Happy Valentine's Day!
After I dropped Etta off at school this morning, Daniel and I ran over to Kroger to get party plates for her class party. I had already purchased Valentine themed plates, but realized late last night that the package was 8-count and there are 10 kids in Etta's class. Smack My Head! Kroger's Valentine's Day section was wiped pretty clean (and there were a ton of men in there OBVIOUSLY buying cards/candy/flowers at the very last minute for their loved ones). So, I journeyed over to the paper products aisle and found some plain red plates and called it a day!And I had a pretty cute little Valentine shopping with me. :)
Not long after we got back to the house, Grandmomma arrived to hang out with Daniel so I could head over to Etta's school for her party.
Etta's class was still outside on the playground when I arrived and I enjoyed peeking at her through the window as she navigated the familiar-to-her playground. After the class came back in, they had a circle time with some dancing while the assistant teacher and a couple other parents helped me set up the tables for snack time.
For snack we had cupcakes! Last night, I made gluten-free, dairy-free cupcakes to share with E's class. I wanted to make sure the snack would be something that ALL of the kids in the class could enjoy (and there are a couple of kids in the class who are gluten-free, one who is dairy-free). I thought they were actually pretty good and I didn't hear a single complaint from the kids. In fact, I think most of them gobbled their cupcake without ever knowing something was amiss!
After cupcakes, we moved back to the circle rug to exchange valentines. Etta did a good job of handing all of her cards and fruit snacks out to her friends and teachers.
After the valentine exchange, we moved back to the tables and did a quick craft that I brought with me. I use to do this when I was teaching pre-k. The heart puppies always made a cute bulletin board.
After they finished up the art activity, the kids got their jackets and backpacks and the parents signed them out and we all headed home. I think it was a pretty fun morning!
As we pulled in the garage, I told Etta that Grandmomma was here and she got pretty excited and ran into the living room to find her. She immediately found the balloons that Grandmomma brought with her and insisted that GMM play with her (in a specific way). While they were playing, I started getting lunch together for the kids.
It took E a little while to settle down enough to actually eat her lunch, but she eventually did. After lunch there was a little more playing and then Grandmomma left so that Etta could take her nap.
{Side story: Daniel broke my camera. My Canon DSLR. Maybe. After we got back home from Etta's party, I put the camera on the kitchen counter. A few minutes later, I watched in horrific slow-motion as Daniel reached up and grabbed the camera strap and yanked the camera onto the hardwood kitchen floor. It hit with enough force that there is a dent in the hardwood. I looked over the camera and was relieved to find that the lens and mirrors were all uncracked and the rest of the camera seemed intact. A few minutes later, I used the camera. I took two shots and then I got an error message on the display screen telling me something about an issue with sensors. So, I turned it off, took the lens off, put it back on, turned it on again and was able to snap another photo before I got the same error message. Rinse and repeat. So, the rest of the photos from the day had to be taken on my phone. THEN, later in the evening, I tried again to take a couple pictures (because I wanted to show Keith the error message) and the darn thing was working again! I snapped a handful of photos of Etta without any problem. So, fingers crossed!}
Daniel and I worked on valentines for Daddy and then he went down for a nap too. Oh, and *I* got a nap soon after! (sidenote: I haven't been sleeping well at night, and as a result, my sleep cycle is all screwed up. I sleep poorly at night, NEED a nap in the day, stay up until midnight or 1:00, then another night of crappy sleep. Mostly, my hips hurt and my back hurts and I have to pee frequently and my husband snores. Basically, just third trimester complaints...)
Keith got home a little late tonight, but since everyone had taken a decent nap, the kids were still awake. So, we all exchanged cards and then Daniel went to bed and Keith and I ate dinner (I had already fed the kids).
After we ate, we sat down with Etta and let her open up her valentine mailbox from school. I hated to unwrap it, but the slot was a little small and it was really the best way to get into it. But, it turned out that it was like a present for Etta and, in the end, I think it was a fun way to do it. After she went through each one, she put them all back in the box and then took them all out one at a time again. She did this about four times before moving to the couch with her iPad.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Love!
