Minecraft Heart Boxes!

Ah, gotta love having boys!  Two of my three had to make boxes for Valentine's Day exchanges...one of them is doing his last!!  Scary!  In the spirit of being boys their ideas for boxes were pretty simple and rather unique!  They are die-hard Minecraft fans (a video game with "old school" graphics) and thought they'd do Minecraft themed heart boxes.  And by they...they meant moma!  Of course, I set myself up for this one...I did make them Minecraft inspired costumes for Halloween this past year...and I am rather good at figuring out the pixel effect.

Well, here they are!

I almost made them exactly the same...but then I wouldn't know which belonged to who!

I am just happy they let wanted to use shades of pink!!  The only time I can get them to voluntarily use pink is at Valentine's Day and during October (Breast Cancer Awareness!).

~Happy Valentine's Day!

Brandie

Spending Valentine's at Home!

Last year, we were able to go out with our parents to a very expensive restaurant ($100 a person...WTF!) and we had my little step-sister watch the kids.  This year...she's all grown up and has a big girl job...at a restaurant, AppleBee's no less, and she will be working! UGH!!!!  My free sitter has finally grown up (and she is my youngest sibling...this pretty much sucks!).

So, with our back-up, we pay them, sitters all having hot teenage dates this Thursday, we have been left to improvise!

Step 1: BUY A BUNCH OF STUFF OFF OF ADAM AND EVE! No, really, we did!  I don't know that we will be able to actually use it that night...but it came yesterday and a girl sure can dream!

Step 2: Plan a dinner....that kids will like too!  I am still debating, but I plan to share what I have found and what I might use!

Step 3: Find an activity!  We have a brand new theater in town (actually right across the street from our neighborhood).  We are going there!  My kids have never been, it's SUPER nice and SUPER affordable! But I will share some other potential ideas.

Step 4: Exchange gifts!  I have three boys and one girl.  It is vitally important to me to properly show them how to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I take every opportunity to do that.  So, I will be finding them affordable gifts that strict their interests (Football cards, Monster Trucks, Angry Bird dudes, Princess stuff).

Step 5: Bedtime!

Dinner Ideas!

Hoosier Homemade has TONS of ideas for every meal!  From heart shaped dinner and snack items to traditional dinner meals for more grown up tastes.  Chances are VERY high that at least one thing on this blog will make it to my dinner table!  My favorite item is a "Pocket" sandwich shaped like a heart!  I have been trying several different pocket entrees and any one of those could work with that!

Activity Ideas

Trip to the movies

Mini Golf

Bowling

Skating

Fishing

Watch a movie at Home

Family Board Game Night

This is going to be an interesting Valentine's Day.  It may be the start to a new tradition in this house!  Who knows! I do know one thing....I have waited until the last minute to do much this year...and I am feeling like a chicken with my head cut off!  Here's to hoping that next month...with both St. Patrick's Day and Easter this year will be a much better hit!

~Brandie

Classroom Parties!

Okay, my party planning is DONE!  Three classrooms have a rockin' parties planned...all we need to do is get to Thursday, the LOVE day and get to work!  Here is my break down by grade!

5th Grade

(This classroom has 19 Boys and 6 Girls)

Bingo

This game was requested by our group of kids.  We have a very open line of communication with them and their teacher and it makes planning their parties so easy and much more fun!

We will have 5 winners and they will receive some kind of big Valentine themed candy as their prize!  Their place markers will, of course, be conversation hearts they can eat when the game is over.

Guessing Jar

One of my moms is filling a jar with Valentine's loose candy.  She will also have the exact number of pieces written down...somewhere.  The jar will arrive with her daughter the day of the party.  The kids will have all day to attempt to figure out how many pieces of candy are in the jar.  During the party, they will have a chance to guess and the person guessing closest will win the jar of candy.  Everyone else will get a snack size version of the type of candy in the jar.

Cupid's Arrow

This game was pitched to me by one of my 3rd grade parents and I decided to pitch it to 5th grade class.  We are now doing it in BOTH classrooms!

The idea of the game is to "shoot" as many "arrows" into the heart bowl as you can in 60 seconds.  The "arrows" are q-tips and the launcher is a straw.  You shoot the "arrows" in the same manner that you would shoot a spit ball!  Having a class full of boys, we thought this would be fun for them.  Let's hope it's a big hit!

Snacks!

ICE Cream sundae Bar!

Pretty self explanatory!  We did a nacho bar for the Winter Party and it was a HUGE hit!  Since Valentine's day is about your sweetie, we decided to make sure the snacks were as sweet as could be.  We do have two Gluten allergies and one peanut allergy in our classroom, so finding things that we can have that are safe for them was a bit of challenge....but it certainly led to some fun food ideas that everyone is loving!

Chocolate Lollipops

I am using meltable Chocolate circles to make these.  They are GF and peanut free so I am pretty excited about them!

3rd Grade

(This classroom has 2 more girls than boys)

Hot "Heart" Potato

This is just like the original game we all played as kids...but we are using a heart shaped pillow as the potato.  These kiddos have been asking for a game that involves music...and we have decided to deliver!

Cupid's Arrows

The same game we are playing with 5th grade!

Heart Hand Craft

Unlike my 5th graders, my 3rd graders still like to have a craft at their party.  One of my mom's has an idea and is providing all of the supplies...making my job super easy!  I know it involves red paint, their hands and Valentine's poem for Mom and Dad!

Snacks

This classroom has no food allergies, so we get to have all kinds of good, sugary things!  They are having cupcakes, cookies, popcorn drizzled in chocolate and of course soda!

2nd Grade

 (This classroom has an even number of boys and girls)

The Game

I have great parents in this classroom and two moms who only have one kiddo in school.  They have come up with a game and are providing the rules and supplies.  The idea of the game is lost on me BUT I know it is suppose to be like a life size board game!  Which is pretty cool!

Box Decorating

We are decorating boxes as a class in 2nd grade.  My son is not too happy about this, but the majority of my parents wanted to do this, so I allowed it.  We will see how this goes, there will not be a whole lot of time for creative juices to flow!

Heart Hand Craft

2nd grade is also doing a red paint handprint card for their parents.  I am hoping the poem for this one is different...since I will be getting both! ;)

Snacks

We will be serving cupcakes and chocolate lollipops (yeah, I agreed to do both classrooms...just glad I didn't have to do all three!)

I will update on the 15th and let everyone know how it went.  Feel free to snag any of these ideas for your last minute planning!  Look for this post next year as I plan to build on top of themed items as this blog grows!

~Brandie

Class Valentine's Treats!

Valentine's Day Parties at school are probably my favorite party to prepare for when it comes to class parties!  Maybe it's because the day falls three days before my birthday and I am all into that...but regardless, my creative juices really get rolling this time of year!

This year I decided to go with a "non-candy" treat for my boys to give out during their Valentine exchange.  As always, I searched Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.  I found my treat idea for last year there (one of my first completed Pinterest projects I might add!).

This year, I used a printable I found via Pinterest on from Dixie Delight for my tags and I made these:

The bouncy balls are 10 cents a piece at Party City in their loose favor isle, the bags are 1.99 in the meltable candy mold section at Micheal's (probably at Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's too).  The tag, obviously, free!!  I had the kids write their to and froms on the back side of the tag!  I am massively excited about these...especially because for three classrooms, it only cost me $8 and some change!!

Go to my Pinterest Board "Valentine's Day" for more ideas and last minute to-do's for this Thursday!  I have done the Pop Rocks one (last year) and there are several I want to try!

~Blog at cha Later

Brandie