Class Party

I am not sure how I got put in charge of the Second Grade Valentines party but I did. I have really tried to lay low and not volunteer for much this year to take time to get adjusted and it is hard to take the little ones to school with me.
Today was the Valentines Party because of our snow/ice storm last week.
I had a very poor response asking for other parents to help me, besides the apples and grapes being brought in for the food I was on my own.... oh wait that is not true, someone brought in cookies to decorate too.
Me and the girls decorated the class room on the 13th at school as it was totally snowing and school was shutting down to get everyone home. We put tule on each chair, red for boys and pink for girls along with a name tag and a big red velvet bow. The tule is so cheap and the red velvet I had bought 100 yard roll at the ribbon outlet for $1.00.
We played this fun game with chopsticks. I had put on different large plates Hershey Kisses and Heart Gobstoppers (which I was able to get all half off since we were having this after Valentines day, such a great deal) and then gave all the kids a set of chopsticks to pick up as many as they could.the hearts we threw away but any of the kisses they could pick up they got to keep. I thought it was a really fun idea, yet some of the kids got really frustrated not being able to use the chopsticks.

The other game we played was with playdough. I had made this playdough recipe, (it won me best mom of the year last year) and doubled it so there was a small ball for each kid. I put them in small plastic baggies.
We had one kid come to the front and draw out a Valentines word out of a basket. Lips, roses, cupid, heart and also Mr. Chep (the principal) boa constrictor, soccer ball etc. The child in the front of the room said the word and then everyone had to make that shape. Doing the principal was really funny. I thought it was so fun and everyone was getting to play with playdough along with take it home. But after the party Annie Kate said, "I don't think that game was as fun as you thought" so funny.
Caroline and Sally Jane were totally running-a-muck the whole time. There was one other parent trying to help me but it was CRAZY. They both kept sneaking out of the class room and coloring on everything. They loved the computers, I just hope they didn't break them.I did make an apron for her teacher that we gave to her at the beginning of the party. You can get really cheap aprons at Sam's Club in their food service section. I sewed ribbon at the top and then just did iron-on transfer paper. The heart is a stock design in scrapbook factory and the font is Mr. Giggles from 2peas. She put it on at the beginning of the party and then I gave her a red fabric marker for all the kids to sign it. This would be a great end of the year activity too.I didn't get many photos due to the fact I was two hands too short and this was when I was realizing my camera had seriously been injured from the fall.
It was an exhausting morning getting ready and a little overwhelming afternoon.. but I am now off to get ready for our Mardi Gras Party tonight! It is Holiday madness at our house!

Today was our part 2 of Valentines day. We had Annie Kate's party at school and got to pass out Valentines. So I thought I would show you what we made along with some good mail and Valentines we got in the mail last week. I loved opening my mailbox everyday!
A few years ago my friend Sonja gave me the idea of having her kids write something special about each kid in the class on their Valentines. We did it last year for the first time and it was such a fun thing to do. This year we did the same thing but used Thesaurus.com to look up new words for nice, friendly and such. It again was a fun project to do together.
I got the idea for the shovel from Emily and Holly (blog peer pressure sent both your way). I ordered the shovels from I - Party and then tied on these skittle filled plastic hearts With the saying, "What I dig about you!"
Michelle sent a handmade beautiful Valentine that is SO Michelle. She loves black glitter and I loved seeing it on the card. thanks it is really fabulous.
Our Tennessee neighbors sent a group Valentine from the street along with a cute snow photo. Annie Kate was so excited to see everyone, but wished she could have been there. She keeps asking when we are going to come back and visit.
Amanda sent AK this darling April Cornell dress she found at a second hand store awhile back. Even though we had a total white out on Sunday (it is a summer dress) Annie was so excited to wear it
My brother Bevan sent Annie Kate this copy of the Hobbit. I remember my mom reading this to us when we were kids. He wrote a 2 page handwritten letter telling an awesome story of history from where he lives and then gave her a riddle that can only be answered from reading the book. Bevan this was so thoughtful and a wonderful gift.
My mom sent us a Valentines Day package with yummy treats and the girls each $5.00. We called it Mimi Money. Caroline used hers to buy a Cinderella camera at the Disney Store. She took it downtown to the museum and took pretend photos of everything. It was so cute because she would get down on one knee to take the photos and then she would scream SAY CHEESE. Thanks mom!
Amy M. sent this simple yet beautiful Thank you and Valentine...(I can't find the photo of the valentine) She has simple beautiful taste!

