*ahem*
Anywho, every year we have a really romantic dinner with the kids - pizza and soda, followed by Valentine's candy. I know, tres chic.
You don't have to have fancy food to have a fancy dinner. Just seeing the little bit of extra effort in the decorations and such makes my kiddos very happy.
Notice the hearts from the chandelier? We made those for FHE one night.
I got the idea from here. I have to say, theirs looked a lot more like hearts than ours did, but whatever.
This year I decided to make monogrammed mugs for everyone. I got the original inspiration for the project at Design Mom. When I found a set of 12 porcelain mugs on clearance at the WalMarts for $2.50, I knew I had to make them!
I used the same Pabeo Porcelain pens for the mugs. And just like Design Mom, I had some issues with mine. In fact, I had major issues with the first set sent to me (I ordered them online), and had the site send me a second set. (Which they happily did for free. Hooray for customer service!)
So I decided to take the pens apart, get the paint out, and use brushes. I think they turned out pretty well, considering this was my first try. (And with 6 more mugs and lots of pain left over, I will definitely have to try some other designs.)
Who's the question mark? Well, I decided if I was making one for everyone in the family I had better make one for Madsen Mystery Baby #4, due to make her grand appearance on April 18th.
No, I will still not tell you her name. And no, it does not start with a C. I was just too lazy to take a picture of a blank mug. And no, I will not tell you the letter on her mug. You're not the boss of me!
Back to Valentine's Day. Here's what everyone's place settings looked like.
We give the kiddos books for Valentine's Day. This year I think I scored big. Spencer got his first set of chapter books, which he was really excited about. (It's the first 4 books of the Magic Treehouse series. No picture because he kept wandering off with them.)
Josh got an awesome dinosaur book. The child was in heaven.
In fact, I had set the table a little early because I had the spare time. He knew he couldn't open the book, and he knew he couldn't mess with anything on the table. I discovered him sitting at the table, staring longingly at that book, patiently waiting for dinner. It was 3:50pm. The child is four years old and has never sat still longer than 35.2 seconds. I gave in and let him open the book early.
There was much rejoicing.
At that point I knew I had to let the other boys open their books. That's when Spencer disappeared with his. Cole got a Sandra Boynton book about doggies.
He was pretty stoked.
*oof!*oof!*oof!*
The books kept them occupied and gave me a chance to make dinner. Mmmm... Papa Murphy's... how I love you. And your heart-shaped pizza.
But I love your Chicago Stuffed pizza even more...
This is ridiculous. My hormones are totally outta whack. I'm putting pictures of pizza on my blog for Valentine's Day. But they're so lovely, right...?
After dinner the boys decided to eat their candy. And by eat I mean scarf. Which is why I don't spend a lot on candy for them.
Cole got his very own first box of chocolates. Hilarity ensues.
Ummm... not that you would know, because YouTube is apparently broken right now. Well, some day I'll get the video up there. In the mean time, just imagine how funny a toddler with a box of chocolates could be.
Poor kid. His mother wasn't thinking clearly and allowed him to eat the chocolate caramel. Of course he stuffed it all into his mouth at once. He was quite happy about this.
Until the caramel got stuck to the roof of his mouth.
Momma paid penance and dug it out for him. Gross.
3 comments:
i'm always looking for new family traditions and i like the book idea!
When I was a librarian in an elementary school, in my former life before high school,the kids just loved The Magic Treehouse books! They were always checked out!
Great mugs! I did the same thing for some Christmas gifts this year. I bought my first marker at Michaels. It was no good as well. I then switched to a fine tip pen I think, then it was okay. They also sell it in paint bottles too that you can paint on with a brush. But since you did that anyway... So it looks great! Nice job!
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