daughter has drunk the kool-aid.

Their crafts were to decorate their valentine bags, make monkey masks, and do these cool hearts with sticks. They played pin the heart on the heart, and then passed out their Valentines. That part was chaotic but fun. Ad is sitting with her two favorite buds below, Addison A and Ivy.

After school, we came home, and the girls were shortly surprised by these pretty tulips from their daddy. We have developed a tradition of getting Olive Garden take-out (we split the Tour of Italy and salad and breadsticks) and eating in the dining room on our fine China. Then we exchange our cards and treats.

This year, we did pjs all around. Patrick and I both needed some, and the girls legs have outgrown most of their pants, so we got them gowns.  We even got Kit one to match Addison and Ansley's baby doll some pjs also.

Ansley definitely loved her treat, but nothing could compare to sweet Addison's reaction. She got emotional and told us that she had happy tears in her eyes, and thanked us for including Kit on Valentine's Day. I have never seen a little girl more excited for bath time and so giddy as she put on her new gown. I have definitely drunk the kool-aid on this American Girl Doll world.

Here are my pretty flowers from my sweet husband. He knows that tulips and Italian food are the direct routes to my heart, and I loved waking up to these this morning.

We have had the chance to go through all of our loot (I got some from kiddos too!), and I picked these two as the most creative ones of the year.  The one on the left is a little hard to read in this picture, but Hayes' Valentines said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Love Bug." Ummm, precious.  The one on the right came from my sweet kiddo Josh. It is brownie mix and a spatula, and you can read the card. Again, too cute!

Now the countdown for Spring and Spring Break begins...

Love is in the Air

We have been Valentine-ing it up over here. Last week we did a bunch of nothing since we were ALL sick, and so this week we have been trying to have us some fun.  Since we completed our Valentines pretty early this month, we have spent today playing games, baking, and getting our nails all fancified.

I found this cool pattern/conversation heart activity here, and even Ansley could do some of the basic ones. I wanted to try it out with Addison to see if it would be something fun to do with our class tomorrow. Both girls loved it, and I caught them both sneaking some conversation hearts in their mouths too. :)

Then we decided to make some heart-shaped cookies. Ansley can tolerate Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix since it just calls for one egg, and I use her special butter. Even though the girls have some cute kitchen aprons, they insisted on wearing their Home Depot ones. I asked why, and Ansley shrugged and said, "the pockets." Addison said, "Look, there's even two of them." Lol. Who can argue with that?

They even got to help decorate them too!

Addison woke up this morning requesting some "fancy hands." Ansley said that she wanted "hands like Savannah." So here we go.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you celebrate all of the love in your life!

We have been Valentine-ing it up over here. Last week we did a bunch of nothing since we were ALL sick, and so this week we have been trying to have us some fun.  Since we completed our Valentines pretty early this month, we have spent today playing games, baking, and getting our nails all fancified.

I found this cool pattern/conversation heart activity here, and even Ansley could do some of the basic ones. I wanted to try it out with Addison to see if it would be something fun to do with our class tomorrow. Both girls loved it, and I caught them both sneaking some conversation hearts in their mouths too. :)

Then we decided to make some heart-shaped cookies. Ansley can tolerate Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix since it just calls for one egg, and I use her special butter. Even though the girls have some cute kitchen aprons, they insisted on wearing their Home Depot ones. I asked why, and Ansley shrugged and said, "the pockets." Addison said, "Look, there's even two of them." Lol. Who can argue with that?

They even got to help decorate them too!

Addison woke up this morning requesting some "fancy hands." Ansley said that she wanted "hands like Savannah." So here we go.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you celebrate all of the love in your life!

February Fun: first snow day and Valentines head start

Happy February and Happy First Snow to my fellow Middle Tennesseans!!!  Even though I am not teaching in Williamson County this year, I got giddy as I saw the Snowbird Report this morning thinking about my teacher friends and former students. Everybody needs a good snow day. Of course I wish there had been more to play in, but this may be as good as it gets this year, so we will take it.

This big girl below was ALL ABOUT it--traipsing through the grass, making tracks, and exploring every inch.

This little girl: not so much.

I bribed her with fruit snacks if she would stand in the snow and smile. It worked.

She went inside right after this picture.

I couldn't get this one inside.

Their cute hats came from their Aunt Andrea. They are footballs, and one of them has an Aubie clip on it, while the other one has Big Al. As die-hard of an Alabama girl that my sister-in-law is, she sure is good about including Auburn in the mix for our girls. :) It was such a thoughtful and perfect gift for our house united/divided.

