Happy Valentine's Day!

Ems here:

I hope all of you will be enjoying your day with loved ones! I will be starting out my day by making heart-shaped pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream and serving them to my children on a cheerfully decorated table as seen below (thank you, Dollar Tree, for your cheaply festive decor for every holiday!):

In case you are curious as to the contents of my Valentine's table they are as follows:

1. Plastic heart tablecloth

2. Paper plates with hearts. Everyone loves themselves a heart plate.

3. "Love" bags filled with candy, thoughtfully contributed by sweet Terisa*, our mother's helper.

4. Extra candy strewn with casual (yet artfully deliberate) purpose on said plate.

5. Pens- for drawing (usually robots named Combustion or Radon or Skullcrusher)

6. Crayons- for coloring (usually kittens or ponies and the occasional Darth Sidious)

7. Assortment of books for all ages purchased at Ollie's (best place for books--each of these cost between .99 and $3). 

8. Seed packets! 4/$1 at Dollar Tree, I thought we would find some cool ways of starting our seeds indoors a la Pinterest and watch them grow as we count the long, cold days till spring. 

This is a fairly typical table for me for both this holiday and for Easter. Personally, I hate buying junky novelty toys that break before the kids can use them, and I can't afford more expensive toys, especially on the heels of Christmas and birthdays. 

*I want to send a special shout-out to Terisa for her above-and-beyond interactions with my children. She came over Wednesday on her 21st birthday (whoo-hoo!) armed with Bingo sheets and boatloads of candy and prizes. The kids had a blast!! Thanks, T!

No looking at the laundry chair in the background, please. You've had your fun. I saw Jules' link last post...

Easy Rule #2100: Candy makes holidays  special! And books make kids smart! Everyone is happy! See how easy?