Love Day Selfies

The festive table,

balloons, table scatter,

and yummy food was good and all, 

but when I remember Love Day this year, 

it's gonna be all about 

these family selfies tonight.

Every time I look at Isaiah in this next one, he looks like #grannytown.

And it cracks me right up.

(The same time that Benj is playing thug life. They kill me.)

#stilllaughing

And in this last one, everyone's pretending they're in a romantic kiss.

Benj even has the arms going. 

Oh boy.

This throwback of Mia from Valentine's dinner 5 years ago goes right along with this theme, so I thought I'd share it again. (It's one of my faves.)

I think Audrey Hepburn had it right when she said this:

"The best thing to hold onto 

in life is each other."

#always

#happyvalentinesday

Benji's Words

A while back I was trying to figure out what I should do in a situation that really matters to me, 

and I was thinking aloud about it with Benji. 

He was patiently listening to me, as he has so many times on this particular topic.

And then he said something I've thought about again and again and again in the time since:

"Your best weapon is love, Mom."

And what else, really, is there to say?

Because it's true.

Love is what makes the difference.
Love is what brings peace.
 Love is what heals us. 

Valentines was...

Valentines Day was...

Heart-shaped toast with eggs

 Cupcakes with the. most. delicious. chocolate. frosting

I do believe I have ever partaken of.

Seriously.

I may or may not have eaten it plain.  With a spoon.

And yes, that sounds disgusting.

Shameless, I know.

I don't know if I can make normal chocolate frosting again.

 A decorated table: 

balloons, festive plates and cups and table scatter, a dozen long stemmed, gorgeous roses, and presents!

 A fascinated Claire, 

mesmerized by the balloons.

 Stuffed love bags, 

ready for opening.  

 And dinner.

The menu?

Beef pot pie with gravy, from scatch

Salad with berries and onions and feta and cashews, etc.

Fresh roasted asparagus

Bubbly with heart-shaped cran-raspberry ice cubes

Hope yours was a good day, too.

It's Love Day, a holiday that has become one of my favorites.

I'm just about to sign off and go make breakfast.

Then we're going to make chocolate cupcakes with creamy chocolate buttercream

Nutella frosting and stuff our valentine bags for friends.

Then we'll make deliveries and pick up balloons for our table tonight.

Then we'll make finishing additions to our love bags that we'll open after dinner.

Maybe snuggle up and watch a movie with the kids.

Or read Harry Potter, because that's what they always request in down time.

Then make dinner, complete with cranberry juice heart ice cubes.

Yup.

It's going to be a busy day. 

Are you wondering what to do today?

Here are some things we've done this past week that I can offer as suggestions.

1.  Listen to this, or read it here.

Or, you can even watch it.

I listened to it on my morning run today.

I loved it when I heard it and I love it still.

Today it gave me the inspiration to stay focused on what's important, work for what I most want,

and handle with care those things that I want to last forever.

It's a great love day talk.

2. Make Peppermint Bark

 3.  Write "hidden" messages with white crayons on white hearts.  Hide them and have a hunt throughout the house.  Then, paint over them and watch the messages appear. 

4.  Make valentines.

(I am not sure there is anything cuter than a 7 year old boy not thinking it's weird to put a "kiss" stamp on our neighbor's valentine.  He loves this guy!)

 5.  Make sugar cookies.

Found a new recipe, and it's the one I'm using from now on.

YUM.

Aaaaaaaand #6.  

Hold the people that you love close.

You  never know how much time you will have to let them know what you feel.

Happy Love Day.

Hope it's a good one for you and yours.

xoXOxo 

Love Post

Have I mentioned before that I heart Sundays?

Cuz I do.

After church yesterday we gathered round to make our love post sacks.

Ya know...our own individual "mailboxes"

to serve as receptacles for love notes and treats

and lots of lovely nonsense to each other

from now until February 14th.

It is a favorite tradition here.

The table became a mess of tissue paper,

markers, crayons, bags, scissors, and glue.

Claire busied herself ripping tissue paper.

Then we had vegetarian taco soup with chips, sour cream and fresh chunks of avocado.

And after that, I headed out to a family history project collaboration and Mr. C. cleaned up, hung out with the kids, read to them, and got them in bed.

By the time I got home late, the house was asleep and all was quiet.

