Hello February!

I love the month of February. I really do. It's my manual reset button. I love it like most people love New Years and resolutions.


January never does it for me, unfortunately. We return from holiday travels completely drained, overwhelmed with stuff, and ripe for whatever cold/flu viruses are floating around. Rarely do I find inspiration in month 1, and 2012 was no different. The last four weeks have felt like four long years.


February, though, is like a fresh beginning. I am starting to get order back. It's My Sweets' birthday month. There are hearts everywhere. The possibility of a huge snow storm keeps us on the edge of our seats. I have an excuse to bake. And who can resist a red-white-pink color scheme? The wee ones decorated our tree yesterday, and it's sooo pretty.


As far as February 14 goes, I don't care for the more commercial aspects of the day {red roses, heart chocolates, dinner reservations, boxer shorts with stupid sayings}. Also I am not a fan of pre-printed character cards and candy at school. That's just me. But what I do like are simple handwritten notes. There's nothing lovelier, in my opinion. And lucky for me Buby and Bleu couldn't agree more.


This afternoon I found them rummaging through my bins searching for rubber heart stamps and red ink. Good thing I had what they wanted, because they were anxious to get their craft on. The kids each folded a stack of 9x11 white paper twice and then cut each piece along the lines. In Bleu's case, sort of along the lines. Then they stamped and addressed and signed to their hearts content. The valentine-making process required absolutely no direction from me this year. Buby and Bleu took initiative with whatever materials they had, and Bear looked on from his high chair.


Buby's class has 10 students and 2 full-time teachers, plus the directress. He addressed each card to someone specific. Bleu's class is larger with 22 students and 2 full-time teachers, plus the directress. She simply signed her name at the bottom of each. This is her first year writing her name legibly, on her own, and it's sooo cool to watch her do it. She's learned so much in a very short time. Once in a while she'll go right-to-left (ALON), but 99% of the time she flows left-to-right (NOLA). Bleu finished her classmate valentines and then made another six to mail to cousins. She was on a roll.


Meanwhile, I cooked dinner.