This Valentine's Day was so different from last year. Last year we were having brunch with our dear friends the morning after our going away party at Red Velvet and then headed back to our house to pack for our big move. This year we're about to mark a full year in our new city.
My friend, Jessa, and I had planned to do it up real good for our boys' class V-day party since their Christmas party consisted of celery, apples, and popcorn at their desks while the class next door had paper chains hanging from every wall and Christmas music playing while they all danced around the room. Thankfully, his teacher welcomed our enthusiasm and we spent the two days before the party gathering and making.
I reused a lot of things I had leftover from Ruby's pink and red birthday party but made extra garland from felt squares, a garland of love letters, some felt hearts to hang from the ceiling, and a fringed felt heart for their class door (seen on our mantle mirror). There were balloons and healthy treats in the mix and Jessa made the best cake pops I've ever had. It was so fun preparing for it because I knew the kids would enjoy the extra festive feeling of their room and I really wanted S to have the same kind of party memories I have from elementary school. We had some great room moms! I still remember you, Mrs. Donahue!
The afternoon I was supposed to take everything to his classroom to set up I got a call from the nurse's office saying Sebastian had a temperature of 104. I felt bad for the kid. He was going to have to miss his Valentine's Day party and all the fun of exchanging Valentines with his friends. I wasn't about to pull out of party decorating, though, so he got hauled back up to school with Ruby and his carpool buddy and they helped set the party table and played with balloons while I got tiny electrocutions every time I lifted a ceiling tile to hang garlands. It made me feel better that he was still able to take part in a small way.
On Valentine's Day we putzed around the house and got a few fun packages in the mail from family far away before heading back to school to pick up Sebastian's valentines and take our decor down. His teacher said the kids loved it and he appreciated it despite some of his other male teacher friends giving him a hard time about all the pink and red. We were able to bring home our decorations and string them up in our own space to finish off the day with a shrimp stir fry and plans for a date night the following day.
We also got to enjoy the fact that Brett was at home with us to celebrate instead of being away with work responsibilities. A vague timeline that I was dreading for months when we moved here has come and gone and his job is keeping him stationed here in town for the time being. It's been a small sigh of relief but I also know not to get too comfortable with anything the Army decides as things can change so quickly. For now, I'm learning to be so grateful for the time we've been given.
Almost exactly one year here in our new town. That blows my mind. I still feel like we just got here.
Did you do anything special to celebrate V-Day? Ruby bedazzled her giraffe.
-Rachel
p.s. Some have asked how I made the garlands and fringed heart. For the garlands I cut felt squares in half, folded the top edge over some braided twine, and stitched it down before cutting fringe up to the stitch line. I spent a lot of time at the sewing machine but it's almost mindless work after awhile and there's always netflix. Plus, they're reusable and great for birthday parties. For the heart I got some felt yardage, cut out a heart, cut strips of felt that overlapped the edges and were about 5" wide and stitched them to the heart shape at the top before cutting fringe into them. I made sure the next layer of felt covered the stitch line until I got to the top. Then I cut four holes in the top of the heart piece but under the fringe to string twine through to hang it on the wall/mirror.
