Valentine's Day Fun

This year's Valentine's Day was so much fun. Not only does Sofia completely understand the concept of Valentine's Day now, she also attends preschool where she has 7 other friends in her class to celebrate with! We enjoyed making some "Banana Chocolate-Chip Valentines Bread" for Family Home Evening, made Valentine's for all of Sofia's friends, and finally, received an awesome Valentine's Day package from Nana and Grandpa.


Banana Chocolate-Chip Valentines Bread on Family Home Evening Night
This particular night we talked about the different feelings that everyone experiences: when we're happy, sad, mad, and scared. It was fun to use little faces as props and talk about why we experience these sentiments. One sweet quote from Sofia that night: "My friend Brooklyn was sad yesterday and didn't want to come to school." We talked about her friend, Brooklyn, and what she could do to help her feel better. Sofia answered, "I'll ask her to play and have fun with us!"

After we finished, we made some sweet banana-chocolate chip bread with a Valentine's flare. Sofia sprinkled valentine hearts all over the top and it came out cute and yummy! Here are some start to finish pics:


Ready for the oven


The Final Product


Valentine's Card Making
Sofia loves to make things and frankly so do I--even if I'm seemingly crafty-impaired, so we chose to make Valentine Cards for her friends this year instead of purchasing them at the store. It was so much fun! My mom was over that day and the three of us had a ball!

We are just at the tip of the iceberg with teaching Sofia to read and write. For each of the names of her friends and teacher plus her signature "Love, Sofia," I wrote the names with a pencil and she traced the letters--each and every one! I was so proud to watch her write, she is definitely ready to learn more!

Here are some of the cute Valentines that resulted from our evening. Fun, fun stuff.

Valentine's Package from Nana and Grandpa
On Valentine's eve, Sofia received the coolest package from Nana and Grandpa. It was filled with chocolate goodies galore, a Dora Valentine, and the best iced-heart-shaped sugar cookies from Grandma Great Staley! We all wanted to dive-in to the yumm-o treats, of course, and loved receiving the package. Thanks Nana, Grandpa, and Grandma Great!

"I got a package!"

"It is so cool!"

"Look, Mami, heart cookies, they're so cutie!" (and yummy too!)

"I love Dora!"

Good times.

"Princess Valentine, look, she has a pink ballerina dress
just like me!"