Then I had this brilliant, AHA moment!  It just so happens that I was simultaneously trying to think of a good assembly line project the three kids could do to learn about the Industrial Revolution.  It also occurred to me that stencils and stamps were important to the Industrial Revolution because they allowed easier mass production. 

Voila!  Our creative Valentine idea was born.

I helped the big kids design a stamp or stencil.  We used potatoes for stamps and a clean Chinese carryout container for our stencil paper.

Ty got pre-made stamps because that was easier and because we needed letters for our design.

Then we covered the table with newspaper and set to work.  Ty stamped the initials for “Happy Valentine’s Day.”  Mia traced her stencil, and lastly, PJ topped off the corners with red hearts.

In a little over an hour, we had 100 cards that were mostly finished!

We still need to go back and fill in the rest of the “Happy Valentine’s Day.” At the end, they will look like this.

The backs are blank for the kids to address and sign them.

Industrial Revolution lesson…check.  Valentines…check.  Two birds…one stone.

We started the The Elf on the Shelf tradition last year.  For our family, it was more about the hiding and seeking of him than his reporting capabilities.  Perhaps this year he’ll deliver a factoid about that day’s country.  I’ve been remiss about updating Derek’s Calendar but the next 24 days are posted so you can follow our chain.

What are you favorite traditions during this season?

Well, as of last week, the older two have a new 4-in-1 travel game.  It came to us as a 2-in-1 travel chess/checkers set. You can get one just like ours.

Then we printed out boards for two of the games (Nine Men’s Morris and the Fox and Geese Game) the kids learned to play as part of our history studies on magnetic sheets.

If you don’t have random magnetic paper laying around like I discovered, you can also head to Amazon.com for that.

We cut the boards down to size and then in half so they fit right over top of the chess/checkers board.

Conveniently, there are enough pieces included in chess/checkers to play the two games we added so we only had to add the new boards and VOILA! 2-in-1 became 4-in-1.

Here’s how you can try.

You’ll need:

• Large watermelon (make sure it has a flat bottom)
• Sharp serrated knife or pumpkin carving saws
• Plastic toothpick
• Flour
• Template or pattern (optional) and scotch tape
  Check www.watermelon.org for lots of carving ideas
• Melon baller

1. Tape your pattern to the watermelon, if you’re using one.



2. Use the toothpick to trace the pattern or draw out your own by poking small holes or scraping into the watermelon rind.



3. Remove the pattern.



4. Dust the holes with flour to make them stand out.



5. Ready, set, CARVE!  (I use a larger knife to cut out large chunks to start and then the small saws to do the details.)



6. Scoop out the watermelon in neat balls to be used in your fruit salad.



7. Fill watermelon with fresh fruit and enjoy the OOOOHs and AAAAHs.

Back in February, we had a couple chances to celebrate the Asian New Year with other adoptive families.  At one celebration the kids had a chance to make a simple version of Yut-nori. 

It’s a great activity because
{one} it’s fun to make
and
{two} it’s fun to play.

You can find the directions for making and playing here.

Here’s what Mia’s looks like.

PJ’s was much more complicated with a chutes and ladders type feel. Shocker, huh?

If you’re looking for a less-sugar-filled, more preschool-friendly version of a Leprachaun snack, try mixing Lucky Charms and Corn POPS cereal (think gold nugget substitute).

What you’ll need:
*Green paint (I used tempera for it’s non-toxicness and washability)
*Smocks (optional especially if you trust the word “washable” on the bottle of paint). We use old shirts and full-sized bibs
*Paper (we used yellow construction paper)
*Heart shaped plastic cookie cutter or large stamp or potato for cutting into a stamp
*Sponge brush (if you’re not into finger painting)

What to do:

1. Prepare work surface (i.e., clear off kitchen island and cover with newspaper)
2. Smock kids if you choose.
3. Explain St. Patrick in age-appropriate terms.  I emphasized how he taught others about Jesus using a shamrock.  We talked about the three shamrock leaves representing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  We also talked about God as LOVE (hence the heart shape).
4. Use a sponge brush (or your fingers) to brush some paint onto the stamp, potato, or wrong side of the cookie cutter.
5. Stamp 3 hearts with points toward the center in the shape of a shamrock. (You may have to re-ink between each stamping).
6. Paint on a stem.

Voila!

This year, PJ opted for homemade paper hearts again.  We purchased this kit on a whim last year right before Valentine’s Day.  After slaving over 15 homemade paper hearts, I let PJ scribble some red on each one and slap a computer-printed label that read “Happy Valentine’s Day…Love, PJ.”  When he wanted to re-live the project this year, I cringed until I realized we would have plenty of time with 2 feet of snow coming. 

Live and learn. Things we did differently this year:

1. Ditched the hand blender for the kitchen blender.  This made for a much smoother pulp and, therefore, a smoother finished product.
2. Ditched the time-consuming, not-so-effective screws on the press.  Instead, we just used the too hard surfaces and our weight to press the paper.
3. Tried to add red color.  We used gel food coloring.  While it stained the counter, the water, and our clothes, the gray newspaper remained…well, gray.

 Mia opted to take my recommendation for edible valentines.  We have an awesome sugar cookie recipe that we use to make cookies for every known event and/or holiday that has a cookie cutter.  I thought it would be cute to make large heart cookies and deliver them in CD sleeves (the paper kind with the cellophane window).

I’ll be honest.  We haven’t done this particular cookie-making yet, but I wanted to share in time for you to use it with your family.  The pictures are from recent cookie making extravaganzas.

Here’s the recipe…

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened  (I repeat…unsalted.)
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 TBS light corn syrup
1 TBS vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Stir in the egg, then the corn syrup and vanilla extract.  One third at a time, add the four mixture until thoroughly mixed.  Pat the dough into a ball.  

I am usually able to roll out this dough without refrigerating it.  It’s actually too hard if you refrigerate it for too long.  We roll it between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the pin and to avoid having to add extra flour which toughens the dough.

Use a large heart-shaped cutter to shape dough and decorate as desired.  Bake at 375 until golden brown (about 12 minutes).