Valentine's Day on a budget

So, my husband thinks that Valentine's Day is a made up holiday, but according to Wiki, it originated when Roman's were forbidden from marrying so that they would want to go to war and fight and not stay home or fear for their family's safety. Saint Valentine of Rome would perform illegal weddings for these soldiers. In any case, I try not to spend a fortune since he's not on board with the holiday so much as I'd like to be.  I have 2 little girls and was able to put a basket together for each of them around $15 each. Half of that budget was I got them each a new character t-shirt. If you leave that out it would be between $6-10, because I also had some freebies lying around. 

Here's the finished basket.

Here's the supplies: Free - Elmo books I had them stashed away from last year and I'm pretty sure my mom sent them, Valentines stickers; $1 each - red and purple soft flower, 2 beanie bears from the Thrift Store, 2 water bottles from Target bins, 2 red/white chevron boxes from Target bins; $2.50 each for 2 boxes of Princess chocolates for the girls; Rachel my 3 year old got a Frozen shirt and my 19 mos old got a Doc McStuffin shirt, these were each about $8 at Target and were one of my last minute splurges.

I decided to try and make some Valentine breakfast pancakes. Here's the link to the original idea: http://www.auntjemima.com/aj_recipes/recipesToppings/recipe.cfm?recipeID=11585 The girls really loved it.

 

Valentine's Day 2014

Here are my Valentine cuties! I can't believe I forgot to get their picture taken in their cute outfits - oh well. They still had a really good Valentine's day.

the loot

Rachel with her basket

Ruth checking out her basket

The girls eating their Valentine's breakfast. The pancakes were a Pinterest idea.

February 2014 Snow Fun

We've had lots of cold, wintry weather the last few months. I personally don't like the cold, so I get out in it as little as possible. However, we did have a nice, cool day where all the snow was still on the ground, but the wind was down and the sun was out, so we decided to enjoy it while we could.

 
 

The happy child!

Making snow angels.

 

The side yard leading into our backyard has a small hill so we were sledding down it for fun. Here's Rachel making a "path" in the snow using the sled.

The igloo Isaiah build with the girls on the really cold snow days. I couldn't get Ruth to turn around. Oh well.

Rachel's First Day of Preschool

Rachel had her first day of Preschool on Friday, September 6, 2013 at Eastminster Presbyterian in Wichita, Kansas.

We had a "Meet the Teacher" night a few days before where we got to meet Ms. Lisa and check out her classroom, meet some of her classmates, and find out where everything was in her class.

I got to stay for my own Parent Orientation while Rachel got to have fun in her classroom. Here we are getting ready for the kids to go back to class and checking out all the paperwork I have to fill out.

Here's Rachel and her class going back to their classroom.

Here she is, super excited about her tote bag that she brings to and from school. She made it with her hand print and it has her name on it. She is so excited to be going to school and I am a little bit too!

 

 

Family Festival of Fun 2013

Well, this is take 2 for McConnell Family Festival of Fun. We attended this event last year, and Rachel seemed to really enjoy it. This year didn't disappoint, in fact, she enjoyed it even more.

Here she is checking out the petting zoo.

She liked to pet the sheep.

Here she is giving the sheep a hug.

Rachel was super excited about the horse back rides. We waited in line for a long time, but she remained very patient. Look at that smile, she was really enjoying it.

Rachel killing the cotton candy

Happy girl, Ruth, finally got to escape the stroller. Rachel was having fun on the bouncy houses and Ruth got to crawl around for a while.

Waiting patiently for the fire truck ride.

Big smiles after the fire truck ride

She got to go through the fire/smoke house and learn how to evacuate in case of a fire. She was at the window, like let me know out of here!

Rachel and Daddy next to the humvee

Rachel turns 3!

Well, Rachel is 3 years old. I feel like this is such a huge milestone. She's not a baby any more, and even though her clothes have a T next to them, I don't feel like she's a toddler either. She weighs about 32 pounds, and 3 feet tall. We're going in the right direction for potty training, but still have some accidents.

We had her first kids birthday party at the YMCA. We did a gymnastics party, they do a great job and took alot of pressure off for decorating, setting up, and cleaning.

Rachel playing on the gymnastics equipment.

All the kids playing.

Jess and Copeland, Cat and Cami

Lyssa and Camden

Ruth having a blast

 

Rachel showing off

Big smiles! Getting to play with the big kids

 

Rachel and her friend Deuce sharing the platform


After playing, Rachel got to lead the line back to the multipurpose room. She was so proud.


The loot

The kids socializing before the cake.


Rachel coloring and waiting patiently for the cake


The cake


Rachel blowing out the candles

Rachel eating cake

We took Rachel to Chuckie Cheese on her actual birthday. Here she is eating pizza and watching the band play.

Her friend Camilla came to play and eat also.

Rachel riding with Chuckie

Her favorite was the school bus. We taught her how to put the coins in the machine. She must have rode the bus like 6 times in a row.