Making Valentines

This year, Katie Anne and I decided to make handmade Valentine's cards for all our family and friends.  I got inspired by an idea I'd actually seen for Christmas ornaments, but I thought it would make a great Valentine, too.  It took us about four days to make our Valentines (not counting Mommy's prep-work before punching out the hearts and cutting the construction paper and addressing the envelopes), and we had a great time doing it!

Painting her hand

Making prints

Ta-da!

 

 Ewww!

  

Day 1: One side of each heart finished

Day 2: Ready to get started!

 

Ewww round II!

Printing the second side of the hearts

Day 2: All the hearts finished

Then, we had to glue all the hearts to our construction paper.  Both of us definitely looked a little end-of-the-day rough on Day 3, so we didn't make pictures of the gluing.  Finally, I wrote "Happy Valentine's Day!" and "Love, Katie Anne" on each Valentine, and got them all in the envelopes, ready to go!

 

Now, dear hearts, here is where the Valentine's process broke down for our precious Jones family.  Why, you ask?  And, why - you say - did I not receive one of these beautiful Katie Anne Valentines?  

Well, here's the reason - because those precious little Valentines are...

all addressed and ready to go...

and still sitting...

in the passenger seat...

of Saunders's car.

Yes, you read that right.  

I need to say no more, I'm sure.

So, they are supposedly going in the mail Tuesday.  

Period.

:)

Snow Sadness...

Well, the beautiful snow is melting this afternoon.  Where there was 3 or 4 inches of powdery, fluffy snow this morning, there's just mush and mud and melting ice now.  I kind of wish the process of melting snow was instantaneous, because it is so depressing to watch that pretty snow turn into mud!

And, how does so much fun in the snow also create so much laundry?!?

 

  

 I'm currently on load #3 from this morning!

Now, it's nap time, Saunders has gone with my brother and dad to the shooting range for my dad's birthday, and I'm sitting in a quiet house listening to the snowy water drip off the roof onto the deck.  It does make me sad that the snow is melting, but I am glad that we had it.  We were really hoping to get to show Katie Anne some snow this year, and now we have - and she loved it!  We had a great time together playing in the snow, and now I'll just sit here and enjoy my quiet house - and enjoy another Agan's cookie and milk - and watch the last of the snow melt away!

Plus, my snow sadness can't last two long, because our exciting weekend continues.  Tonight, we're celebrating my dad's birthday.  Tomorrow, it's Valentine's Day, and we're headed to the circus with Katie Anne for the first time!  So, we've got lots of fun ahead - and of course, lots of pictures to come!

Saturday - Snow Day II

This morning, the snow was still beautiful outside, and Katie Anne woke up bright and early.  She was very excited to get outside and play in the snow with Daddy, and we knew the snow wouldn't last long with temperatures climbing to almost 40 in the afternoon.  So, we all got up, got bundled in our snow gear, and got outside to play before 8:00 am.

 

 There was so much snow this morning!  Saunders measured it, and it was more than 3 inches deep in our front yard.  It was 4 inches deep on the deck table and railings.

Katie Anne had a blast in the snow again - she definitely loves the snow, and we played out in it for almost two hours before she got too cold.  

 She loved pelting Daddy with snowballs, but she doesn't like snowballs being thrown at her!  (I'm exactly the same way - we're bad sports.  Poor Daddy!)

 

This kid loves...

loves...

loves eating snow!

Let's hope none of it was yellow!

 

Daddy showed Katie Anne how to make snow angels.

She was intrigued...

 

But I wasn't sure she would actually do it herself.

Boy, was I wrong!  Before Saunders had barely moved, she had flopped down to make her own!

 

  

  

 

Once she figured out the process, we couldn't stop her from making snow angels!

 

Every time we turned around for the next few minutes, that little silly-willy had flopped back down to make another one!

After my dad got back from taking my mom to work, he came over and brought our old sled for KA.  (Yes, poor Gigi had to work ... "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.")  Katie Anne loved riding on the sled all around the yard!

 

  

  

  

My favorite picture of her from the day...

We had such a fabulous time playing in the snow!

Snow Day!

Yesterday, after we got home from the Valentine's party, the snow started to fall while Katie Anne and I were eating lunch.  We opened all the blinds so we could see it, and we were very excited about it - it was so beautiful!  We were really crossing our fingers that it would stick and we'd be able to go out and play in it.  

Well - our wish came true! After Katie Anne's nap, we'd already gotten an inch or two of accumulation, and it would wind up being over 3 inches by the next morning!  So, we headed out into the snow before Daddy got home to play.  

Katie Anne absolutely LOVED it.  She had a blast running around, making snowballs and busting me with them, and building a snowman.  We played outside for more than an hour!

Getting dressed in her snow bibs.  :)  She was beyond excited at this point. 

Even her snow gear is UGA-themed!  

(Really, that was just coincidence.  They're hand-me-downs from our friend Sarah.)

While she was getting her boots on, she told me exactly how we'd build our snowman.

Tasting the snow!

Doing a happy dance

 

I love how our house looks in the snow

Abby is crazy about the snow - she ran around like a puppy outside

Snow dogs!

Working on our snowman

 

  

  

  

Waving at Ginger, who'd gone back inside to warm up

Making a snowball...

Sneaking over to Mommy...

 

And grinning after she'd busted me with it!  What a stinker!

What happened when I tried to strike back?  She ran away!

 

That's a lot of snow!

Showing off her "snow baby" - she rocked it, fed it snow, and put it to bed in a "snow crib" that she made on the front steps.

We had so much fun outside!

We came back in, changed into warmer clothes, and had a snack.  There's nothing like Valentine's cookies from Agan's Bakery and a big, frosty glass of milk to finish off a fun snowy afternoon!