I FINALLY feel like getting ready for Valentines Day.  Decorating my house, baking cookies and making valentines with my kids.

I work during the day and sometimes I feel pretty darn exhausted by the time I get home.  On occasion, my kids get to witness a mother that is less-than-enthusiastic-about-the-upcoming-holiday.

I enjoy my children so much and I really do try to make the most of our mornings, nights and long weekends together. So naturally, I feel a bit guilty if I don’t have fun projects planned and get sidetracked by piles of laundry and dishes that need to be done. I’m feeling a little like I need to “make it up to them” for being so busy and distracted lately.

I like to decorate my home for the holidays throughout the year.  Although, I don’t always feel like decorating.  I have to wait until the inspiration hits, then, I take joy in it.  I often wait until I have a morning off work and the house is quiet. The kids are usually in school, or out on a errand with their dad (what a sweet hubby I have).

Today, when I felt inspired to decorate the house for Valentines Day…to make our home a place of joy and fun.  I really wanted to let the kids help, even though it might not look “perfect”.  I want them to be a part of the joy that I am trying to create.

Valentines day.  A holiday specifically set aside to concentrate wholeheartedly on telling those we love just how much we love them.  What a great opportunity for me to help my children feel how special they are to me. I want them to know, really know, that no matter how much I work, how tired I am, how many craft projects are due or how much laundry I have waiting, that they are so very important to me.  That they are special. That they are loved. That their opinion matters. And that I appreciate their help.

Remember those paper mache heart boxes that I blogged about HERE?

I decorated a Valentine Heart for my husband.  On the lid it says, “I love you because…”

And on the inside I wrote sentiments on little pink hearts. I also added some Hershey Kisses for good measure.

My niece, Kayla came over to play a few days ago and the kids decorated their heart boxes together.  I didn’t get very many photos because while helping them, my hands became covered in Mod Podge.

I did get a couple photos:

Today we’ll be baking Valentine Sugar Cookies, a family tradition that my mother started.  Mom already made her’s, if you want to see photos of her delectable treats CLICK HERE.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day and that you get to share it with someone special.

XOXO, Christie

I’ve caught the bug…the LOVE bug.

I have become a little excited about VALENTINES day!  Mabye it’s because of my children, they just love the Holidays and they can’t wait until the house is decorated for what ever holiday it might be at the time.  This time it’s about LOVE.

I purchased these sweet paper mache hearts at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique for the kids to decorate.  I’ll be sure to post photos when they’re done.

Do you have any fun plans for Valentines day?

“In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities”  -Janis Arnay

My “Adore” Mini Album is not quite complete yet, but I thought I’d share some of the little details.

I’ve returned from my journey to Idaho…OK, I’ve been back 5 days.  It’s amazing how long it took me to re-adjust to all that I do at home.

I have Idaho photos to share!

This is Cali and her daughter Sky (two of my Dad’s horses).

Meet my baby sister Emilee and her horse Buddy (Em has had Buddy since she was 11 years old).

Here’s another of Emilee with Sky.

Emilee looks really cold in this one (she’s a good sport):

These are the Barn Cats.  They huddle together to keep warm in the hay.

Here’s Jimbo:

Maddie and Sadie:

Can you see where I get my love for animals from?

Now that I think about it, most of the photos I took in Idaho were of the animals.

I did not get any photos of the dogs (bummer) but I did get a photo of my parent’s lazy spoiled cat Tommy.  He has a super-cute personality.

Now that I’m back in the swing of things, I’ll be posting some Valentine projects.

Ah heck, if you’ve hung in there this long…

Here’s a Valentines/Thank You card that I made for my Grandparents using Basic Grey Papers/Embellishments:

More coming soon!

I finally completed the little Valentine Mini album I was working on.

I used the new Teresa Collins Line called CRUSH.

I took SO MANY dang photos of this album that I decided it would be easier to create a separate page for all of them.  If you would like to see the complete album please CLICK HERE.

Hope you like it!

xoxo, Christie

I used the new Teresa Collins “Crush” paper and my Bind-it-All to create this sweet little mini album.

I love working with Teresa’s papers, they’re perfect when you need to create something special in no time.

This little book isn’t complete but I thought I’d show you a few close ups of what I’ve done so far…

I’ll share more photos when I complete the project.

Have a great day!

I will be teaching this Valentines Day Layout at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique on Saturday, January 31st.