School Valentine's "Day"

Today was the day that we celebrated Valentine's Day at the preschool. I did something little for yesterdays keiki's but today we did a little more...since Valentine's Day is on Sunday, we just celebrated today for the kids. We don't have school on Monday, and so by the time it was Tuesday it would be way passed Valentine's Day...so that's why.

This whole week we talked about what it means to "Love"...your parents, your friends, your pets, your world...and just how to show it and not only did I help them make Valentine's for each other...we did plenty of Valentine's Craft work...which turned out pretty cute! I got some of my ideas from the ever wonderful pinterest...and then tweeked them to be more appropriate for my age group, and other projects I just had in my repertoire of craft/art work.

I also had the children make a print of their hand so that we can make a "valentine" for their parents. Overall, even though it was a SUPER long week...it was also a week filled with fun for the keikis. Wait, what am I saying...EVERY DAY is a fun day with my keikis! :)

Two of my favorite crafts that I did with the keikis were the "Bee Mine" and the "Love monsters!" They turned out SOOO cute! All their craft work turned out super cute! But these two where my favorite!

 

Here is my little Love Monster that I made...but I think my kids did a WAY better job than I did!



 
  
  

 Oh my goodness! I wish that I could post them all, they are just all so darn cute! The kids picked their own color out...I showed them mine...but I let them glue everything and they decided where to put their own pieces...and I loved how they turned out! Oh my goodness, my keikis are my lil Love Monsters! So full of love...and such cute little monsters! :)

 

 

  

Their bee's also turned out super cute as well! I was getting tired of all the pinks, whites, reds, and purple colors that we were using so I asked them which bug they wanted to do for something like "Love Bug"...and they all wanted to do a bee...and so a bee we made! :) And I think they turned out so amazingly cute! My kids LOVE LOVE doing arts and crafts! I usually just leave a table with all kine of different art materials that they can use however they want to use it...appropriately (unfortunately, they are not allowed to draw on the walls, floors, etc.). I usually cover the whole table with scratch paper or newspaper that they can do free art with...but I also have several guided art projects that we do A DAY...they LOVE creating...and I am all up for it! I also love how my class LOVES to sing. I wonder where they got that from! :)

Today we only had time to do one guided craft work because I filled the day with a lot of games and of course we HAD to have our Valentines Marching Parade! :) The craft was a cute one that the kids made for their parents...

 

I had forgotten to take a pictures of the kids work...and they had taken them all home for their parents, so I was left with this one. The one that I made for my lil DollGirl. I adore that saying..."I love you to the moon and back!" It just makes my heart so happy. :)

My sister had read the book "Guess How Much I Love you" by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram where it says that phrase. Now my lil DollGirl likes to do this thing where she calls you to come closer and she whispers in your ear, "I love you to the ocean, to the sand, to the tree"...just random things that she sees at the moment...and you have to say one back to her too. I love it so much and I hope that she never stops that. Even though sometimes, it's questionable..."Aunty, I love you to the door, to the light, to the rubbish can!" Really?! Rubbish can!? Oh well, she loves me. :)

The Valentine that I had the kids help me make for their parents was this:



I like doing handprint keepsakes for the parents and I would laminate it. I know that I am a sentimental person...and so I can just imagine that whenever I have my own child that I would have a keepsake of how tiny my little ones hand was so long ago.

The poem that I placed on it goes like this:



It was a simple project for them and I hope that they liked it. I know that I did. :)

And last but not least, my TA (who is THE BEST Teacher's Assistant EVER!) and I couldn't let the children leave without a little Valentine from us...so we gave them this:

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the book "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees! It has such a lesson to learn and it's just a fun book that has rhythm and rhyme...and it's just a good book to read over and over again and again! And I love sweatheart candies...so I had to give them just a little of that...and their own little valentine card.

It was a good day today. Long...extremely hyper-active, and non-stopped paced...but a very good day indeed. :)

"We can all DANCE when we find MUSIC that we love."

 -Giles Andreae

To the ocean.

I love this quote. I got home late again today...but I didn't knock out when I got home this time. When I got out of my car, it was already 9:30PM...and it was dark. I am so blessed to be living where I am living, because no matter how dark it gets, all I have to do is look up and the stars are almost always shining super bright, and so that is what I did when I got home. I looked up and saw how amazing the stars were that I decided to walk to the beach to just sit there for a few minutes and relax in...life.

Working three jobs is nothing new to most people of this world...but I am still trying to time management after picking up this last job. I do know that it makes me so tired at the end of the day and as I am driving home from my last job of the day sometimes I wonder...is it all worth it? Sometimes I get in those modes where I wonder what is the meaning of my life...is all this work worth it all. And all I have to do is walk to the ocean to know my answer. Yes, it's all worth it.

