Michael and I usually don't go crazy for Valentine's Day, but any upcoming holiday gives me the itch to create and make memories with my boys. Personalized mailboxes coupled with a Valentine's Countdown are a Johnson tradition which was even more fun this year since Cade was old enough to participate. There are loads of fun sayings floating around Pinterest to couple with treats...here's a list of what we did this year.
FYI: The Dollar Tree is perfect for finding treats. I spent $10 on 14 days for BOTH boys. Can't beat it!
* You're the apple of my eye (apple juice)
* You are the
write one for me. I'm so glad God gave me you! (fun pencils)
* You are Marvelous and Magnificent just the way you are! (M&Ms)
* Your love makes me
SOAR! (Foam airplanes)
* I'm
madly in love with you! (Valentine Mad Libs - Cole's favorite!)
* You make my heart
glow (glow sticks)
* I have a
ball when I'm with you. You make my heart
bounce! (Bouncy ball)
* It's o-fish-al. I love you very much! (Whale crackers - and Cole let me know that he was thankful for the treat, BUT whales were in fact mammals. Busted.)
* I love your
silly faces. They
crack me up! (Silly Putty)
* You make my heart POP! (Bubble bath)
* You
light up my life! (Light up spinning tops)
* There's no
monkeying around when it comes to loving you! (Monkey PEZ dispensers)
* You make me feel
squishy inside! (Play-Doh)
Cole wanted us to make Valentines for his classmates again this year instead of going with store bought themes and chose this free printables from a
favorite blog. They were hilarious!
I also used another printable tag to make treat for my iMom gals...packs of gum with bubbles for their kiddos.
Valentine's morning, I decorated the table in our usual Love Day fashion and the boys helped me prepare our traditional breakfast of heart shaped pancakes and strawberries. Michael had to leave early for an appointment, but called to join in on our morning fun.
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| Planes! |
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| He's officially hooked |
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| The closest thing to candy that he enjoys |
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| Classic Cade face |
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| Cole's card that captured my heart... |
That evening, we invited my mom over for dinner (dad was in FL gearing up for a race) and prepared a meal of bacon wrapped chicken with honey mustard glaze, roasted asparagus, baked potatoes, garden salad, and individual cheesecakes with a chocolate chip cookie crust. Going out is always a treat, but I love an at-home candlelit dinner...kiddos and all :) After dinner, we played a few conversation heart games and simply enjoyed being together.
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| My Valentine :) |
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| First game - transfer hearts from one napkin to another using a straw |
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| Dude did awesome! |
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| Daddy beat us all |
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| Second game - dropping hearts into a vase (from nose level) |
Michael surprised me with such a heartfelt gift (as always). He gave me a journal with the sweetest letter written inside along with pictures of each room in our home pasted on the following pages. May not seem like much, but he knows how I've been itching to paint, decorate, and simply make this house feel like
home. The pages are for me to write home projects I'd like to complete in the coming months and years and we'll take pictures along the way to document our hard work :) Made my heart so happy!
I also had no idea that he had been putting money aside the past few months to whisk me away to our favorite B&B,
Butterfly Meadows. Finances have been tight, dates have been few, and we desperately need some alone time together. We're heading there this coming weekend and I can hardly wait!
Happy Love Day!
