I do not work outside of our home. Except for some volunteer website design...which doesn't pay anything but a full heart. Which is perfectly ok with me. But I hate having to tell S I took money out of our account to buy him a gift. He always tells me he doesn't need anything and not to spend any money on him. So I decided to get creative with what I had on hand to create something for him for Valentine's Day. I looked around the house and my eyes landed on a bowl of shells that I had dumped out of my jacket pocket from our last date day.
I did a bit of research on-line and found this site which gives the history of sailor's valentines. And this one by Lynda Hennigan who creates the most detailed and intricate designs. I can't think of a more perfect gift for a sailor.
Yesterday morning I started laying out the shells, trying to come up with a design I was happy with. The boys immediately descended upon my work space to investigate - possibly attracted by the strong smell of the adhesive.
They wanted in on the action, so we cut hearts from red card stock and the glue-fest began. Each of the boys made one for their teacher. I hadn't thought of this as a good gift for a teachers, but Im glad they did.
Its all about patterns, symmetry and repetition of one type of shell. Lots of learning to be found in those three concepts. Even the three year old got the pattern concept...gray, white, lellow (yellow), gray, white, lellow.
Sometimes when we are all walking along the beach, I come across matching shells that are still attached to one another. And it amazes me at how through storms and rough seas, they manage to land on the beach...still together. Corny, maybe...but I think about those shells often.
So here is what I ended up with for S's Valentine's Day gift. I hope he's not reading.
But if he is. Hello honey. I love you. See you soon.