Valentine's Day

Valentine's day was a pretty "normal" day for us before we entered a week of craziness. I'll be sharing about our snowmageddon week tomorrow, but looking back to how we spent our Valentine's day, I had no idea the next day lives around our state would be turned upside down. 

Megan kept talking about cupid bringing presents, so Saturday morning, DJ and I ran to Target, and then after the girls went to bed, we worked on some surprises for the girls.

We each wrote them messages about why we love them and hung the hearts around the dining room.

I've seen the tradition, on writing messages on hearts for the 14 days leading up to Valentine's day, and every year I remember it when we're a few days in to February. So, I thought this was a fun alternative. 

I bought the girls felt envelopes years ago from Target and monogrammed them. Their little Valentine's gifts fit nicely in the envelopes. They each received some sort of book, and a box of chocolates. 

When I bought these, I added the ribbon and the monograms. 

Addy was thrilled to receive chocolates! 

Megan received a drawing book and chocolates. 

Valentine's morning, I made an extra special loaf of Sourdough bread. 

And diffused this combination that smelled exactly like candy hearts. 

Okay.... let me back up a bit.....

Saturday around noon, I received a text message from a neighbor asking about our Valentine's party, and I was like "what Valentine's party?" Apparently, Megan and Adalyn made invitations and planned a party for all of the neighbor kids for Saturday afternoon. I quickly texted the neighbors and told them there was no party. Then I felt guilty and told them to send their kids over on Sunday afternoon and we'd have some sort of party. 

We made chocolate covered popcorn with sprinkles for the kids. I also pulled out some grapes and tomatoes that we had. 

I had purchased a cookie decorating kit for my speech kids, but work was closed Friday because of the ice that moved through Thursday night. So, I let the kids decorate the cookies. 

I had also picked up an art kit for the girls, so we let all of the neighbor kids make Valentine crafts. 

While the kids were getting their art on, I looked over and found DJ watching TV like this. 

Love this Valentine of mine. 

After crafts, the kids exchanged the Valentine's they had made for each other, and then I sent them all home ;)

Our Valentine's tradition is to have pizza. By Sunday, we had snow and ice and we knew we weren't going anywhere, so we made pizza at home. 

Adalyn and Megan each made their own pizza, and then Gretchen made one for the rest of us. 

And just for fun.... here's Adalyn's homemade "JoJo Siwa" box. 

Valentine's day was a fun family day, even though the girls threw me a curveball with the last minute party, and we had snow and ice on the ground! 

 

Valentine's Touches

I'm just like my momma, and love to decorate for all of the holidays. 

I put a few touches of red and pink around the house this year, starting with my "faux mantle."

The pink banner was new this year from Target. I have plans on using it in our camper after Valentine's day! 

I found this heart print at Target in their Dollar Spot last year. I think it would also be easy to make with a canvas and some stickers. I added a red vase to my tiered tray. 

And this little tic-tac-toe game that I also picked up last year from Target. 

I found this Rae Dunn heart at TJ Max last year. 

The dining table also got a few touches of red and pink. 

Several years ago, I bought these felt envelopes from the dollar spot, and monogrammed them for the girls and added ribbon. They tie on the back of the chair, and it's fun for the girls to write little notes to each other and place in their envelopes. 

 

Valentine's Day

Valentine's day this year went by super fast but man, did we have fun celebrating! 

When Gretchen was a few weeks old, DJ and I started our tradition of eating pizza on Valentine's day.... 12 years later and it's still our family favorite. 

We had a new born and wanted to go out to celebrate, but we didn't want to go somewhere and ruin a couple's romantic dinner. So, we went to a local pizza place, which was shockingly crowded, but, a tradition was born, and every year, we eat pizza for Valentine's day. 

We are still on the hunt for a favorite pizza place here in Austin. We decided to try Slapbox which is in downtown Round Rock and we weren't too disappointed. Because Megan and Adalyn are pickier than the rest of us, we ordered them pizza by the slice. Cheese for Addy and Pepperoni for Megan. Y'all, the slice was bigger than their heads!  

Look at the size of that crust!!!!

We ended up eating pizza on the 13th since we knew our evening of the 14th would be busy. The girls didn't mind an earlier pizza date. 

After the girls went to bed, I put their presents in their Valentine envelopes and spread out a tablecloth sprinkled with "confetti" 

I had thought about surprising them with doughnuts for breakfast, but let's be honest- I wasn't waking up that early to go get them! 

My mom came through and made each of the girls shirts for Valentine's day. Look how cute! And, I'm just happy they're still matching! It's not often I get them in matching clothes. 

Megan and Adalyn's parties were at the exact same time. So, I started off at Megan's. Each of the kids chose what type of food they wanted, so there was a random assortment of brownies, chips, guacamole, wheat thins, and fruit. Her class passed out Valentine's and then I snuck over to Addy's party. 

