I'm all out of love

It all started with the stack of Valentine's Day cards that we made for the Veterans Hospital in town.

Then, I signed up our family for the 2010 Homeschool Valentine Exchange. We sent ten families these (from Family Fun):

Yes, those are glow sticks. I hope they get to where they're going without cracking-and-glowing inside the envelopes. "Here kids! A plastic stick!"

While we were at it, one of my favorite bloggers asked if we wanted to exchange cards this year, and so our glowsticks are probably now stuck in Canadian customs while bomb-sniffing dogs circle the envelope.

But, with all of those cards going out by the 5th of February, it seemed we had SO MUCH TIME to finish all the other cards.

All 131 of them.

First were the 20 for D's preschool class. He wrote each child's name on the envelope and his name on the back of flying saucers. We put his little martian head on the front, and the words "You're Out Of This World" on sticky labels so he could just peel-and-stick his sentiment. I called in my free labor (daughters) to help me cut and glue his little martian head (yes, I suck at any kind of "photoshopping").

Then there were the 111 cards for today's homeschool Valentine's Day party (that's 37 kids x 3 children).

Thank goodness Belly executed hers almost entirely on her own, using cardstock, an "I think you're sweet" bird stamp, and a lollipop.

Jilly needed a little help, so we made puffy paint and decorated a zillion paper hearts which then were hung from a ribbon. She carefully wrote all 37 names in silver Sharpie after the paint had dried (warning, if you ever do this, your house will smell like shaving cream-glue for days afterward).

I knew D would smother me if I asked him to write his name 37 times, so I "cheated" and pulled out my secret weapon: Avery printable business cards. A few minutes on the computer to insert a photo and a little Valentine message, hit print and Voila!: "homemade" cards that he can shove into 37 bags today.

And, who can forget these little beauties from Cool Mom Picks' Etsy contest? We didn't--the kids have colored these to give to family and other friends who we won't see today.

It seems humorous to me that I once worried that my poor classroom-less homeschooled kids would miss out on all the fun of exchanging Valentine's Day cards.

Now, excuse me, I need to make cupcakes for today's Valentine's Day party. And fight the crowds at Target for a few little treats for my own sweethearts.

The irony? Do you think we've even started these lollipop plants? Of course not. Procrastinator's version, FTW!

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FTW: "for the win" for all of you who don't waste your idle time on Twitter.