Family Valentines

With Valentine's Day falling on a Saturday this year, I thought it would be fun to make a family day out of it.  And honestly, all I really want on any Valentine's Day is some pretty flowers.  I'm easy like that.

Lately, Todd and I have been in pretty major get-out-of-debt mode so we are watching our expenses more closely.  We opted out of a big fancy date this year and decided to save what we might have spent on dinner.  I knew though that if I wanted to do something for the boys, I couldn't go too crazy either.  So, I went to the store, spent about $20 on paper hearts and candy and cups and made a special Valentine's breakfast.  I was proud of myself for being able to create something fun and exciting for the boys and have it be so cheap!

Conversation hearts as a filler for a candle holder is a total Pinterest hack.  Also, do people even actually eat them?

Tommy's valentines included candy, new markers and a drawing pad.  I think he has drawn on every single page already.

And Jacob got a cute monkey since stuffed animals are his favorite thing in the universe.

 

Holidays are the only time I ever even think about letting my children consume candy at the start of the day.

 

For breakfast, I cut out hearts with a cookie cutter and made french toast.

Super cute right?!

We also had bacon and strawberries and cinnamon rolls since cinnamon rolls were the one thing Tommy had asked for.  I had some questions on the table too for us all to answer while we ate breakfast together - and Tommy thought it was the best "game" ever.  What do you love most about Tommy/Jacob?  What do you think it means to love someone?  How do you know Jesus loves you? What things do you love most?  It was fun having love-centered conversation around the table that morning.   Jacob wasn't into it though seeing as he started throwing conversation hearts at us and needed a bath after consuming lollipops and chocolate and syrup and frosting - oh goodness, he had a sugar fest.  But it was a sweet, chaotic, lovely time.

And because we all had some sugar to burn off, we spent the afternoon at the park. 

Tommy finally learned how to pump his own legs on the swing that day.  His smile says it all.

And next to stuffed animals and eating sweet things, swinging is his favorite thing to do.  The kid basically had the best day of his entire short life.  Sugar, stuffed animals and swinging all in one day?!

We ended our day with homemade burgers on the grill and watched a movie together.  It ended up being one of my most favorite Valentine celebrations ever.  So, so much love and sweetness to go around.