Addy was well in to her ice cream sundae when I arrived. She squeezed my neck and then her class handed out their Valentine's to each other. 

My sweet Valentine. 

Her teacher had the most fun minute-to-win-it game set up for them! They had to bite the ends off a twizler, open a pixie stick and dump it in to a circle, unwrap a Hershey kiss, and then unwrap smarties and place them in a square; they also had to blow the pixie stick sugar out of it's circle. I mean, it was seriously the cutest idea! 

DJ came home and surprised us all with Tiff's Treats; I had also bought chocolate covered strawberries, so we definitely treated ourselves! 

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day this year? Does your family have a fun tradition?

Friday Favorites

Happy Valentine's Day! 

This morning the girls are waking up to some fun surprises and they'll get to celebrate with friends today at school. Last night we went out for our annual pizza-dinner with the girls, because we knew that restaurants would be crazy crowded tonight! 

Today, I'm linking up and sharing my Friday Favorites. 

1. Adalyn had a filling on Monday and she was not doing well even though she was "sedated." Mostly she was just whiny and the dentist was super patient and nice but he didn't want to do the procedure if she wasn't a willing participant. He stepped out of the room to check on some other patients and I put some Valor on her wrist and over her heart, and y'all, once he came back in she had calmed down enough to let him finish! Later that afternoon, I asked her what made her brave, and she said "the oil, mom." Like duh, I should have known. 

2. Gretchen's school had a baking competition for their book fair, so she made Rock Cakes from Harry Potter.  She loves to bake (and read) so this was 100% right up her alley. 

There were lots of kids that entered and they were all so talented!

Gretchen won Honorable Mention for her Rock Cakes and received a free poster and $5.00 to spend at the book fair. 

3. The little girls had "friendship week" and had a dress up day each day. Wednesday was mis-match day and Megan went all out! Addy tried, but let's be honest- she'd wear that outfit anyday. 

Megan had mismatch shoes, shirts, hair styles and hair bows. She was for sure wacky. 

She totally owned her look! And honestly, I was a bit surprised to see how out there she went, because it's not really like her, but I was so proud of her for being brave enough to be mismatched! 

4. I ordered from Safe & Fair a few weeks ago, and it finally came in. Costco had their Birthday Cake granola last Spring and we were obsessed with it, but they don't carry it all the time, so I decided to just order direct from the company. I also ordered apple pie granola, and two baking mixes. If you have a kiddo with allergies, you need to check out Safe & Fair because they're allergy free and delicious! 

5. We are still on the hunt for the best pizza in the Austin area, which landed us in downtown Round Rock at Slapbox. The little girls are picky when it comes to pizza, so we ordered them a slice of cheese and pepperoni and it was huge! Addy was all "I have to eat this!" when it came out. 

Megan ate all of hers though! I mean, that crust, y'all. 

And tomorrow, this girl and I are off on a super fun adventure! 

Be sure to follow along on Instagram! 

Alright, I'm off to run errands, celebrate Valentine's day with the little girls, and to pack! 

Happy Valentine's day friends!

Valentine's Day Decor

This past weekend while the Super Bowl was on TV, I decorated for Valentine's day... it made me happy to put up a few touches around the house.

Our entry way got a few little things to greet you as you walk in...

this little letter board is only half true :) 

I picked up this Rae Dunn sign from TJ Max. 

and this little heart picture from Target. 

Psst- this would be super easy to make with some heart stickers and a canvas. 

Our TV stand got a little festive too. 

I made the fabric banner for Megan's 1st birthday, and I kept it because I knew it would be something we would use again. 

I picked up this little sign from TJ Max too. 

and set out a little heart trinket dish that I picked up from Magnolia in Waco last year. 

I also added a little votive holder- although it's empty ;) 

I found a cute felt heart wreath at Target and stuck it in one of my tobacco baskets. 

Several years ago, I picked up felt envelopes from Target and added the girls monogram and some ribbon to hang them on the chairs. The girls love filling them up with pictures and love notes for each other. 

I added a little tray with a dish towel, heart shaped bowl, Bible verse cards, and we still have flowers that are hanging in there after Gretchen's birthday party a few weeks ago. Costco flowers don't play y'all. 

I added a little throw pillow and blanket to a chair that we don't use for a pop of color. 

And to my little sideboard, I added a painting one of the girl's made with a little red planter. 

Several years ago, I wrapped this heart in red yarn- you know, back when Pinterest was all the rage, and I had more time on my hands. It's hanging on our pantry door. 

and I have another Valentine painting from the girls on an easel in the kitchen. 

Just a few little pops of red and pink to brighten up the house!