It might seem odd, but Valentine's Day hasn't really been celebrated in our home until this year. C & I would rather go on a quieter date than jam into a full restaurant, we're both not huge on gift giving, & if he only shows up with flowers this one day out of the year, I'm honestly not going to be happy (coerced?).
But remembering back to my childhood & all the fun I had making valentines for classmates & card holders to hold all the ones I received from them, I decided maybe we should broaden ourselves a bit & give the boys some culture, if you may. So I emailed all the close family & asked if they would be interested in a card exchange- & all accepted :) Mind you, when I first thought of it, it didn't occur to me how many cards that would entail...
or how many hours it takes to make unique cards... (Z6's variety)
(S2's variety)
(J5's variety)(sorry, I can't get the pic to turn?)
Yep! By the time all 3 made close to 20 each, we were pretty sick of making cards! :/ But! It really was a good lesson on sacrifice & blessing others and then reaping the rewards later when receiving all the cards in the mail :) I'd say it was a success & learning experience all in one! :)
(The guys decorating their bags)
So once we finally finished making cards, we turned our attention on penguins- they are amazing Fathers! They love & take care of each other so well- just like our Heavenly Father does for us :)
So after we researched them & mapped them out, we, of course, had to do some hands-on activities :) The boys were surprised how challenging it was to walk and keep the "egg" balanced on the feet
and for some reason they chose the RockHopper as their favorite so we had to do some hopping races, too :)
I filled a bowl with an oversized ice cube (baggie with water frozen overnight & then peeled out) & a few regular ice cubes & we talked of ice burgs and how cold the penguin's water is. Then I filled a bag with crisco & demonstrated how similar it is to penguin's blubber & also their feathers (repel the water). I honestly wasn't optimistic about them putting their hands in the bag (texture thing), but they (as you can see) were extremely excited & fascinated about it and played with it till the ice disappeared & my counter was a small lake :)
After all the valentines we made, we just didn't have more art left in us! So we took the week off from drawing class & "cheated" with Target dollar spot foam penguins the boys cut, glued, & added a "scarf" to.
Bible- wise, I had them focus on Jesus when they picked their daily Bible reading & we talked on how He showed the people around Him love. It's an important subject- one we'll always be learning until we reach Heaven :)