one of the ladies I used to visit teach ( i will be on just a writing route now due to distance in my new ward) in my local ward sent me this listing of a few homes in her neighborhood for sale, to give me the plug to be her neighbor. She is an incredible gardener and if I had not been her visiting teacher I would NEVER have gotten to know her so well or if ever. We are really nothing alike except our love for gardens and I was so giddy by her nice good mail. It felt good that we have not been too forgotten yet. All of the homes our about 4 times our price range but if we stayed here, it is where I would want to live and I would love to be her neighbor. Maybe I could afford to rent out her garden shed.
Liam and Asher sent these girls great yummy Valentine's from Krispy Kreme! This is the best idea and I am doing this next year for sure. We used them after our day downtown on Saturday. Thanks so much! I love this idea.
Anna, sent this darling card along with the cookie cutters which have been put to good use yesterday. We need all the spring wishes we can get here. Thanks to one amazing woman, I was trying to find her 100 list because it would blow you away.
Mandy sent this wonderful little package of treasures. Cool ribbon and doodads. I already used the cool chipboard in some good mail. Thank you and yea Montana!
Luke and Elle sent their cousins some awesome Superman tattoos and treats. The other two suckers got eaten before the photo was taken. Thanks guys!

Nice thank you from Carlo who is sporting her new cute Good Mail labels.

My sister in law made these cute Valentine Day cards with my two nieces, Savannah & Ryan. Kari they really turned out so cute!
Amy S. sent me this incredible pink package. With Pink Hot Chocolate, yummy ribbon and this beautiful Anna Griffin Card. Thanks and what a wonderful treat!
My friend Liz sent out her Valentine cards. I look forward to it every year. They don't send Christmas cards and so it makes it such a treat to get it in the mail. Stefanie do you recognize Brenna? My friend Liz is incredibly talented and if you have not seen her Pink Christmas gift take a second to do so, it is pure eye candy!
Pam sent me this handmade card, in fact I don't think every cards he has ever sent me is handmade. along with a bag of pink marshmallows. Thanks so much, my girls loved them and they were great with our Pink Hot Chocolate. (side note if you want to see a darling idea to use these for next Valentines check out Jamie's blog, Mindy's sister-in-law)
This was so nice of Jenny to send me a thank you note for her ribbon winnings. Of course do I even need to say how much I love the card? i think not! love it!
Hanna's Valentine was such a great idea using the scripture from 1Corinthians.
I got this very nice thank you from Jill who is the graphics wizard now.. she is so good with thank you notes.

Amanda S. sent this nice note with a handmade letter plaque of sort that I am using in my scriptures as a book mark.

My mom has the best handwriting and wrote me this sweet thank you note, i loved the photo because I can see her beautiful swirls!

Valentines Day Recap

It seems like Valentines day has not really come yet. We didn't have school so AK's Valentines are still here ready to pass out. I am in charge of the class party and so it just doesn't seem like we have done everything yet. We don't have school again tomorrow so we won't be back until Tuesday because of the the President's Day Holiday.

So, you may be seeing more Valentines Posts next week.

Wednesday we woke up to lots of snow. Early that morning we got 4 inches of sleet, pure ice on top of all the snow we had the day before. We could not open our front or back doors to get out. Currently our car is still trapped in our garage.
This is what it looks like out our front door. I always love seeing these bright colored row houses, but on a snowy day the color is so much more vibrant.

Here are our front steps that only have a 10" width shoveled off because it is solid ice, but makes a great slide for the kids.

My girls had a nice healthy breakfast!
Annie Kate spent most of the day in the snow sledding with friends.
While the little ones stayed inside nice and warm.
We had a nice yummy dinner. Michelle's Chicken Parmesan,
Carrot Souffle & Cran-Raspberry Jello
We had our traditional chocolate covered strawberries and a heart cake for dessert.
There was a silver heart charm for each of the girls in the
cake with ribbon tied on for them to pull before we cut it.
( a tradition I learned about in New Orleans the do in the south at weddings for the bridesmaids)

Jeff always gives the girls in the family a gift after dinner. Sally Jane a Lick-a-stick and Caroline a box of sweet tarts. He gave Annie Kate three mini perfume samples from the perfume counter at the department store.
As for me a bottle of Vera Wang Truly Pink.

The Valentines fairy came and dropped off something for the girls and Annie Kate was surprised it was able to make it in the snow and ice.

It was a great day, not really as I had planned but fun surprises all around. I got some great Valentines in the mail I will post about later.

The night before Jeff and I did Lelly's "Let's Talk" questions. I don't think the two of have laughed so hard in so long. It was GREAT! Thanks girl that was a true gift. I really should have written down our answers on the back of the cards. This will be a new Valentine Eve tradition. Girl you need to sell those next year, I will order 10!

photos of the day and Valentine decor.

Great Freezing Valentines.

We have had a great day and here is a little preview of the day.

And have you guys checked out Stacy's Valentines header. She plugged it in! So incredibly creative.
http://designboxstudio.typepad.com/designboxstudio/