When it comes to the holidays I am a big kid at heart. I love making them special for my kids, taking the opportunity to make them feel extra loved. My kids are kind of funny about holidays and what they believe they should and shouldn’t entail. For instance, a few years back we took a last minute trip to Puerto Rico over Easter. Instead of my kids being excited they were distraught about not being HOME for Easter and not being able to have our traditional holiday meal. Even after being consoled that the Easter Bunny could find them anywhere, they were still not happy. #crazykids!
Holiday Craft
This year for Valentine’s Day I found some cute V-Day gingerbread houses. I bought a few extras for the cousins too and we had a fun afternoon watching it snow and building gingerbread houses. #qualityfamilytime
School Parties
We live in a small community where it is still possible to make homemade treats for school parties. Because I work from home (and love to make my kids proud) I always volunteer to provide treats for school parties. I take the opportunity to find something ‘fancy’ on Pinterest to try to make it a little more exciting for the class. This year I found this Valentine’s Day Popcorn recipe. I texted a picture of it to Kadie to ask her what she thought and she responded, ‘That looks delicious!’ Sold, Valentine’s Day Popcorn it is. We made the snack together, making it even more special for me that it provided quality time together that can be hard to come by as the kids continue to get older.
Photo courtesy of TwoSistersCrafting.com. Recipe can be found here.
Be My Valentine
I usually put together a gift bag or basket for the kids. This year I found these cute tubs and filled them with treats and goodies, as well as a few practical items like Neutrogena makeup remover wipes for my teenage daughter.
I grew up on Kinder Eggs and have shared that experience with my kids. The original German confections were a thin shell of milk chocolate sandwiched against a thin layer of white chocolate with a hollow center that contained a tiny toy that had to be assembled. Lots of tiny pieces… Because of those tiny pieces those original Kinder Eggs were outlawed in the states! I used to be able to find them when we traveled out of country and always would bring some back for the kids. I think they truly do not exist anymore though, it’s a shame.
What are your traditions for this holiday?
I was just thinking to myself, “I wonder what Holly did for Valentine’s Day!” Always beautiful and creative!