Valentine School Parties

Here are some pictures of the girls' Valentine class parties. 

The girls made Shopkin bags to collect all of their valentines from friends.  

Makena's class rotated through a few games. One of them was seeing who could stack the most conversation hearts in one minute.

Karis's class played Bingo and made a craft.

A Special Date With Daddy

Karis and Makena went on a special date with Daddy. They went to a father-daughter Valentine dance at a local church. They were so excited all week and could hardly wait. Karis wrote about it in her school journal. 

Friday night finally came! They finished dinner quickly and got dressed up. 

The dance was geared more towards older girls (dancing with loud music in a dimly lit room), but they came home with fun treats and loved their time with Daddy.

A Preschooler's Valentine's Day

Being in her first year of preschool, this was the first time Karis was to pass out Valentine's Day cards. I had my own idea of the kind of Valentine's Day card she was going to pass out to her classmates. It was going to be a goodie bag filled with little bunny cookies and heart-shaped chocolates. The tag was to say "Some Bunny Loves You" with a little drawing of a bunny head. Cute, right? I soon realized that Karis would have no part in making them and that it would be all me having fun with the project. So, I reluctantly put away my selfish plans and let her help me create something of her own. 

We went to the craft store and she picked out some stickers and ribbon. She carried her stickers and ribbon around the house for days until she finally got to design and make her tags. I took her to the store so she could help pick out the treats that were to go inside the bags. She wanted to get everything on the shelves, but we walked away with heart lollipops and Hershey kisses. She helped me count the candy and stuff the bags. I tied them up and they were ready to go! 

Karis came home from preschool with Valentine's Day crafts and a decorated bag filled with all kinds of goodies from her 11 classmates. Being the good sister that she is, she happily shared some stuff with Makena. She then looked through her stash over and over again until it was time to take a nap. 

Valentine's Day with Kids Is Messy!

I invited some of my mommy friends over on Valentine's Day to decorate cookies and cupcakes.  Karis and Makena had fun helping me make the cupcakes.  They couldn't wait for everyone to come over.  

Including our girls, there were seven kids!  It was a little crazy but lots of fun.  There were sprinkles everywhere!  Thankfully my friends helped me clean up and the aftermath wasn't too bad.

Valentine Daddy-Daughter Dance

Our friends' church hosted their first Daddy-Daughter dance. Mommy told Karis about the dance about two weeks prior. Karis spent only a few nights telling me, "I want to go to the dance now, Daddy." However, she did dress up nearly every night in a different dress to practice I guess.

I was excited for the opportunity to finally arrive to take Karis. She was thrilled to put on her pretty red dress, her fancy black shoes and stay up past bed time eating desserts and dancing. Here is a picture of her all ready to go:

Little sis wanted to get in on all the picture-taking action:


The cute couple:

As we were exiting the van to head into the dance, Karis let this precious thought slip, "Daddy, daddy, tonight is best night ever!"

And here's one with some flair at the dance:

The best parts of the dance were watching Karis dance. She had a B-L-A-S-T! Here is one of the videos of her cutting the rug.

Karis Vday dance 2012 from LenaDerek on Vimeo.