Valentine's Day '09

This year I thought that it would be a splendid idea to invite my darling little nieces over to help prepare dinner for their parents and G-pa and G-ma VK. Although they all weren't able to attend (missed the twins and little Miss S....it's a long drive for their momma), we had a great time. We started the day out preparing Valentine's, made a cheesecake for dessert, did a little "free play" outside w/Uncle J.(aka. Mr. J.,sr.), and decorated the table for dinner. I am not a crafty person...AT ALL....so this was a bit of a stretch for me. I think we managed to pull it off though, b/c everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves. One of my little nieces (cousin C) was SO into it. She is one determined little lady, and she totally cracks me up! She had all kinds of wonderful ideas. You are one crafty little girl, Cousin C! Maddy was equally as enthusiastic about it all, but she seemed more concerned about playing in the sunshine than watching her mother (aka. me) attempt to make something that looked remotely like a Valentine. Cousin D'ha and D' had a great time running away from Mr. J. (he was pretending to be a monster.) If you aren't catching it from the post so far, it was totally chaotic at my house....kids running every which way, paper flying, glue sticks aplenty, glitter stuck to everything, but we had a blast. I'm hoping that we can make it our new Valentine's Day tradition! The crew. Miss M. has "googlie eyes" stuck to her eyelids. What a goober! From L. to R. D'ha, Cousin C., Mr. J., Darling D, and Miss M.
Miss M. w/her own "interpretation" of what a Valentine should look like:)

The finished projects.

Our table settings....courtesy of Miss M. and Cousin C.

D', Cousin C., and D'ha enjoying a "picnic" in the kitchen.