Very Valentine-y

All the fixings to make Valentine's treats for school!

A little Starbucks pick me up for the teachers on the day of sugar highs for the children ;)

Cute bags with special pictures!

I had never heard of Valentine boxes!  Apparently, it's a big "thing!"  Jackson had an assignment to make one to bring to school to collect Valentine's, and after some time on Pinterest, we settled on this basketball box!

Mini strawberry cupcakes for Jackson's class :)

Checking out the Valentine treats

Graham checking out his

Yummy chocolates, Cupid Corn, and a new Star Wars car

A box of chocolates just for Graham, Cupid Corn and a Blaze truck!

Jackson LOVES watching our Amaryllis flowers grown each winter!

Guess how much Graham wanted to take this picture?  I cannot get over his face!!!

We took Daddy to the new library to play and hang out before going out to dinner for our traditional Qdoba Valentine dinner!

A MUCH happier photo shoot!

Check out our cute Valentine's Day shirts!

Brothers :)

A Weekend in Staunton

A cool painting on the wall outside of the restaurant where we met for dinner!

We headed to Staunton for the weekend!  Our visit started off with dinner with Aunt Murph and Uncle Larry at an awesome restaurant that included a grassy outdoor eating area with picnic tables.  It was perfect for these two monkey who had been in the car for a while!  And, Aunt Murph brought some presents to help with the entertainment :)

Ice cream at The Split Banana to continue the fun!

Aunt Murph and Uncle Larry were good sports, and we all enjoyed a walk around downtown Staunton (and some extra nooks and crannies) to find several geocaches.  It was a really nice night!

With Uncle Larry

Our little family :)

Family photo by a train car we encountered while caching

Way up high over Staunton!

These boys kept up on our adventure!  They had already had a long day, it was past bedtime, and it was hot.  But, it was such a fun way to wander around town!

I feel like I'm missing some of my pictures, because Saturday is not documented at all!  We spent the morning at Gramma J's before going back to the Smurphs for a delicious dinner to celebrate Aunt Jeannie's birthday!  As always, the food was yummy, and it was so nice to spend time together!

These two LOVE Yoki!  

Uncle Larry and Daddy took off for golfing, so Aunt Murph and I took the boys to Gypsy Hill Park to feed the ducks and play at the playground.

Graham loved watching the ducks follow the food!

I'm glad he's not actually this tall...yet!!!

I just love this boy!

Aunt Murph playing on the equipment with Jackson

This seriously is the most amazing park!  There is also a really NICE exercise area with functioning equipment!

The boys had to try it all out

While Grahammers napped off the morning, Jackson got to play one of Yoki's favorite games and turn on the hose!

After Daddy returned home and Graham was up from his nap, we packed up for out last stop: Charlottesville!!!  We met some good friends there, Andy and Charron, and we wandered around grounds finding some caches.  Andy even found his first one ever!

This was a back

Our beautiful Rotunda under construction!

Listening to the recording at Edgar Allen Poe's room 

Our adventurers...!

We spied this backyard while we wandering around hunting for geocaches--so welcoming and peaceful!

Just hanging around Grounds... ;)

Josh showed the boys one of the classrooms!  This is where his astronomy class met his fourth year.  We always have such a good time when we go back to visit Charlottesville :)  We made our way over to The Corner for a little shopping at Mincers (Graham needed an upgraded t-shirt and Josh wanted a shirt celebrating the baseball teams amazing season) and dinner at Mellow Mushroom--so yummy!  

Another Extended Valentine's Day...

Valentine's Day Eve: Graham and I attended a birthday party for Graham's friend, Hallie, who was turning three!!!  She's a Valentine's Day baby, so all of the activities were heart themed.  We both had a great time :)

Graham's cute heart hat he decorated!

Pin the Lips on Miss Valentine!

SO cute in the blindfold!

This boy LOVED the pink lemonade and cupcakes :)

Jackson made these valentines to take to school: "I'm so glad I "found" you, Valentine!"  Unfortunately, Jackson got sick in the middle of the night, and spent yet another Valentine's Day on the couch with the trash can nearby :/  Poor guy!  Graham and I ran out and picked up Qdoba for dinner for Josh and me: it's been our Valentine's Day tradition for years, and we haven't let the last two years of a sick kid stop us!  

Finally, two days late, we were able to open cards and celebrate a little with some treats and the boys :)

The Valentine's Day that Lasted for Six Days

It's a good thing we got all of our fun Snow Day activities in on the first snow day since Jackson came down with a yucky stomach bug Thursday night :(  He was sick all night, but seemed through the worst by Friday morning.  He spent the day resting, drinking as much as I would let him, and having a little to eat.  We felt like some fresh air and a change of scenery would do everyone well, and we continued with our plan to carry on our Valentine's Day tradition of having Qdoba for dinner!

My littlest Valentine!

Daddy and HIS littlest Valentine!

Looking much better...

Looking a little more lethargic :(  He ended up being totally fine, other than tired.  BUT, Graham got the stomach bug on Sunday!  That was sad and pathetic :(  He handled it REALLY well, and he got sick right after lunch.  For me, that was easiest, since it was a time I was awake anyways.  He and I just hunkered down in the recliner surrounded by towels, and I let him doze whenever he wanted and held him when he got sick.  By bedtime he was through the worst, and he just wanted to rest.  Josh and I each got milder forms, but it seems to be gone from our house for now--it's definitely going around everywhere :/

Monday was already a scheduled day off of school for Presidents' Day, so the Valentine's Day parties were rescheduled for yesterday and today!  I made Graham some Valentines to hand out too :)  His were monster Valentines.

The front with a little Hershey's Hug :)

Jackson handed out these cool airplanes on Tuesday.  They are made out of a roll of Smarties, two pieces of gum, and two Lifesavers.

"It's PLANE to see why we're friends!  Happy Valentine's Day!"  Jackson wrote ALL of his friends names on the Valentines as well as signing his own.  I was SO proud of him!

These were Jackson's Valentines for Wednesday: "You Make My Heart GLOW!  Happy Valentine's Day!"  There is a glow stick going through the heart.

All of my Valentines ideas came with the help of Pinterest :)  This was for the teachers: a bottle of hand-soap with a note attached: "Here's SOAPIN' You Have a Great Valentine's Day!"

Even though this is ridiculous how long this holiday lasted, it worked out really well that we already had a snow day called when Jackson got sick, so he didn't have to miss his class party!  I also went ahead and waited to give the boys their cards and a few little treats until they were both feeling better!

Jackson had a blast at school with Valentine's Day, and he couldn't wait to show us the cards he got from his friends!