signing valentines

this year i went with purchased valentines. mason and madelyn whizzed through their valentines yesterday afternoon but maddux was taking a little more time. he and mason both had to write around 30 valentines since they go to class on both days when there would be parties (thursday and friday). mason needed me to help with the assembly of his (inserting temporary tattoos into the little slots and maddux needed assistance with motivation. he can write his name on his own, so i have him address them himself. there is hardly enough space on the "from" location so he just wrote on the backs of the cards.

this was his first valentine addressed...

...then he worked on writing very, very small...

...and here is how neatly the last one turned out.

mason kept us company after he finished his valentines.

and then he worked on 'reading' to us off his flashcards. we have never really formally gone through this box set of valentines he got last year.  today he went through most of the sets in the box and i must say that he did surprisingly well! i think he was just as surprised as i was with how many words he could read and/or recognize. he is much, much more enthusiastic about the prospect of reading than madelyn ever was at this age. he will already say that he is a "pretty good reader". he is growing up so fast.

so valentines ready! love.