  

There was the aftermath on the table, a happy smattering.

I had to smile because there were already notes tucked down inside,

the beginning of expressing our love this February.

A Family Valentine

Love Day

February 14, 2012 at our house

 We found these messages on the back door when we got out of bed.  A note for the whole family, and then a small message to each one of us individually from Mr. C.

 For breakfast, we made cinnamon oat pancakes and then cut out either cupid or heart shapes.

We made heart sugar cookies and delivered some valentines.  We went to pick up our balloons and a fancy BBQ sauce to go with Mr. C.'s gift.

When we got home, we played love songs from the iPod while getting the table set up.

(tulips Mr. C. gave me on February 13th)

I lit the mantle.  

The children were super anxious about the whole deal.  I had them bring the love boxes in and put them in front of the fireplace.

They were excited about making "Christmas juice" for special occasions (cran-raspberry juice mixed with Sprite or 7Up).

After dinner we dumped the contents of our boxes and read the children their notes.  They ripped open their candy necklaces.  

My favorite gift?  A print of this painting that I love.  He didn't know that this painting hung in my house growing up (it's upstairs where you don't see it much) and that it has special significance to me.

He just said it spoke to him as being something I would like.

I heart! poppies.  

Seriously.  LOVE them.

And he said it looked like something where that would be Mia and I walking in a field of flowers.

I'm so excited to put it in a frame and hang it up!

After dinner, we finished a chapter of Summer of the Monkeys.

Got the kids in bed.  Finished cleaning up.

Then Mr. C. and I talked for quite a while -- everything from parenting to politics to consumerism, obsolescence and advertising.

Then we watched a couple of episodes of this until it was beyond late.

We are so hooked!

Things I'll Remember About This Weekend

Scott was gone on Saturday.

By the end of the day I was tired and ready for the kids to go to bed.

But in the morning I took them for donuts since he was gone.

And then to Rock Canyon.

When we arrived it was windy and cold.

But we got busy hiking around and warmed up.

I just know I'll look at these pics down the road (shoot -- just give me a couple years and I'll be reflecting on how much younger they were and all of that), and remember what it was like to have them with me all the time.

Those reminders help me remember to cherish, to focus on the incredible opportunity that is mine to be a mother.  I love them so much.

And another small nothing.  This new song by Lady Antebellum made me choke up in the car the other day on the way home from dropping the boys off at school.  My romance with Mr. C. blossomed when I was eighteen.  And while we didn't lose touch, this song took me back to the magic of that time.  Feeling always beautiful for him (compared to the feeling now where I don't always feel that and I notice the creases coming on my face and my hair starting to change colors -- gray and white hair, folks).  That time when I thought about him like a bajillion times a day and couldn't wait til we met up again.  The timelessness of youth.  I remember a night drive up a canyon and getting out in the darkness and dancing in the dark to music from the truck.  I remembered that, and all those emotions, and my heart got stuck in my throat.

And then, last night in the quiet before bed, I sat down to write more love notes.  I thought I'd share one I wrote to each of my kids.

Dear Isaiah -- I can remember so many things about you, so many times we've spent together.  I love being with you, I love being your mom, and I think you are so wonderful and amazing and sweet and I want you to know that.  SMOOCH!  Love, Mom

Dear Benji -- I think when we were all in heaven together I saw you, and we were pals, and I said, "You know what?  I want to be your mom on earth!  You have to be the neatest person I know!!"  And you know what?  I got so blessed and so lucky--I got to be your mom.  I'll always be grateful for this.  I love you, Mom

Dear Mia -- I would have a thousand girls if they were all like YOU.  You've been a joy more than I ever could have imagined.  I love you.  Mom

We save these notes.  I hope when they're grown up, they have a full picture of motherhood.  My imperfections are highlighted enough around here that they'll know that some days it's hard.  But I hope it's peppered so much with all our lovely memories, and that these small notes tucked away will tell them something about how I've felt about them.  I want them to know that being their mother has meant more to me than any other thing I'm proud of in my life.  It has been a sheer privilege, beautiful and stunning.  It's a journey that I would take again and again.

(Today's plans are reading, writing and experimenting in changing liquid to a solid, deciding what our valentines dinner will be and decorations for our dinner table.  Love day dinner recap will come later this week.)