Valentine's Day - 2022

One thing that the COVID pandemic has not completely robbed us of is the chance to hand out valentines in the kids' classrooms.  The parties are definitely muted and it still saddens me that I am not able to volunteer to help during them or to make homemade treats to send in like I used to (everything needs to be pre-packaged or store-bought for fear of transferring household germs, I guess?).  

Anyway, the biggest thrill for us is choosing the special valentines ahead of time and then spending an morning/afternoon together assembling them.  I prefer to make ours a bit more special than just simply buying a box of cardboard valentines at the store.  Rather, I print the cards myself after the kids choose exactly what fun, little surprise they want to include.  Over the years, we have done some really cute things!

This year, the process was simplified because Sophia, Jack and James all wanted to do the exact same thing -- attach a "pop-it" keychain to their valentine card.  Pop-its are 'all-the-rage' right now and the fact that you could then attach it to a bookbag afterwards was just plain genius.  (I tried to talk Samantha into giving some to her friends too, but I guess that when you're in 8th grade, it's just not as cool to gift valentines to your friends anymore).

I found some free valentine 'printables' online and printed/cut random ones that the kids could then sign their name to and punch a hole in the corner.

Each of the kids were meticulous and made sure to use neat handwriting.

It was a little bit tricky to open each of the keychains and then re-attach them, but Sophia took on that task and excelled.

Jimmy and her formed a little assembly line and then put them in the respective piles for each classroom.

Of course, there were several 'breaks' where the kids took the time to pop a few.  These pop-its are great sensory objects ...

For the teachers, we printed a separate valentine that said, "You Knock My Socks Off" and gifted them each a soft pair of socks, tied up with a beautiful ribbon.

All separated and ready to go:

On Valentine's Day morning, I made our traditional cinnamon rolls for breakfast and set out a something special for each of the kids at their seats.

They are past the age where I can dress them in coordinating outfits highlighted with red and pink, but I smiled because Samantha was wearing a pink dress because it was a home basketball game and she is required to dress up on those days.

Their packages contained two things: a book that I chose specifically for each one based on their interests and their favorite kind of candy.  They were excited with everything and it made me happy to start their school day (and week -- Valentine's Day was on a Monday!) off on the right foot ...

New Year Randoms

We always begin each new year celebrating Grandpa!  When your birthday is literally on New Year's Day, it's a great way to jumpstart the year.  His meal of choice was chicken wings (Steve handled that part) and an apple pie (my specialty).  Of course, we had lots of other fixings too; watched some New Year's Football Bowl games; and watched Grandpa blow out his extra-fancy candles.

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As an extra credit project in Spanish class, Samantha was supposed to work with a partner and make an authentic Spanish dish that they could bring in and share with the class.  

There were a few 'hiccups' along the way (I forgot to pick up the most important ingredient that day at the store -- the fresh corn!) and she got a much later start than planned ...

... and her partner forgot about doing the project with her -- resulting in more drama than I really needed that evening ...

... but the end result was perfect.

The class raved over her "cornbread type of dessert" and she score lots of extra credit points on the project to add to her already high score that she has in the course.

I even took her to school that morning to make it easier for her to transport the beautifully-plated dish,

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December did not bring with it much snow to Michigan.  In fact, the month was unseasonably mild, but it looks like January finally got the message that we would like a bit of snow.

Jack has been 'itching' to get the snow-thrower up and in action:

Yup, while Jack used modern technology to clean the driveway, Jimmy plugged along the 'old-fashioned way' with his shovel.

How old do you think he needs to be to start snow-blowing the neighbors' driveways for cash?

Smiles for miles!

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Basketball season is underway for Sam!  Her non-school-affiliated league took 2nd place in their division and now we are waiting to start her 8th grade season:

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