Monday, February 14, 2011

Annual Valentine's Day Tradition


ANNUAL VALENTINES DAY TRADITION
Eight years ago when Watson was born, I started something that has turned into an annual tradition....Valentine's Pics with my boys. I believe traditions with your family, as well as special ones with your kids, are important. It is sometimes difficult to find unique clothes for boys. The girls definately hold the award for cutest & easiest clothes to find. My inspiration was the cute Valentines shirts the Gap had for boys. Some of the past we have had ones that say LoverBoy, Momma's Boy, Charmer, Handsome Devil, I enjoy long walks in the park...to name a few.
 
This year it was somewhat of a problem as they had outgrown the sizes available. So I turned my old trusty.....friends at Etsy. Both boys had black long-sleeved shirts. Watson's had Romeo on the front (he loves pretty girls), and Cash had a heart with MOM inside (my lil momma's boy). I have always gone to the Picture People as it is fast & convenient to get the project done. They now have an option where you can buy all the photos on a disk with rights which I like best. This way I can do what I want to with the images. Don't think I didn't get a lot of flack from BOTH of them this year! Chalk up another one for 2011. I am gonna get these pictures with them as long as I can.

One thing I want you to ponder: When I was taking Watson's 6 month old pictures our photographer was REALLY wanting mom & dad in the photos. I wasn't really prepared for professional photos. Isn't it hard enough to get a baby/child to the appointment on time, fully dressed, clean, happy and clothes to change into? She set me straight on all that real quick. She explained that she lost someone dear to her with kids and although there were many wonderful pictures of the kids they had very little of their mom. They had almost nothing of mom with them. As their friend and photographer she couldn't believe that this problem existed. Therefore she had a new pledge to all her children to always make the parents get in the pics. That broke my heart to not leave a legacy of my joy with my boys in print. Thank You CR for your awesome words of wisdom....even though I may not like it and it is a lot more trouble.

Pictures are just as hard on the parents as they are on the kids. I feel like I have been beat to death when it is all over with. I always wonder, "Was it really worth it?" Days later as I look over the images and see the past I know the answer is, "YES!"

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Valentine's Day Crayon Craft


Valentine's Day Goodies

When we were snowed in, we took full advantage of getting our Valentines ready. I looked online for different projects to keep us busy. I gathered many crayon creation ideas and conglomerated them all together into my own. This is TRULY a project that your kids can do all by themselves. I helped by opening/closing the oven door and that is it!



Preheat your oven to 250. Submerge Crayons in hot water for about 5 min. Be sure to use regular crayons and not washable. You will notice that the wrappers will start to fall off easily. Take each crayon and break into small pieces and mix in large container.


Select a muffin tin. We had this rose shaped one. All those cute muffin tins will finally come in handy you have been storing! I think those flexible silicone muffin looking forms would be perfect as they may be easier to get out in the end. Spray with baking spray. The flour based spray for baking we found worked better than your regular cooking spray. Place your crayon pieces in each muffin tin. Make sure to not repeat a color twice and to try to put contrasting colors together. Put in oven for about 8 minutes until just melted. Remove from oven and let sit until hardened about 30 minutes. Stab backside with a fork and wiggle to loosen your crayon.


We packaged in clear plastic wrappers, tied with a bow and a Valentine's message. Cash LOVES to break crayons. So I was surprised when we began that he was not happy. I later found out that he likes broken ones and really didn't want to give them away. Once he saw our first finished product he began to fully participate & enjoy!