Valentine's 2020


We had the best Valentine's Day, full of family time, yummy food and new traditions. This year, we decided to add a new tradition from Simply on Purpose called, "I Love My Family Day". You choose 5-6 things your family loves doing together (hiking, biking, reading books, eating a favorite meal, it can be anything!) and do them all in one day. My kids loved this. It started as a blank sheet with the hearts numbered 1-6 on it and throughout the day, the boys would get a new heart to put on the chart and then we would do the activity. These are the six activities we chose:

1) Eat Heart Pancakes. I found this really cute Heart Waffle Iron from Home Depot and we made chocolate banana heart pancakes with strawberries.


2) Dollar Store & Deliver Valentine's. After breakfast, I gave my kids our second heart. We love the Dollar Store. My boys each picked out a toy for themselves, and a few trinkets (slinkies, chocolate hearts, lip blowers, etc.) to deliver to a few friend's houses. On our drive home, we door bell ditched Valentine's Bags to friends. This was my favorite part of the day, watching my kids sneakily knock and hide behind bushes.


Heart Lunch, of course.

3) Defy. This is my kid's favorite place in Eugene. It's a mix between a trampoline park and ninja zone.


4) Make Heart Shaped Pizzas for Dinner. You can read about how to make our Homemade Pizza Dough here.

5) Movie Night. 

6) Read Books Together. I bought my boy's each a new Valentine Book this year, and we always love snugging up close to read together before bed. Here are our favorite Valentine Books:
  • The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting
  • Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson
  • Love Monster and the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright (my six chose this one)
  • Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff (my four chose this one)
  • Where Is Love, Biscuit? by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (for my one year old)
  • Love, Z by Jessie Sima - If you're looking for a craft to go along with the book, make these cute Valentine Robots. My sister came up with these and does them every year. You wrap tin foil over blocks of floral foam and let kids decorate the robots with googly eyes, stickers, pom moms, pipe cleaners, candy, pony beads, etc. You can find all these items at the Dollar Store.
Photo Credit: Crafty Morning


And one last thing to share about Love Day. Simply on Purpose has a "Five Love Languages Questionnaire" for kids. There are five different ways we feel loved: Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts, and Acts of Service. Ask your kids these questions to find out what their love language is, and make sure you're showing them love in the way they like to be loved. 


These are the Valentine's I taped onto my kid's doors the morning of Valentine's. They are still up (a week later) and they remind my kid's how great they are. Every year before school, my husband gives my children a priesthood blessing. In each blessing, I pay close attention to the gifts and strengths mentioned in the blessing and write them down afterward. I review them often and tell my children them often.



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