As some of you know we are not a Valentine's Day people. We don't hate but we just don't celebrate (I'm not going to edit that out, sorry LOL). No box of chocolate, a restaurant date or bouquet of roses over here, it's just not our thing.
Be that as it may, our children look forward to this date every year because it means our homeschool group is going to throw a big hurrah to celebrate this feast day. This bash keeps getting bigger and better each year, from our humble beginnings at a local library to a skating party (ice one year, roller the following) to this last two years at a bounce place. There were Valentines to make (or buy in our case) and a big to-do over the best Valentine's box contest. For me it is a wonderful break from the tedium of Winter catching up with my mama friends while the kids freely roam around with their friends. For a two-hour event I leave feeling so refreshed and thankful for this unique vocation of children attached to my hip 24/7.
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| the youngest on the inflatable slide |
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| "I'm building a church!" |
Speaking of the Valentine's box contest, my children were so determined to win this year. They made one box with a crank that opens a flap to the slot where Valentine's go. As fancy as it sounds the design element was lacking - it was a box with a crank, it's not going to win anything. With that constructive criticism well-taken they had to come up with a new idea. Appealing to the sentiments of Buckeye fans they decided to make one that looks like the 'shoe, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes (the football team, for those of you on the other side of the world). The oldest was really concerned with not making it look like a "patch job" but when you have less than 24 hours to finish something, you just gotta go with the flow.
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| the beginnings of the stadium |
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| the scoreboard with gratuitous ads |
I haven't yet taken a picture of the finished box. It is now somewhat mangled so I'll have to doctor whatever picture gets taken ;-) The good news is they won!!! They were super-excited so I think I win the best critical mom award for telling them to re-do their box.
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| kids going through their prizes, they were so happy |
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| fifty four families with our gazillion children in a warehouse play place - that's what makes a successful homeschool party |
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| awaiting the results of the contest, my oldest on the left hand corner in the red (red shirt, black hair) was so nervous |
In the meantime, back home the clothes dryer stopped working. My husband started working on it tonight and look at the treasure he found:
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| a couple of buttons, some lint, a Little Flowers patch, Canadian coins and five francs |
The good news is there's enough money in that pile to pay for the replacement part. Until Tuesday our clothes will be happily mildewed in the washer LOL. It's on events like these that I am thankful that my husband can usually fix what's broken and for that alone I do not need a box of chocolate.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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