Valentine's Day 2012
Happy (belated) Valentine's Day! I have mixed emotions about this day. On one hand, I'm pretty sure this holiday was born when Hallmark got together with all the florists & jewelers they could find and said, "Hey! I've got an idea!!" But, on the other hand, it's about the most wonderful thing in this world--LOVE--plus, there's candy involved...and who can complain about that?
This year, our Valentine's Day was pretty low key. Of course, the kids had to make a Valentine's box to take to school. In the past, we've always just wrapped a shoe box in Valentine's wrapping paper, stuck a few stickers on it, and called it good. I was fully prepared to do this again this year. But, Connor had other plans.
He came to me one day and said, "Ummm, Mom. Do you think we can do a COOL Valentine's box this year?"
I replied with, "Okay, what would make your Valentine's box cool? Do you want more stickers? Some ribbon? Different wrapping paper?"
"No," he answered. "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean a REALLY COOL box...like all the other kids have."
"And what makes the other kids' boxes so cool?" I asked.
"Well," he said. "They're not regular boxes. They make them into cool things...like monsters, or Legos...or even iPads! How cool is that? An iPad Valentine's box!"
"Oh no!" I thought. "I'm the uncool parent who sends their kid to school with a lame shoe box wrapped in Valentine's paper, when other parents are making boxes that look like iPads!! Because, let's be honest...nothing SCREAMS Valentines like an iPad! Who are these parents & why do they have so much extra time that they can sit around & think up ideas for unique Valentines boxes?"
After my silent rant was over, I remembered my best friend for situations like this...Mr. Google. That man has all the answers...all of them. So, I sat down & typed in "Cool Valentine Boxes." Voila! At my fingertips were millions of brilliant ideas! There were Dinosaur boxes, Dog Boxes, & even boxes made to look like a school bus. I thought to myself, "This is so awesome! How did people parent before the internet?" Then I thought, "Oh yeah, they probably just wrapped & decorated shoe boxes like another parent I know."
After looking through hundreds of ideas, Connor & Aiden decided they wanted to make boxes that looked like Pirate Ships. "Because nothing says Valentines like a pirate ship!" I could hear my own words coming back to bite me...
We got the idea from this website. The name of this blog is Last Minute Mel. On it, Mel promises to have lots of great ideas for various situations when you find yourself with very little time to do a project. Well, let me just say that Mel must work pretty quickly in those "last minutes," because it took us several hours! But, in the end, I thought they turned out pretty cute. Sorry this picture is a little blurry. My camera was on a weird setting...
Mel even had some great ideas on how to make a pirate ship a little more "Valentinesy." Like writing "Ahoy me HEARTies" on the sail, and adding "Surrender ye booty" toward the bottom near the slot where classmates could drop their Valentines. Here was Connor's sail that he decorated...
And, here's Aiden's...
I thought they turned out great! I was so proud of them. I couldn't wait for my boys--the boys that usually had the lame decorated shoe boxes--to have the coolest box in the class.
Every Valentine's Day, we give our kids a little present. Shhhh...don't tell them, but it's usually just a leftover Christmas present. If I find that I've gone over budget on my Christmas shopping, then I just hide some of the presents away to give to them for various holidays throughout the year (Valentines, Easter, Birthday, etc.) That way, I don't have to stand in those wretched return lines. Nothing kills the holiday spirit like standing in a line of 273 grumpy people, so I just hide them away for later.
This year, Connor got a Trash Pack (and, yes, I discovered they are called TRASH packs for a reason), Aiden got a Cars 2 Spy Plane, Cohen got a Toy Story Army Helicopter, & Vivvie got a Cinderella Barbie. Yes, I realize she's not even one yet...but darn it, I've waited 9+ years to be able to buy Barbie dolls, so she's getting a Barbie doll...
Connor was happy with his Trash Packs (Next year, I think I'll just give him real trash. It's about the same thing, except cheaper)...
And Aiden & Cohen loved their presents too...
Viv, on the other hand...well, let's just say she wasn't too fond of her Barbie Doll. Okay fine, she hated it! She ripped the crown off her head & then threw the doll across the room. I tried to get a picture of her with her very 1st Barbie, but she didn't want anything to do with it & she cried anytime the doll came near her. {{Sigh...again}}
Okay, enough about the kids. On to Mike & me. Mike & I usually just go out for a nice dinner for Valentine's Day. It hardly ever happens ON Valentines because it's so blasted hard to find a babysitter on the actual holiday itself. But, we usually make it out within a week or two of Valentine's. This year, we decided to try something different. My sister & her husband usually just stay home on Valentine's Day & make a yummy dinner. That way, they don't have to deal with the crowds. So, Mike & I decided to try it out this year. We absolutely loved it! We made the kids PB&J sandwiches (yes, I know...parents of the year with that dinner) & then put them to bed early. After they were all asleep, Mike & I sat down to this...
6 comments:
Our Valentine's was VERY low-key, too. Cameron and I said we'd just go out some place in the coming weeks so we didn't have to fight the crowds. I'm with you-- I'm not sure how I feel about this holiday. Part of me likes it, but part of me thinks it's pretty dumb with all of it's expectations.
Yummy meal...thanks for inviting Mom and me out for your valentine's dinner(JK)
I love the Valentine boxes, the gifts (and idea for saving extra Christmas gifts) and your Valentine's dinner. Everything was wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Some years I like valentines, some years I don't. This year I could have done without it.
My kids have always made their valentine boxes/bags at school. I guess the plus side to that is that everyone is stuck with a white bag to decorate.
I would definitely have to see this shoe. Kids think the weirdest things are cool.
your dinner looks delicious
The whole idea of Valentine Boxes just sounds like a whole lot of work for parents!! Your pirate ship boxes are really creative and cute. Nice work.
Glad you had some peace and quiet on Valentine’s evening. That's difficult to come by with four little ones, I'm sure!!!
I feel ya on the school valentine's stuff! In preschool last year they sent home a note saying that the kids could send valentines cards to school, but not to send any candy or other things like that. So, I bought her a box of pre-made valentines from the store, had her write her name on all of them and called it good. She came home with a bag full of valentines from her classmates that ALL had candy attached to them (even though they weren't supposed to do that) and she was one of I think 3 kids who had store bought pre-made cards. The rest of the kids had given out super creative valentines that their moms obviously spent a good chunk of time making. Ya, I felt like mom of the year! This year she goes to a different school, but I was worried the same thing would happen, so I got a little creative with it - no store bought pre-made cards. She was one of about 3 kids again - except this time she was one of the few with a cool creative valentine, instead of a pre-made one. Guess I spent that extra time and money for no reason! lol. She said the kids loved the valentines she gave them - so I guess it was worth it. :) Luckily we didn't have to worry about the whole box thing like you did - they just made their own at school that were all the same.
That dinner looks amazing!! Looks like your hubby is quite the chef!
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