Valentines Fun (take 2)

 On Monday morning, the babies  and I hosted a "cousins" Valentine party. My sister-in-law Sallie, and my sister B, each brought their kids over for a morning of LOVE and FUN! Of course, Sophie and Hudson couldn't wait for everyone to arrive and they spent the entire hour before the party staring out the front window.

Once everyone arrived, Sophie and Hudson greeted them with GREAT big bear hugs, and then led them into the kitchen where they could begin working on their crafts.

Coffee filter butterflies...

 and paper plate heart wreaths kept their little hands busy for a while.


Before long,  it was time for our "Valentiney" lunch...

and dessert;)

As soon as they were finished with lunch, they were off and running around and playing.
Playing trumps eating ANY day when cousins are around;)

Soon it was time to exchange their little Valentines.
What a fun morning it was--spent with the ones we LOVE most;)

And since this post is already all about Valentines, I'm going to go ahead and post pictures from our February 14th.

Here are my two (still very sleepy) valentines, enjoying their cinnamon roll heart breakfast before school.

And here are my two littlest loves--before we headed out the door for Bible Study on Tuesday morning.

When Shane arrived home from work that evening, he had with him a single pink rose for his Sophie girl. 

She was over the moon---to say the least!!!

That girl LOVES her daddy more than anything in this world...and I'd say the feeling is mutual;)

Oh, and don't think Shane forgot about this girl on V-day.

 Bless his sweet heart...but Valentines Day for Shane is two-fold. Not only does he have to celebrate the day of love, but it's my birthday as well. 

Chocolates, a beautiful card, and a new Garmin running watch were my birthday/valentine treats from my man;)

And would you take a look at all those sweets in the picture above. Oh my heavens...those were ALL my birthday/valentine gifts brought over from some very precious friends. Yes...I am one blessed girl:)

Valentines Dinner wasn't spent eating at a fancy restaurant.

 It was a simple and quiet one spent at home with the people I love and adore. 

Oh, and my gift to Shane...was this silly Valentine shirt I purchased from etsy a few weeks ago. 

He liked it;)

I really DO love my husband;)

Just some Valentine FUN!

Saturday was a FUN-filled, LOVE-filled, SWEET-filled day for our family! 

We started out our busy day by heading to our local mall for a Valentine party.  About twice a month, our mall hosts some really great family-friendly activities. If you're a part of the "kidget" program, which our family is, then we can attend all these great events for FREE! 

We totally love anything FREE! 

We met our good friends, the Robinson's, at the mall for a morning of nothin' but pure Valentine sweetness.

And speaking of sweetness, check out these yummy cupcakes the kids decorated.

With lots of sprinkles and treats to choose from, theses cupcakes not only looked pretty, BUT tasted quite yummy too!

 

The babies enjoyed decorating their treats, but of course, they were definitely more excited about tasting them.

Getting their face painted was another fun activity.

Sophie wanted a "beautiful pink flower" on her cheek---just like Leah's,

and Hudson asked for a "race car that goes BERRY fast" for his.

This picture made me smile.

I LOVE how everyone is looking on and admiring Hud's blue "berry fast" race car;)

Riley had a hard time deciding on what he wanted. 

He wanted something that was bright and colorful. 

After thinking and thinking, he eventually chose a rainbow...can't get anymore colorful that than huh?!?

I guess, boys who are over the age of seven, are "too cool" to have their face painted anymore, so Micah and Corban opted to just have their hand painted instead. 

After the kids were all painted up, they jumped on the "Love Sac" for a quick photo.

And yes, Shane convinced me to hop on the "Love Sac" with him as well. 

(GRIN)

The kids spent the rest of the morning making special "get-well" Valentines for kids in the hospital AND decorating sweet Valentine frames. They ALL were having so much fun that groans of disappointment could be heard when we finally told them it was time to head home;)

Saturday evening, we held our own little family Valentine party!

After everyone was bathed and dressed in their pj's, they headed downstairs for the "party"!

We enjoyed pizza, games, and some yummy fondue fun for dessert!

After dinner, Shane and the kids went into the living room for a few silly Valentine themed games. While they played, I cleaned up our dinner and got ready for the fondue.

How about a round of see-who-can-toss-the-conversation-heart-into-the-bowl, OR...

a rousing game of Valentine leap frog--ha!

With the chocolate melted, and the ingredients required for dipping ready, the kids headed back into the kitchen for dessert.

Yup, I know EVERYONE would agree wholeheartedly that this was the BEST part of our night!!

I mean, seriously...

is there anything better than chocolate covered...

well, chocolate covered ANYTHING!?!?!?!?

I am ESPECIALLY fond of sweet, little,

 chocolate cover fingers;)

The Sweetheart Ball and Cupcakes

 Friday evening, Shane went out on a date with...another woman;) 

The "other woman" was quite lovely too. 

She wore a gorgeous red dress, had beautiful blond hair, and had the biggest blue eyes you'd ever seen.  She was a true knockout;) What a treat it was for Shane to spend the entire evening with that girl by his side. And let me tell you, THAT girl was extremely excited to spend the entire evening with him too. 

(Grin)

Our good friends, the Robinson's, invited Shane and Sophie to go with them to the Sweetheart Ball hosted by their Christian school this weekend. 

I'm not sure WHO was really more excited about the night...Shane or my Sophie-girl;)

In order to get ready for the BIG night, Sophie had a little manicure. 

We painted sweet little hearts on each one of her fingernails. She LOVED it and couldn't wait to show her Daddy her beautiful nails.

When Shane arrived home from work on Friday evening, Sophie was already getting ready for her big date. 

She was so excited to put on the new dress she picked out and model it for her adoring Daddy. 

I actually stumbled upon the dress a few days ago while shopping at my local consignment store.

 

I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and thought it was perfect for the Sweetheart Ball. 

Thankfully, Sophie fell in LOVE with it too!!

She looked so sweet and couldn't wait to head out the door with her handsome date;)

Each family attending the dance was asked to bring a little treat to share during the night. 

I came across these sweet Valentine cupcakes that I thought were not only super CUTE...
 but SUPER FUN as well! 

"I CHOO CHOOSE YOU!"

We made sure we had plenty of cupcakes to share AND a few left over for the boys and I to enjoy while Shane and Sophie were at the ball. 

And while Daddy and his princess danced the night away, the boys and I had quite the night of our own planned.

Cupcakes and a little Kung Fu Panda 2 was all that was needed for a successful night on the home front!
These boys are so easy to please;)