After frolicking in the short-lived snow, we came inside, drank some hot cider, and started working on our Valentines. The girls chose Disney Princess valentines for their girl classmates and Cars for their boy classmates. The princesses came with bracelets, and the cars came with "tattoons"--as Addison refers to them. :) There is another Addison in my Addy's class this year, so she has prefected labeling everything "Addison C." She even signed some of her cousins' cards "Addison C." Bless her!

I found these cute magnetic owl pads at the Target One Spot, and they were embellished with heart leaves and borders, so I thought they would be fun treats for the girls' teachers. I found some cute Valentine-y fonts here, and I chose the "I Love What You Do" and the "Love You Too" fonts for the text part.  I just punched holes and attached them with raffia. Of course, I had to be festive and drink my cider out of my old Starbucks Valentine's mug that I won at a Bunco party years ago. :)

Also, at the Target One Spot, I found a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets that I bought to give as Valentine's for my class. I tried to punch the holes in my hearts to make it look a little like Cupid's arrows and played around with the wording until I found one that fit. I used the same fonts on these. Would you believe me if I told you that Addison cut out most of these hearts??? She's good, I tell you, A-1-A. I am still pining for my Silhouette Portrait, so these were pretty bootleg. I'm talking "tracing-heart-cookie-cutters-on-the-cardstock-and-cutting-them-out-individually" bootleg, but thankfully my little craft buddy is WAY into cutting right now, and she passed her tryout with flying colors. 

We have had a full day of fun on this unexpected snow day. Welcome, February. Soooo glad you are here!

Happy February and Happy First Snow to my fellow Middle Tennesseans!!!  Even though I am not teaching in Williamson County this year, I got giddy as I saw the Snowbird Report this morning thinking about my teacher friends and former students. Everybody needs a good snow day. Of course I wish there had been more to play in, but this may be as good as it gets this year, so we will take it.

This big girl below was ALL ABOUT it--traipsing through the grass, making tracks, and exploring every inch.

This little girl: not so much.

I bribed her with fruit snacks if she would stand in the snow and smile. It worked.

She went inside right after this picture.

I couldn't get this one inside.

Their cute hats came from their Aunt Andrea. They are footballs, and one of them has an Aubie clip on it, while the other one has Big Al. As die-hard of an Alabama girl that my sister-in-law is, she sure is good about including Auburn in the mix for our girls. :) It was such a thoughtful and perfect gift for our house united/divided.

After frolicking in the short-lived snow, we came inside, drank some hot cider, and started working on our Valentines. The girls chose Disney Princess valentines for their girl classmates and Cars for their boy classmates. The princesses came with bracelets, and the cars came with "tattoons"--as Addison refers to them. :) There is another Addison in my Addy's class this year, so she has prefected labeling everything "Addison C." She even signed some of her cousins' cards "Addison C." Bless her!

I found these cute magnetic owl pads at the Target One Spot, and they were embellished with heart leaves and borders, so I thought they would be fun treats for the girls' teachers. I found some cute Valentine-y fonts here, and I chose the "I Love What You Do" and the "Love You Too" fonts for the text part.  I just punched holes and attached them with raffia. Of course, I had to be festive and drink my cider out of my old Starbucks Valentine's mug that I won at a Bunco party years ago. :)

Also, at the Target One Spot, I found a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets that I bought to give as Valentine's for my class. I tried to punch the holes in my hearts to make it look a little like Cupid's arrows and played around with the wording until I found one that fit. I used the same fonts on these. Would you believe me if I told you that Addison cut out most of these hearts??? She's good, I tell you, A-1-A. I am still pining for my Silhouette Portrait, so these were pretty bootleg. I'm talking "tracing-heart-cookie-cutters-on-the-cardstock-and-cutting-them-out-individually" bootleg, but thankfully my little craft buddy is WAY into cutting right now, and she passed her tryout with flying colors. 

We have had a full day of fun on this unexpected snow day. Welcome, February. Soooo glad you are here!

My Little Valentines

I love love. I really love these two loves.

This big love is a great big sister and is so loving and creative and funny.

This little bit is sick with RSV in this picture. Bless her. She smiled through all the coughs... She is extra special on this day because she is a product of last Valentine's Day. Yeah. I said it. :)

Hope you celebrate all the loves in your life.

I love love. I really love these two loves.

This big love is a great big sister and is so loving and creative and funny.

This little bit is sick with RSV in this picture. Bless her. She smiled through all the coughs... She is extra special on this day because she is a product of last Valentine's Day. Yeah. I said it. :)

Hope you celebrate all the loves in your life.