I’m not sure why the library chose this week’s theme so soon, since there’s still over a week before the actual day, which includes one more story-time session… regardless, today’s theme was Valentines.  Ms. Nancy read lots of books about love, family, and making Valentines and hearts:

Valentine Cats by Jean Marzollo:  “The cats enjoy Valentine’s Day.  Cards are written, drawn, and delivered with the help of the entire group of cats.”

Sweet Hearts by Jan Carr:  “Valentines are hidden throughout the house.  It doesn’t take long before every card is discovered.”

Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine by Sarah Weeks:  “Everyone gets their own Valentine.  Each one is different and specially selected.”

Never Too Little to Love by Jeanne Willis:  “Tin Too-Little wants to give a kiss to someone who is very tall.  He uses something to help him reach up high.”  (This one was my favorite pick of the day.)

We also danced to and acted out the song Skinnamarink.  Abby liked trying to follow Ms. Nancy’s miming.  Shawn stood and watched for most of the song.  We also did some finger play:

How Many Valentines?

Valentines, Valentines, how many do you see?

Valentines, Valentines, can you count them with me?

One for father (hold up one finger)

One for mother (hold up another finger)

One for grandparents, too (hold up another finger)

One for sister (hold up another finger)

One for brother (hold up another finger)

And here is one for you! (make a heart shape with thumbs and pointer fingers)

Five Little Valentines

One little Valentine colored pink and blue (hold up one finger)

A second one came and then there were two (hold up two fingers)

Two little Valentines clapping with glee (clap hands)

A third one came and then there were three (hold up three fingers)

Three little Valentines tapping at the door (knock three times)

A fourth one came and then there were four (hold up four fingers)

[I think I’m missing a line here – oops!]

A fifth one came and then there were five (hold up five fingers)

Five little valentines wanted to say

Have a very happy Valentine’s Day! (wiggle five fingers)

And of course, a variation of the classic:

Roses are Red

Roses are red.

Violets are blue.

Honey is sweet,

And so are you!

So, with all of that Valentine’s talk, we should be well primed for the big day… in a little over a week from now!  Hmmm...

Back to a closer holiday… I never did hear what Punxsutawney Phil decided to do yesterday, but if he was living in Chi-town, he'd be nuts not to scurry back inside!  Our streets are looking pretty good, but I know there are still many that haven't been plowed yet or only have one lane open.  Many schools and businesses are still closed.  Part of the problem is getting the plows around to all of the areas, but the other problem is where to put the snow once it's plowed.  We'll be lucky if it's all gone by Spring!

Still, I think the storm's moved on.  We were expecting more snow last night, but it never came - though it's a little hard to tell with all the snow we do have!  There's a drift at the back door that's between 5-6 feet high; meanwhile, my car in the driveway hardly had any snow on it at all.  Amazing micro-meteorology at work!  I think the final total around here was in the vicinity of 20".  With all of the variability in the drifting, I couldn't even guess what we have in our own yard.  Last night's news forecasted today's wind chill to be between -20F to -30F, though the actual temp is 12F right now. brrrrrrr......  I'm just glad we're not among the thousands who lost power!