There is something about the beach at night. Just me, nature, God, and my thoughts. I love watching nature documentaries on Netflix (which is constantly playing in my house since I hate the silence of living alone.)...and I tend to watch more ocean documentaries...and wow, the ocean is an amazing thing...it holds so many secrets, so much life, and so much mass. And where I live, I can see the Mokes in the distance and then forever after that...it goes on and on...until it touches the sky and makes you look up to the stars! To bad I'm not good a photographer and my phone camera can not capture the amazing moment of the rising of the moon over the water...and the endless shine of the stars looking down at me. It's an awe-inspiriting moment when I can't help be thankful to God that he made all this for me.

I still get in those moments where I want to give up...but I don't. I don't because life is such an amazing thing and even though for a moment darkness seizes me, I push through because I have found somewhere that I can go to heal once again. The ocean.

Wouldn't it be amazing if I were a mermaid?! :)

Well, I just got back from processing another billion flowers...flowers that smelled so amazing and were so beautiful that I can never get tired of flowers.





My work space all cleaned up after the processing of all the flowers that came in! (Don't you love my hydro flask?! Gotta keep hydrated...and my amazing friend and TA gave it to me...).



We had to make make-shift shelves in the studio for all the flowers that we processed!




 Every space possible was covered in the studio! We had to leave the table clear just so that we had room to design the next day! The white roses are called Escimo Roses...they are one of my favorite roses...they open so beautiful, and the smell like candy!



The walk-in freezer in the studio was also packed full of gorgeous flowers! Don't you love the white hydrangea arrangements?! They look like miniature balls of clouds! :)










The hallway directly outside the studio was also used in placing the flowers we had...

 
 

Even the hallway leading up to the extra studio beside our studio...as you can see, we had to make make-shift shelves here as well!

 
  
  

And the extra studio itself was also full of flowers! Flower heaven...smells so amazing and they look amazing! I am excited for all who ordered flowers for Valentine's Day and the two huge weddings that we will be having! It will be all so beautiful!

 
 

"The earth laughs in flowers." 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just go.

I got home and...knocked out. Dropped all my things on the floor, sat on my couch for what I thought was a 5 minute breather and ended up waking up at 5 hours later feeling sore all over and that didn't-brush-my-teeth-before-going-to-bed taste in my mouth. Blah. Ew. I hate waking up to that feeling. So I just took a shower and brushed my teeth and tried to go back to sleep for an hour and half since it was already 4:15 (I usually get up at 5:45AM to start my day. No I am not a morning person.) But I couldn't go back to sleep and so I decided to write.

It was a long day. Starting at 5:45 going...without stop...until 10:30PM...and I was tired. Exhausted really. And guess what?! The week isn't even close to over! Ahhhh! I should be tired right now...and I am, but my body just won't go to sleep.

And you know what?! It's cold. Like...Hawai'i cold. Like 59 degree's kind of cold...not fun. It's cold. I can't sleep in that! Oh well, I'm awake and so there.

I processed at Passion Roots today...and wow, there were a billion flowers! What did I expect?! It's the week leading up to Valentine's Day...so of course it's going to super crazy! On top of that we have two HUGE weddings this weekend. So not only are we processing for Valentine's Day, but we are processing for two HUGE weddings. And when I mean huge...I mean, HUGE!

There were flowers EVERYWHERE! And more flowers are going to come in today! Oh my goodness!

 

 

I mean, the flowers were all so beautiful...but there were hundreds of flowers! I'm not complaining though because flowers make me so happy. They are so beautiful! And they smell amazing...and not only that, but the people that I work with are AMAZING people, that even though we have to work late, it doesn't really matter because at least we have each other to keep each other wake and on task.

 

Check out the thorns on these babies! That stuff can do some damage, that's for sure! These are called Heart Roses, and they are going to be used for our Valentine retail arrangements and "Rocki's" Wedding. They are a very rich, deep red color...and that perfectly portrays what the world says is the official color of Valentines. Me?! I prefer pink. Or yellow billy balls. :)

My work station for the night when all work was pau. It was a long day and I was glad to go home and get some much needed things done for the next day. But of course, that didn't happen. But oh well, at least now I can do everything that I needed to do since I can't sleep, and even though I slept in a crappy position on my one person sofa chair, at least I got my sleep already.

 

This is the quote that is in my Passion Planner for this week. And I fully agree with it. Once time has passed, it is gone and you can not get it back and that is a scary thought. Whether you did something or not, that moment in time is gone and you're not going to live forever. I want to travel. I want to just travel every where...and that is what I want to do with my time. And I promise that when I was doodling in my "Space of Infinite Possibility" section of my Passion Planner I was just doodling and not thinking about what I was doing...and that is what happens when I doodle...I do so thinking of something else and this is what I did...

