Happy Valentine's Day!

Sometimes Henry gets ideas for art projects in his head, and he talks about them for weeks.  He's been talking about making little people like this for a few weeks, and finally we found an opportunity - Valentine's Day!  

 He made a personalized portrait for every kid in his class, and the three teachers.  He worked diligently for two nights on it.  I'm so proud of him, and I think his classmates will be thrilled!  And I'm pretty pleased that I didn't have to spend any money on this year's Valentines!

Ellis, who doesn't enjoy drawing or coloring at all (hopefully someday!), opted for the cut-and-paste method.  I thought his Valentines turned out pretty cute as well.

This year, we have started my new favorite Valentine's Day tradition (stolen from Christina): Each kid gets a new book as a Valentine's Day present!  The boys were thrilled with the surprise and wanted to open them first thing in the morning.

 Ellis got the Lives of the Musicians, Lives of the Writers, and Lives of the Artists series that he has loved from the library.  Turns out that Sam is crazy about them as well!

 

Sam got this little series, because he is so into singing right now.  It has fun songs - many that he knows, and many that I'm glad my kids will get to learn.  We just read them, and while I think the illustrations are somewhat lacking, I'm really excited about having these.

 Henry got this little journal - something totally new for him.  It has a question a day, and space to write a response - a different response each year for three years.  I got this because his teacher recommended doing something like this, because Henry has a hard time answering questions that aren't fact-based.  I think it will be a fun activity for the two of us to do after the little ones are in bed.

Oh, and I had to include a picture of these birthday cards the boys made for me.  All on their own, they came downstairs while I was still in bed and made them.  So sweet!

And Henry's card almost survived the destruction of Sam before I found it!

Happy Heart Day, everyone!