Hearts and Candy

My 4 little Valentines...




So I seem to be on an every 2 week blogging schedule lately... which is resulting in long posts. Over the past 2 weeks, we've been keeping busy with lots of Valentines fun and family activities.

At the beginning(ish) of the month we pulled out the red mailboxes. I thought ahead a while back and bought extra mailboxes for future little Dangerfield's (how hopeful of me!) - This was Claire's first Valentines, so I got to add another mailbox to the row. I had to get creative typing up her little name for her box - I no longer had the font I used to make the others years back, so I did my best to make it fit in with the rest. :)




The kids got right to work making some Valentines...




We took another trip to a nearby park - this time Becca and Jake rode their bikes. Jake got a bigger bike at Christmas. Just recently he figured out how to use it :)




We had a late night this past week making Valentines for the girls' classes. Ben was working late, so it ended up turning into a pretty fun girls night being crafty. We turned on some music and we went back and forth between painting and dancing. :) It's fun having girls!








Ben had the morning off of work this past Saturday, so we spent it cleaning our house and then playing at the park. Ben is the most fun daddy and really plays with the kids...








That evening, Ben sadly had to go to work, while I got to go play! It would have been even better if Ben could have come, but it was still nice to get a sitter and meet up with Ben's family downtown for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert. We went out to dinner first and then headed to the performance. They were amazing! They sang such a wide variety of songs (not just church stuff!), and it was a great evening out...


We did a fun little colored heart activity this week. I've been finding that the time I spend sitting feeding Claire is great for thinking up activities to do with the kids. I brainstormed as I sat in the rocker feeding Claire bear. I don't have a whole lot of materials to work with in my house right now, but I knew I had construction paper... so I finished feeding Claire and then cut out some big hearts of various colors and taped them to the coffee table. I gave the boys each a little stack of small hearts and they matched them up to the big hearts. Then we turned on some music and they marched around the table and stopped when the music did, touched the heart closest to them and told me the color. Blaine and Jake are a year apart, so they are definitely at different stages in what they know, but they both really enjoyed this!




Claire was so excited to stand up the table later and find big colorful hearts to bat at. :)




Becca got home from preschool later and enjoyed her little stash of Valentines goodies...


Valentines Day

I love having a day full of activities on holidays- as a stay-at-home mommy, the routine days get boring if they aren't mixed up with something different every once and while...

Pink heart shaped pancakes, strawberries, and pink fruit smoothies for breakfast (Ben didn't have to go to work till later in the day on Tuesday, so he made us Valentines breakfast) - yum...


We made red playdough and the kids played with it for quite a while...




Lunch- the heart shaped cookie cutter was put to good use today, along with the multiple packages of strawberries...


Valentines Coloring...




Jake actually seems to like to color lately! The last few times we've done coloring activities, he's stayed in one place and colored thoroughly with multiple colors - in the past, he would just scribble one little section and then be done and run off. I'm so proud of him! He's growing up and his attention span is growing too!


When Emma got home from school, she dumped her Valentines all over the kitchen table and Becca got hers out again too - they swapped treats and picked some things out for Jake and Claire. Claire loved eating suckers so much, she ended up needing a change of clothes :)




My mother-in-law got me this cute red heart baking pan as a Valentines gift - I wanted to cook something in it, so I settled on a giant chocolate chip cookie! :) As if we weren't already having enough sweets. It was delicious. And it was perfect to eat with our cute milk with hearts...






Ben got home later and brought the kids daddy valentines in the form of cupcakes! Who needs dinner right?


Claire LOVED eating cupcake - it was like a little pre-one-year-old-birthday activity. In case there was any doubt before, Claire officially loves cake. :)


Ben and I were quick to get the kids to bed and we did a little Valentines dinner for ourselves at home. We thought of Sedona as our Valentines splurge and couples time, but we didn't want to ignore actual Valentines day, so we had a simple but delicious dinner planned out and Ben brought home a redbox movie - Midnight in Paris (great movie!!). We ate our dinner in courses, going back and forth between cooking, and watching our movie, and eating by candle light. It's so fun! I recommend it! :)

Some other pics...

My pretty Valentines tulips from my sweetie

Our Valentine collage on the fridge

Jake has been working on being nice to Blaine (the little boy I babysit) - he's had a hard time being willing to share his toys and his room. So, ANY time he speaks in a nice voice, shares, plays politely, etc, he gets a couple marbles in his jar. It's been a surprisingly helpful motivator. When he fills his 'Jake is nice' jar, he gets to pick a dollar prize from Target. I love my Jake, especially when he's nice :)
Emma sends you love - Happy Valentines Day! - mwa!