Fabulous Army Life

My 3rd grader was asked to create a box at home to collect his Valentines during his February 14 classroom party. He was reluctant to get started, envisioning pink frothy boxes and glittery hearts. So we looked around online and found this super cute idea from Family Fun ... a Valentine locker! He was immediately motivated and even decided to add a few glittery heart stickers just to top it off.

My 2nd Grade Valentine and Me At the boys' school, the entire 2nd grade class participates in a Valentine's Day Ball.  They even take ballroom dancing lessons in PE in preparation for the big day.  My second grader has been less than thrilled with the whole process.  Mysterious stomach ailments would hit on PE days and long, drawn-out stories of the horrors of dancing with a (gasp!) ... girl ... were repeated each PE day for weeks.  He survived, though, and was able to attend the Ball.  He told me as we were walking in that he MIGHT square dance (another PE activity) but was absolutely NOT going to ballroom dance with ANYONE, not even me and not even ANYBODY.  Fortunately for Joshua (and many like him), there were fun crafts, yummy snacks, and lots of room to run around in addition to dancing. Crafts included making a flower from cupcake holders and a lollipop, making a rose from Hershey's Kisses and pipe cleaners, and using stickers to create a photo...

Sweetheart roses, fabulous chocolates, wonderful day with wonderful family and friends ... plus two amazing boys, a cute new puppy, and the most incredible husband ever HOME with me. This was a really good Valentine's Day! All in all, I think Valentine's Day is a pretty hokey holiday ... largely dreamt up by retailers and restaurant PR teams. Sometimes I think it's pretty amazing what we can find to spend money on in this country. But I fall for it all and get all the cutesy gifts and snacks for the day. We had pink sprinkled cinnamon rolls with blackberries for breakfast (on our red and pink heart paper plates) and gobbled up pink heart-shaped marshmallows for a snack on the way to church. We all wore red and exchanged cards and gifts to demonstrate our undying love for one another. Yep, I know it's hokey but I play along anyway! We started the day with our Valentine's exchange. I always like to get the boys a collection of fun stuff ... a book, game or toy, stuffe...