We Love to Be a Family Day 2014 (aka Valentine's Day)

I'm pretty grateful that I stumbled upon this idea on the Power of Moms website last year. And I am also pretty grateful that I didn't dismiss it as a tad too cheesy for us. Last year was so lovely so we were definitely going to give it another shot this year. Besides, the kids were actually asking for it and that's a pretty good sign that the tradition is a keeper in my books. (for a peek at last year click here).

Our day started early, and before we were even dressed, as we had to get started on our first heart before we had breakfast. 

I love Milayla's morning hair. Pretty sure it's impossible for this girl to not look cute. 

Each of the hearts this year had a little theme to them such as service, love, music, sharing etc. 

We started by baking some of our favorite pumpkin muffins to put together some goody plates to give to some friends. While those baked we had some delicious pancakes with fruit sauce for breakfast. Pretty sure that Jason has the pancake thing down to a perfection.

After things were cleaned up and we were all dressed, we opened up our Valentine buckets. 

Pretty sure these kids have a sixth sense for chocolate. I only put a couple little chocolates in the bottom of each child's bucket (and the big kid around here) and all three of them dug for it first, instinctively knowing what was in there. I just tell myself it's because they know I pick the good stuff - those lindor chocolate hearts are delish!

Can't forget that the kids opened up some more valentines from the mail the night before. They love getting mail!

I felt a little bad about the fact that we had some errands that needed to be run that morning, but we were able to combine it with delivering some plates of goodies to some really lovely people. It was a nice way to balance out the morning.

Then there were singing times, a lovely lesson about family, group hugs, and a family walk that ended us at a very fun candy store.

Pretty sure our kiddos have never been into a strictly candy store, a chocolate store, yes, but not candy. It took a bit for them to compute that all the stuff in there actually was edible and not just toys. They each got to pick out a few small candies and we found a real wonka chocolate bar. Which was kind of a big deal since we had just finished reading the book as a family. And, of the entire store, the kids were most impressed with the large wonka stuffed toy. Pretty sure Milayla was ready to march that right out of that store.

When we got home it was time for us to suit up into our pyjamas and make some heart shaped pizza.

I told everyone to make a crazy face for this picture, Milayla told me she was busy but the boys obliged. And Milayla succeeded in spreading out that pizza sauce wonderfully!

Then we all hunkered down in the living room to watch the film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Can you see the excitement in these kiddos eyes?

Unfortunately, I think their excitement was a bit let down at the movie. We stopped watching about half way through after Atticus said that he thought it was a bit scary and not as good as the book. We encouraged him to follow his feeling as there are so many movies to choose from that there is no need to watch something that you aren't very keen on.

So while the movie was a bit of a let down, everything else was a big success. The kids are already talking about what we will do next year and how it is one of their favorite holidays. I just love the togetherness that a day filled with little bits of time together to serve, learn and grow can bless our family with. I love traditions that can do that!

Valentine Prep 2014

I really am excited to get these valentine prep pictures up on the blog. Partly because I had so much fun making valentines and treats with the kiddos (and Jason when he was available) and partly because it means I get to work on our We Love to Be a Family Day post next. yay!! 

First up, we kicked off February with a family home evening about loving our family and those around us. For our treat we made little personal size heart pies. I had seen the idea for the pies on pinterest. The result was edible, but not great. At least we had fun making them and getting ourselves covered in flour.

I can't resist posting these pictures of Atticus. He is becoming such a face maker lately as he works on emphasizing his expressions and moods. 

And here is my darling girl still tired from her nap and snuggled up to me, insisting that Mommy take a picture of "sleepy". Well, here is what sleepy looks like.

And what handsome looks like.

And now here is a series of photos of little hands helping. I love seeing those little hands helping out. So sweet and special.

This picture is blurry. But I had to post it as it is one of the rare times that I caught Milayla's real smile before she moved on to her silly smile or to something else entirely. So beautiful.

Jason's hands were in there an awful lot as well. 

Bizarrely enough, I don't think I took a picture of the finished product. They looked pretty great. The kids did a great job!

Then it was on to our heart attack. Atticus was very insistent that he sound out and spell them on his own. He did pretty well. His spelling is really coming along. Milayla did really well on expressing what she wanted the hearts from her to say.

Since we did the hearts in all different colors, when we put the hearts around our kitchen (which are still up because we like them so much) it looked like we had big candy hearts all over the cupboards and walls. I rather like having them up because when the kids and I are hanging out in the kitchen (for meals, or meal prep, or craft time etc) Atticus will read the hearts and Milayla will point to which ones she wants read. It means that they are reading some wonderful things about each other and our family every single day and I love it. We need more good things on our walls. It just seems like that is the last thing to happen around here when we move, if it should happen at all. That needs to change. We need more pictures.

Here are just a few of those awesome hearts.

