Our Valentine's Day

Derrick and I didn't exchange gifts this year, but I found this old poem. Derrick wrote this poem for me on our first Valentine's Day together in 2004 when we were dating. Great rhyming honey!
The kids definitely enjoyed the holiday. Dayton exchanged cards and treats at school, and Daphne loved that Dayton shared candy with her when he got home (hence the green tongues). Then we had friends over for a v-day party on Saturday with cupcakes and simple party games. On Valentine's Day my kids received valentine sticker books and heart pencils. Then we ate dinner with a big group of friends.

Crafts
We did lots of v-day crafts leading up to this holiday. First we made a paper chain to count down how many days until Valentine's Day. Then the kids decorated paper hearts and stuck them all over our walls.

I found this paper spiral flowers project online, so the kids "helped" me make some for our dining room table.
Daphne made a valentine headband with April one day during our preschool/babysitting swap. Daphne adores this headband; she loves putting it on and then looking at herself in the mirror.
Dayton made valentine cards for his grandparents. My favorite part of the cards was that he wrote his name on each of them! I told him the order of the letters, and he wrote each one by himself. This is his best one. He decorated with valentine stickers. On the other side of the cards, I was Dayton's scribe as he told me what he wanted to say to his grandparents. Here are the funny things he came up with:

I wear big boy underwear.
Murray is a kitty. Sometimes I'm being so nice to her.
I can count from 1 to 10.
It's Valentine's Day.
Everyone loves me.
Grandma Cindy lives in her house.
I can write letters.
I can watch TV.
I can write my name.
I can play with Legos.