Valentine's Party

After the kids woke up from nap on Friday, we had a little family Valentine's party.  First, Charlotte made Valentine cards for family and her BFF, Evelyn...

Hunter has had a cold this week, so he was a little grumpy after nap...

We had promised Hunter that we would make peppermint ice cream...

James and I received that ice cream maker as a wedding present, and shockingly we've never used it (us Brooks love ice cream!).  So after James put all of the ingredients in, I asked if he had to put ice in it.  He said no and walked over to re-read the directions, which told him that the inside canister needed to be frozen before starting...aaaaand the freezing process would take anywhere between 6 and 22 hours. 

Awesome.

So we had to scoop everything out and begin the freezing process.  Hunter was completely understanding.  We're talking angel child here.  No whining or fit throwing whatsoever.  No, he didn't throw himself on the floor in protest.  And there was no need to shower him with promises that we'd make the ice cream as soon as the container was ready.

By bedtime the canister still wasn't completely frozen, so James and H made the ice cream first thing Saturday morning, and y'all, it is good.  Gooooood.

After H calmed down from the ice cream disappointment, I coaxed him into making Valentine cards...

Hunter had many more cards to make than Charlotte did.  He made them for family, his preschool class, and his Sunday school class.  We broke the card making up into several different sessions because there were so many (he made over 25!).  I was really proud of his persistance...

 After working up an appetite with all of the card-making, we decided to make some Valentine cookies...

 ...which as you can see, cheered everyone up!

Grandee and Poppy came over yesterday and brought us all Valentine goodies, and my mom came to bring some more today.  I can't wait to give the kids their gifts tomorrow.  We are blessed to have so much love around!  Happy Valentine's Day y'all!