An Atticus heart - 'Mommy's kisses + cuddles' (because he likes them)

The one with 'TOYS 4551' says, in entirety - 'Milayla's sharing toys' because Atticus likes that Milayla shares toys really well. And then there is a yellow heart about daddy being the best and a green heart about what a great helper and hard worker Atticus is.

Milayla's splendid art work

Then the kids helped me make a list of people that they wanted to send valentines out to. They sent out a ton in the mail (I hope they all made it! ) and then made a ton for friends here. They really worked their little hearts out on those. The ones that they spent the most time working on were the ones that they made for our family. They spent a lot of time cutting and gluing and making little mosaic hearts and coming up with what they wanted to write.

I am so loving Atticus' writing and how well his sounding out of words has come. We've started copy work to really help him get a handle on new words and the structure of sentences (spaces, when uppercase etc). 

And, of course, Milayla mentions cuddles whenever possible!

I'm kind of in love with the fact that we have found a way to enjoy this holiday with it being fun and not a lot of pressure. We just enjoy time together. Always appreciated. Will post on our We Love to Be a Family Day soon!

Valentine's Day

We had quite the countdown to Valentine's Day going on around here. I was pleasantly surprised at how excited the kids were about it coming. Of course, the decorations, the valentines that the kids and I made and their knowledge of there being a surprise awaiting them certainly helped to fuel the anticipation. 

The day kicked off with a special valentine breakfast with the kiddos (Jason headed off to work eeaarrrly in the morning so he missed breakfast, but he was back shortly there after. I love flex-time. It has been a much needed aspect when we live so far from family.). I had planned to keep everything pretty low-key and to try to focus on the feeling (rather than trying to put together perfectly-pink heart shaped pancakes with dancing cupids on top, or something equally over-the-top for us) and served up some muesli with homemade raspberry milk. It was a hit. And tasty. 

Jason was home shortly after breakfast to help out since I had injured my foot a couple days prior and was supposed to be resting on the couch. The morning was nicely filled out with Valentine coloring sheets, mazes and little games. Nice and easy which made it totally manageable with an injured foot. And we all enjoyed ourselves just the same.

After nap time was when the real celebration began. I had seen an idea for a family celebration over at The Power of Moms that looked perfect (and so easily customizable for every family) and so with a little creative brainstorming we put together our 1st Annual We-Love-to-be-a-Family Day! 

Looks certifiably cheesy, doesn't it? On the outset, it definitely does but don't let that dissuade you. It was perfect. Here is the idea in a nutshell: come up with different activities to do together as a family, hide clues for each activity around the house, find clues, do activities, have fun, make memories. So simple. So easy. So fun. And so very memorable. I hid the hearts while the kids were down for nap and so they were pretty excited to stumble upon a few hidden hearts when they woke up and to see our special banner. 

Our activities were nothing extravagant as we knew doing it on an afternoon would not allow much time to fulfill the activities, but the extravagence certainly did not make a difference. We did things like performing acts of service for another family member (in our case we each cleaned someone elses room), group hugs, taking a valentine and a treat to a neighbour, making (and eating) pancakes together for dinner, learning about the Saviours love (a personal favorite) and opening up our valentine mailboxes while having a few special treats. 

Jason and the kids went to the market and came back with some gorgeous tulips. I can't wait for Spring! And see that Valentine's Day Banner up there? That was Atticus' handiwork. Man, is he proud of it. 

Visiting our neighbour is always lovely so we enjoyed that and you certainly can't go wrong with pancakes for dinner but I think everyone's favorite part of the day was opening up our Valentine Mailboxes. 

The kids really put a lot of work into their valentines and they did such a great job. Atticus was so proud of the message that he came up with for my Valentine and the family pictures that he drew along with them. He is such a thoughtful kid. 

And Milayla was so excited to let everyone know which Valentine was from her. When we would ask who the Valentine was from that we were opening, she would raise her little finger and give us a big, cheeky grin to let us know if it was hers. I love the way her eyes sparkle. She has such an incredible little personality. 

I loved the kids expressions and reactions as they opened up their valentines. Milayla even gave her valentines each a little hug. And Atticus made sure to say 'thank you' for each and every Valentine. 

And once all the Valentines were open, Atticus wanted to try taking a photo of Mommy and Daddy. Not bad for his first go and his little, toddler hands. Not to mention, it's kind of nice to have a picture with both Jason and I in it. 

And with that, a very successful Valentine's Day had come to an end (at least the family part). After the kids were in bed Jason and I enjoyed a little chocolate tasting and some Singing in the Rain. I love that Jason is so patient with me as I sing along to absolutely every song. Life really should be a musical.

I feel pretty lucky to have enjoyed such a great day with the ones that I love. Looking forward to our second annual We-Love-to-be-a-Family Day next year!