I Heart Valentine's Day

Soooo, I guess it's been quite a while since I've posted considering that the last post is a Thanksgiving post and now it's Valentine's Day. Time sure does fly. 

Unfortunately my daughter woke up sick this morning, so we haven't had a very thrilling day. However we have done quite a few Valentiney (is that a word?) things this week as preparation.

Early in the week we set up a Valentine station in the living room. My kids spent lots of time coloring with markers, decorating with stickers, and creating lovely cards.

Everyone had their own mailbox, and we kept leaving each other notes.

 I also printed off several Valentine games from Pinterest.

With our playgroup we went to visit a Retirement home. This was the most special thing we did this week. The activities coordinator got a group together for us and when we got there we sang them some songs, handed out Valentines, and talked to each person individually. I only snapped one picture the whole time (I was really enjoying talking with those we were visiting and got wrapped up in it), and this picture looks kind of goofy because the kids were singing "Once There Was a Snowman" and they had all just melted to the ground.

We went to a cookie painting party.

We graphed conversation hearts. 

 I forgot how disgusting those things are! How to people keep buying them? Yuck. My kids have major sweet tooths, and they were only interesting in eating three of four.

Finally, we put conversation hearts into different liquids to see what would dissolve them fastest. This is how they looked after about an hour. 

My the next morning, the only hearts that had totally dissolved were in the vinegar. We're still waiting on the others.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day with those you love!!

Have Yourself A Lolly Little Christmas

This weekend the kids and I made Christmas gifts for their friends. My daughter saw me looking at Pinterest, saw these lollipops, and insisted that we make some. We got all the supplies and sat down to make them. That's when I realized I don't have a candy thermometer. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I turned to my good friend the internet. Did you know you can make hard candy in the microwave?? I know. I blew my mind as well. That solved our problem because you don't need a candy thermometer in the microwave. This is how the first batch turned out:

             The kids were in charge of sprinkles and sticks. They did a pretty good job, huh?
           
After we made the first batch, we tired using some white peppermint chocolate instead. The first    batch was prettier, but the second batch tasted better (in my opinion). 

 

The kids of course had to sample both kinds. 

It was hard convincing them  to only eat one of each kind. There was some grumping involved (especially from the youngest one). Then I had an idea: Bananas on sticks dipped in sprinkles! They like the banana lollipops just as much as the chocolate!