Just go, it says. And I want to. I want to just go and go and go...and just travel any where....every where...just experience the life of traveling. But one thing holds me back...and something I don't regret either. And that would be my keikis. I can't leave my keikis. I love my kids and I love being there with my little preschoolers and experiencing the world in their eyes and just watching their face when they learn something new...that wonder of life comprehension of what they can grasp is an amazing thing to experience. I love it. I know that if I were to travel all the time like I would love to, I would miss out on experiences with my lil keikis. And that's what holds me back, really...well, that and money and...and I don't want to "go" alone. But one day, I'll find someone who will love to travel...at least somewhere new once a year would be amazing for me...and it will happen.

Just go. Okay.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Yay! Today was a success! And I am only bummed that I was unable to take any pictures! The other teachers were able to take the pictures...so hopefully I'll be able to grab them from them in the future! :) The kids had a blast during out bubble party time. We had it with the whole school and we had a lot of fun dancing and just singing in the bubbles that were surrounding us! The bubble machines were amazing...and having two of them was like a bubble ocean! Seriously...the kids loved it, I loved it...we all had fun!

The party was a success as well! I thought that I wasn't going to make it because it was all chaoticness since the schedule for my keikis was off...but it went well...they had a blast making their own pizzas and smoothies! And we all shared our valentines with each other! I love my keikis...and I can never say it enough...I love working with them. :)

I did want to share what Lil' Tristan made for us teachers! He isn't in my class any longer...but he made a bunch of these to give out to the teachers...and I absolutely adored it! Aren't they just the cutest ever!!!

I just put my lil DollGirl down to sleep. And I am just chilling like a villian on my sister's couch waiting for them to come home. :) I left the house before being able to give Amanda and my brother their Valentine so I just left it on the island in the kitchen upstairs at my house for them to see it before they went on their Broadway date. But I was able to give my sister's and Kuya Neal's their valentine...and they really liked it. I am so blessed to have an amazing family. I love them so much!

DollGirl was a bit fussy tonight...and super clingy...so I got to cuddle with her and read her books galore. I'm happy that she loves books...just like her mama! (And Aunty AND Uncle...UNLIKE her daddy though! He does NOT like to read! *laughs*)...Tracy was over for a bit just to talk story before going to sleep herself. She cooked up a Greek dinner for her hubby and herself and she cooks amazing! But she dropped by to give me this bowl of goodies, which I am currently consuming as I write this post. :)

Happy Valentines Day all...I hope everyone had a day full of love! :)

 

"Our days are happier when we give people a piece of our heart rather than a piece of our mind."--Anonymous

DIY Valentine Cards.

(So shoot me, this will be a long post! *laughs*)

This year, I am not going to be down (not that I am any other year!) that I don't have ONE special person to share the love day with...because I have several actually, and I call them my family. :) So, I decided to make the all Valentines cards and then since they so happen to be couples (My sister and her husband, Neal; My brother and his girlfriend, Amanda) I got them gift cards to go eat out and have a date with each other from me. :) But making the cards was actually fun! I have been so stressed out with life lately that I told myself that I will sit down and just relax by making my family their valentines tonight.

I am actually quite proud at how they turned out and I can't wait to give it to them!

Each one of the cards are unique and different from each other. My sisters were actually a lot of fun to make with not problems...my brothers on the other hand were a bit more challenge because I didn't want to make theirs all girlie and everything. *laughs*

I personalized a message to them on the index cards...however as you can tell since I don't want the whole world knowing what I wrote to them, I covered them with a blank card because I did want you to see the inside of the card. :)

Amanda, she collects old cameras...and so I liked this one for her! She also has this thing where she says "heart" all the time...when she is sorry or something...it's kind of cute actually! *laughs*

I think I took the longest on Kuya Neal's! I wanted him to like it, but not things that it was girlie! *laughs* I hope that I got it down though! *laughs*

I actually really love the back of Kuya Neal's!

I hope I also nailed it with this one...It was so hard to make it more "masculine!" But I can only hope my brother likes it! :)

And those are the cards that I made for them! I had fun making them and I it makes me miss the times where I actually had time to make my cards! It was a favorite hobby of mine back in the days when I actually had time to sit down and craft more! *laughs* Hopefully I'll find more time since it was a really relaxing to do!

Both couples will be going to see The Lion King broadway...and I do have to say that I am jealous...but one day, I'll be able to afford to go and see it myself. It's on my bucket list. I have heard that it was amazing and that I would absolutely fall in love with it...I will see it one day! 

I am actually going to babysit my lil DollGirl while her parents go to see the show...I know that I'll have fun with her....I always have fun with her. :) 

Hopefully tomorrow when I have my "Friendship" party with my keikis at school, they will enjoy everything that I have planned for them! :)

"They may forget you, but they will NEVER forget how you make them feel."--Anonymous