The Lee Family: Olivia's Valentine's Party

On Wednesday afternoon, Olivia's class held their Valentine's party for an hour just before school was out for the day. I actually had a tennis match that morning in Mira Vista (southwest Fort Worth) and was worried about getting back in time to be able to shower and go to her party. However, my partner Kim and I were beaten so badly (we have rarely lost when playing together), that I had plenty of time to get home, shower and make it to Olivia's party. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so used my iPhone for all the photos which I was surprised turned out well. I arrived just as the party started and two other moms were there, as well. One thing I've noticed about Olivia's class is that not many of the parents attend the parties. When Sofia was at SSH, most of the moms attended the parties and that's how I met many of the families and am still friends with those parents. In contrast, I've never met most of the parents of Olivia's classmates.

Olivia was surprised and super excited to see me and gave me a huge hug. Their teacher, Ms. Carolina who recently returned after maternity leave, had the kids line up and head out to the large room at the center of the school to participate in games. Each of the kids had a valentine's bag with their name on a heart which they carried with them. They had three games set up and split the 3-year old classes up into groups to play each of the games before rotating. Olivia started with the game of throwing three velcro balls onto a bullseye. After all three balls stuck to the bullseye, she was able to pick out a "gold metal" as an award. From there, Olivia and her little group from her class moved to the ring toss, where they tossed three hearts onto two cones. She tossed them well but none of them made it around one of the cones. After she was done, she was able to choose a packet of stickers. From there, she moved over to the bean bag toss where she tried to throw three little bean bags through the opening of a heart. She was able to pick out a glittery pencil when she was done and asked her teacher, Ms. Alcira if she could have another pencil to give to her sister. She's always thinking about her big sister.

After all the kids in her class where done with the games, they headed back to their classroom where they each were given a foam heart and the letters of their name. The other kids spelled out their names on their heart, while Olivia was a little more into the "free form" name. I'm pretty sure she's ready for early admissions to Harvard! Ha. After their craft, the kids were given a decorated sugar cookie to eat. Olivia wanted to keep hers for later so I wrapped it up in the napkin and put it in my purse. After their cookie, the kids passed out their valentines so that each bag got one valentine each. Some of the kids needed a little help since they were happy to stuff more than one into a bag. Olivia handed out princess valentines with a popsicle taped to it for each of her classmates.

As the party came to an end, the kids sat around Ms. Alcira to sing a song. Olivia sat there sucking her thumb since she didn't go to bed until very late the night before. She always seems much more shy when I'm around and Ms. Alcira always tells me that she participates during class and has fun. She just seems to clam up when I'm there for parties. Olivia collected her things and gave Ms. Alcira a huge hug. She's such a sweet and loving teacher and always hugs and kisses Olivia on her head and tells her "I love you." The kids all seem to really be drawn to her and she's so affectionate with all the kids in the class, which is great to see. Olivia and I headed out to the car a little early after a fun Valentine's Party! I was so glad to be able to be part of it.

Let the Valentine's Party begin!