While the secular world claims this day as their own, being a Catholic homeschooling family, we strive to uphold the tradition of the Saints in our home. In trying to achieve this we often blend and borrow traditions from the two worlds and today the Feast of Saint Valentine was not exempt!
With love filling the air, the children awoke this morning to discover that their bedroom doors were suffering from a Heart Attack! Little love notes were scribbled by myself and my husband onto cut out paper hearts and plastered onto their bedroom doors. They were so delighted when they found what awaited them this morning!
After reading their love notes, the children then trickled their way into the kitchen. There they found the book Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda
They also each had their own box of store bought valentine chocolates.
The familiar red heart shaped boxes were transformed into Feast of St. Valentine Candies with the simple addition of scrapbook paper and the rearranging of the St. Valentine printable valentine cards and cupcake toppers.
I ran out of steam last night, so they are not as attractive as in years past, but nonetheless, they were still enjoyed immensely by the children! My son could hardly wait to devour his treats– they were all gone before breakfast was ready to be served!
In an attempt to help make breakfast a bit more festive, our strawberry banana smoothies were revved up a bit. Leftover frosting from yesterday’s cupcakes was used to rim the tops of “sword cups” before being rolled in sugar and then filled.
Though a bit messy, they were a hit! My daughter shared that they tasted a lot like a chocolate dipped strawberry! Yum!
To help round out our breakfast, my daughter made heart shaped pancakes all by herself. She was a little disappointed that the hearts weren’t as pronounced as she would have liked, but I still think she did a fabulous job for her age. (And just for good measure, we also enjoyed a little heart shaped bacon on the side.)
After reading Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda
Although we missed out on the coloring contest this year, they still had a wonderful time completing their pages and learning about all of the symbolism hidden in the picture.
My daughter also enjoyed completing the crossword and St. Valentine fill in the blank pages from Pflaum’s printable family pages. They were a perfect tie in to the reading from Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda.
Yesterday afternoon, while waiting for the cupcakes to bake, the children crafted their own St. Valentine mailboxes from scavenged cardboard boxes and craft paint to use for our homeschool groups valentine card exchange.
After a few school lessons were completed this morning, they toted them along to the local park,(after filling with them their signed St. Valentine printable valentine cards ) to exchange with their sweet friends.
We also brought along our cupcakes topped with the Saint Valentine cupcake toppers that we baked yesterday.
As you can see, a few eager hands found their way into the icing before the treats were served!
After the Valentine mailboxes were overflowing with exchanged cards and goodies from all of their lovely friends,
the children enjoyed a nice sunny afternoon of playtime!
Happy Feast of Saint Valentine!
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Did you share the life and love of St. Valentine with your family today? Share with us how you made the day special!
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