Valentine's Party 2016!

We started our Valentine's Party right from the get-go, with heart cookie decorating. Drew got to start his morning snack off with a plain cookie, and he was pleased with that! He was also pleased that his big brother, Thomas, was with us for the day. (Great that we could have the party on a P.A. Day!)

Usually Maryam is the one who is the first to move on from this activity, but, well, she's growing up!

She outlasted all the others! We had purple, light pink, and dark pink icing. For toppings, we had red and pink Smarties, heart sprinkles, and purple and pink sparkly sprinkles.

Oscar came for the party! He is 5 years old now, and acting so grown up!

Noah's best friend from school also joined us.

This happened. I don't think I've ever seen this happen before. Seven kids played quietly around a toy knight's castle; even baby Drew! I found it surreal, but tried not to question it too much.

The last guest to arrive was Salim. So nice to spend time with kids like him, that we don't get to see that often!

The kids all had little Valentine's boxes with their names on them (which also showed them where to sit.) Inside were sunglasses, a little Smarties box, and Valentines from friends (and from Noah, Leila and I).

Then we had heart pancakes, blueberries, and Valentine's juice (also known as fruit punch).

Oh, and they also got to choose one of the decorated cookies.

Best buds. :)

We had a great time!

My kitchen was a very confusing world, at this point. haha!

Lol. Drew was very much into his Valentine's box. He had destroyed it by the time lunch was through.

After lunch, we played freeze-dance using hearts. When the music stops, you must find a heart to step on, but Noah made sure that there were fewer and fewer hearts each time the music stopped (unfair advantage). His friend had even more of an advantage though. He danced while holding the heart under his chin; very convenient!

Maryam danced with Minnie Mouse, of course!

This rock star joined us!

And Oscar attempted to vacuum up all the hearts.

Next, we played "Toss the Heart" (I know, first we're stepping on hearts. Then we're throwing them around. Geesh!)

The kids had to, one at a time, stand behind the carpet and toss a little heart onto the poster. The hearts on the poster had different amounts of points written on them. The child got the number of points that the little heart landed on or closest to.

After that, we played "Pin the Heart on the Love Bird." Thomas won!

When Drew went for his afternoon nap, the bigger kids watched Spy Kids. (Maryam left after lunch. She had a date with her mommy. Salim left after lunch as well.)

After the movie, the kids had the opportunity to make a Valentine for someone, or to do a Valentine's craft.

Leila made one for her uncle Scott.

Thomas asked for the dress-up bin, of course! He kept putting on scary masks. When he did this the first time, Drew became upset, in a very stoic kind of way. He does this sometimes. He's silent, but that bottom lip comes out and he just looks so sad. I cuddled him, while Tom showed him, again and again, that the person under that mask was just his big brother. For the duration of Tom's dress-up time, every time he saw his little brother look at him, he would lift his mask up to show Drew that it was okay; it wasn't really a monster. Thomas is such a great big brother. I was extremely proud of how loving and protective he was towards Drew. And no one can make Drew laugh like Thomas can!

Okay, so I digress. Here we have the female version of the Transformer "Optimus Prime", and a skeleton/demon thing, in battle.

The bad guy then decided to sit and make a Valentine for his Mommy, Daddy, and Drew. :)

It was a wild, crazy, and wonderful day with the kids!

In their final act of rebellion, they vandalized the windows. (Okay, they were allowed to do this, with Window Writers, but I'm sure it feels a little like rebellion, to them.)

Happy Family Day weekend, everyone! And Happy Valentine's Day, from the little love bugs!