Making Valentines

I love Valentine's Day.  I think it's tied with Thanksgiving for my second favorite holiday, after Easter.

I never saw it as a day to put pressure on anybody to do any particular thing.  I never hated it when I was single because nobody gave me a valentine.  I just see it as a fun day to show your affection in whatever measure you choose to whoever you choose.

So, I'm trying to pass that along to Cooper.  Fun.  So we made Valentines.  And we had fun.  I've never seen him get into a craft quite so much.

 

I stole the idea from Pinterest: http://www.buildingourstory.com/2014/01/heart-sun-catcher-valentines-day-craft.html.  It's really pretty simple.  I just cut heart outlines freehand out of red paper (1/2 sheet of 8-1/2 x 11) and wrote a little message on each one.  Then I laid them onto contact paper, two at a time, and gave Cooper some sequins, glitter and paper-punched hearts and teddy bears and let him put them inside the hearts.  I then pressed another piece of contact paper on top and cut around the outside edges of each one.

Presto!  They were done!  And he is really proud of them! He was totally bummed that he had to give them all away, so I let him make an extra one for himself, which he's been carrying around all day.  I found some 5-3/4" x 8-3/4" envelopes at Wal-Mart which fit them perfectly, so we will get them in the mail this week. 

Put It To Music

I'm all about songs.  They are easy to learn.  I know numerous Scripture verses because they have been put to song and lots of other useful facts.  Didn't we all learn the alphabet that way?

My son is 3 now, and I wanted him to learn some information about himself in case he ever needs it.  Rather than just trying to get him to memorize facts, I decided to put it into a song to make it easier.

You don't need to be too creative to do it.  Just use a familiar tune.  Mine is, in fact, to the same tune as the alphabet song, or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  The lines don't even rhyme, but they fit.  Here are the words (leaving out personal details that I don't necessarily want to reveal to everyone who may come across this blog).

Cooper __________ is my name.
__ __ __ __ __ __ (Our last name has a somewhat unusual spelling, so I spelled it out.)
My dad is Don, and my mom is Jill.
I live at _______ (house number)
____________________ (street number and city).
____________________ (phone number).
My mom has a cell phone too:
___________________ (cell number)
My dad has a cell as well:
___________________ (Dad's cell number)
My zip code in Tennessee
is _______________ (zip code)

I've just sung it to him a few times, and he pretty much knows it.  I heard him singing it last night when he was laying in bed.  After all, who doesn't want to learn a song that's all about them?