Special Helper Day

When I signed up for our six "Special Helper" days (three for Craig, three for me) at orientation last summer, I had a specific request for "winter months" from Craig, when the weather may slow down his work anyway. So I chose a day each in December, January and March for him. But for myself, I wanted to spread them out and get a little variety of a "normal" school day. My mom requested that I come in September, shortly after the school year started, to talk to the kids about nutrition. I also wanted to pick one party day since I can't just easily attend them all. The Valentine's party day was still available when it was my turn to sign up and that's one of my favorite little holidays to celebrate. So Will and I got to be helpers last Monday (the 13th) for the Valentine's party. Then my last helper day was supposed to be in May in coordination with the field trip that the 4-5 year old class takes to the Kindergarten. Well, the preschool wasn't able to get that scheduled on the same day I signed up, so my grandma is going to take my helper day for me and I'll just go on the Kindergarten field trip day as a tag-along/chauffeur. Craig's mom is also going to take a turn being Will's helper on Craig's next day in March. I think it's so nice for both Will and the family members attending to get a chance to interact with him in this way.

On Monday last week, the school morning started out the same way it always does: with circle time including song, introductions, attendance, calendar, weather and chatting.

Will really wanted to pick his own shirts this day: pink polo with collar popped and red tee underneath. ;-) They're both getting a little small on him. Also, I keep forgetting to post about this, but Will had a mohawk haircut (his choice) for about two weeks. We just recently cleaned it up so that the stripe doesn't go all the way down the back and the longer part on top is only barely longer than the rest. So it's a much more subtle 'hawk this week. ;)

His friend Lily made button pins for all the kids with something Valentines-y on each. For Will, she added a dinosaur with a heart beside it. So thoughtful of her. And very cute. His pointer is kind of blocking the pin in this picture.

I thought the paper plate snowmen hanging from the ceiling were so cute.

I was trying to capture his pin a little better in this picture, but this is what I got when I asked him to look at me for a second. Nice face, huh?

Working on the letter "H". The kids suggested words that start with the /h/ sound. Will's contributions were "hilarious" and "healthy". :)

I helped out with a Valentine craft center for a little while. The kids stamped with paint, sponges, cookie cutters, etc. and wrote out "H - Heart" for their letter "H" craft.

The rest of the day was kind of set up in free play and stations for the party. Here, Will and Luke were doing a matching game with the hearts suit of a deck of cards.

Pin the heart on the dog's nose. The kids found this hysterical.

Musical chairs.

Oops! Will's out!

"Are you my Valentine?"

Each child held a colored paper heart behind their back. Two random children had matching colors and they had to take turns asking, for example, "McKenna, are you my Valentine?" Then both McKenna and the person who asked would bring their hearts out for all to see and if they matched, they were Valentines and they'd sit down. If not, McKenna would ask another person. So it was sort of a memory game too.

In the first round, Peyton was Will's Valentine. :) They'd get so excited when they found matches. It was cute.

Nana ("Mrs. Skees") came over to our house one evening and saw our heart-animals and asked if we'd bring them in with the book on our helper day. So Will got to read the My Heart Is Like a Zoo book to the kids and show the animals.

He was reading kind of softly, so Mrs. Skees was repeating what he read a bit louder for the kids to hear.

While the kids took a bathroom break, Will and I washed hands, wiped tables and set out the snack we brought.

The kids also made up their own Valentine bags before the party day so they were all set up in a room (out of view) for everyone to pass out cards/treats.

This coming weekend is the childrens' winter music program. It's done after the holidays just because there's usually so many other functions to manage throughout December. So the kids have been practicing singing their songs and the program will be themed "Peace in Our Land" (I think?). Anyway, this was a cute bulletin board in the classroom with pictures of the childrens' faces all over the world.

I can't believe how quickly the school year is passing and how big our boy is getting! We talked last night about Kindergarten and all the things he will get to do next fall. (I love chatting with Will at bedtime. Still my favorite bonding time with my boy.) It will be so different sending our baby off on a school bus every week day. He's such an independent kid, so I have no worries that he will be confident and excited about that new adventure. But I'm not sure I'm ready!!! Kindergarten registration and screening begin next month and then it won't be long before the end of his preschool journey is wrapping up. Tear.

I took his picture out in the parking lot because I love to see how big he looks with his backpack on and how that changes as he grows.

Where has the time gone?

Valentine Treats

Another Pinterest find...

I actually made these twice for different get-togethers and they are delicious and easy.

Brown Sugar Blondies:

The weekend before Valentine's Day, Will and I spent a short time one evening making some heart-shaped sugar cookies. I used my Great Grandma Wasserman's cookie recipe (just a half batch) and had the dough already prepared and chilled, so Will just helped me roll it out and cut out the hearts.

After baking, Will got to frost one for himself and daddy and they ate them together. That's always our tradition when I bake with Will. He likes to make it a big surprise for his daddy. :) I used my friend Megan's buttercream frosting recipe and colored half of it pink. (That was also prepped in advance of this night.)

We ate cookies for dessert several nights that week. Adding your own sprinkles is such a novelty.

Craig's and mine. :)

I also frosted some just like this for the babysitter's house on Valentine's Day, for my co-workers on Valentine's week, and for our dinner with my grandparents this past weekend.

For Will's Valentine's Day party at school on Monday, he was also the special helper. So we brought "cupid kabobs" (Pinterest idea from here) for a festive snack.

I skewered strawberry pieces and angel food cake cubes onto the sticks and then placed them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet to drizzle the chocolate across them. The strawberry on the tip of each skewer was as cone-shaped (arrow tip) as possible. I used a combination of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips (what I had on hand and wanted to use up), melted in the microwave, cooled and piped from a sandwich baggie. Two words of caution though: be careful it's cooled enough not to bust the bag... and drizzling them in the way I did makes the chocolate harden into (harmless) spikes when you pick them up individually because the drizzle is all connected. It wasn't a big deal - the kids obviously didn't care - but if you want them to look pretty for a shower, I'd drizzle each one individually.

These were a hit. I made enough for each child to have two kabobs with a few left over and only brought home two kabobs. A couple children had three. Only one girl didn't want any. Huge improvement from what "snack time" usually looks like with finicky preschoolers.

And finally, on Valentine's night, after tucking the littles into bed, I made a special treat for Craig and I: individual warm chocolate ("lava") cakes with raspberries. I've made these before and they are so rich and delicious. Definitely a special occasion treat.

I love using my LeCrueset heart-shaped ramekins for Valentine's Day.

I think I've mentioned this here before, but there are only two teaspoons of flour in three of these cakes! That's just to prevent the middle from having any structure. The outside and top are dry, but the center is all oozey and gooey with chocolate. ;) They mostly consist of butter, eggs, sugar and chocolate. Ya. Special occasion only. ;)

Once turned out onto serving plates, you drizzle them with a hazelnut liqueur and top with fresh berries and powdered sugar (if desired).

YUM!