We have this week off of school.

*cue the silent screaming*

This means that the teenagers are sleeping in, the little boys are waking up earlier than normal (mostly to see who can grab the unlocked iPad first), and we still have our normal therapy schedule.

So when I got home with Thumper after ABA today, I found the Webmaster watching a movie with Tad and Rerun – because hey, no school tomorrow!

They were watching the 1954 Disney version of “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.”  Tad was enthralled by it.

When it was over, he simply said “That was amazing.”

Then everyone went to bed late, because… midwinter break.

Ane and her friend KT decided that in lieu of having dates on Valentine’s Day, they would just go out to dinner themselves on Saturday.  Well, when Thumper saw them getting ready (and needing a lift from the Webmaster, because state law requires that newly licensed drivers under 18 to wait 6 months before driving around any minors not related to them), he got his shoes and coat on.

And then when the girls walked out the door, he followed them.

The Webmaster stared.  “Should I just… take him along for the ride?”

“Well, he clearly wants to get out of here!” I said.

Apparently, he got what he wanted and was perfectly willing to come home once the girls were dropped off.  What a strange child.

It’s Valentine’s Day!  And I always love posting pictures of my little Valentines of years past.

This was Thumper’s first Valentine’s Day, and these are some of my favorite photos of the two little boys.

This is also when I started giving the kids a “heart-shaped box of candy” for Valentine’s Day, which is now a tradition (according to Rerun).

It just isn’t Valentine’s Day without a heart-shaped box of candy, you know.

Or, when Mom totally overdoes it.

Thumper is not into crafts.  Or drawing.  Or art.  His fine art sensibilities are solely in the realm of music.  So, when the note came home from school to “help your child make a Valentine’s Day box,” I knew exactly how much help I would get from Thumper.

Zero.

However, I also knew that if I could make something Star Wars-y for his Valentine box, he would really enjoy it.  So, I bought some oatmeal in the large canister (it will get turned into cookies later), cut a heavy, large piece of cardstock to size, and got to work with a pencil, a ruler, and the “Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary” next to me.  Goal: create an R2-D2 Valentine box.

Once I had something that looked satisfactory, I began outlining and coloring.

The next step was to tape it on to my oatmeal cylinder.

And then I had to stop to make a run to Michaels.  The styrofoam half-balls were a little too large for the lid, but I didn’t feel like spending more time shaving down the edges (and making a mess), so I made do.  A piece of silver tissue paper, some cardstock scraps, and using my circle and square punches helped finish off R2’s dome.

Not exactly film-prop worthy, but plenty good for a first grader’s Valentine’s Day box.  And Thumper knew immediately who it was, so that’s a win for Mom!