Our V-day

Valentine's Day has never been my favorite holiday. I mean, I'm not totally against it, but I've never thought of myself as one of those high maintenance girly-girls who needs flowers and chocolates to feel validated. (That's not to say I wouldn't be secretly giddy to receive such validation.)
Today, I decided to throw away all my prejudices against this sappy day, and dive in head-first. I dyed my pancake batter a lovely shade of Valentine pink and did my best to fashion hearts out of the batter on the griddle. (The secret is in the "V.") We spread the most delicious chocolate peanut butter (yep, you read that right) on them before dousing them with warm syrup, and the girls were in pink valentine heaven! If only I could've lived in that moment all day, but alas, Mike was gone to meetings and I had to make up for the time spent making pink pancakes as I rushed to ready everyone for church all by myself. It's usually not a pretty picture. The spirit of the day was redeemed after church when I set up this little scavenger hunt for the girlies.

Do you believe in magic wishes?
Head to the place that cleans your dishes.

Next is the place where fingers fly
Up and down keys, so don’t be shy.

Look through the mess, if you dare
The next clue’s waiting at the bottom of the stair.

Now I know that you're no fool,
This is where your drinks keep cool.

Are you having fun with all these clues?
Look in the place that Mom keeps her shoes.

Maybe you have super powers
The next clue will be where Dad takes his showers.

Piles of these that Mom has to fold,
Like to be washed here, or so I’m told.

This is a place to rest your head.
Look right inside the smallest bed.

Congratulations! You’ve found the last one.
Now run to the place where we have FHE Fun!

I left Hershey's Hugs & Kisses with each clue, then left one of those giant Kisses at the end. Their squeals were priceless. I can't say that it ranked any higher in the holiday category than before, but the girls sure had a blast, and I actually got a nap today, so I guess it was pretty successful.

Watching our Gratitude Grow

So often, one of our most important holidays is overlooked as decorations, commercials and billboards for Christmas go up earlier and earlier--before Halloween, even! I want my children to look forward to Thanksgiving as much as they do any other sugar-induced celebration, if not more. Thanksgiving seems to be the least commercially tainted of all the holidays--maybe that's why I like it so much. As I was thinking about what I could do to make this holiday stand out (in a good way), I perused a few different sites on the web, and wouldn't you know, Tara had blogged just this morning about her Gratitude Tree. Tara got the idea from a friend, who got the idea from another friend...I just love how good ideas go 'round and 'round! I was so excited to find something other than paper chains to record tidbits of gratitude on that I immediately took down all the Halloween decor and set out to making my tree. Here's what 6 brown paper bags and a little painter's tape got me:I found a bunch of fall-colored scrapbook paper that I no longer use thanks to my blog. (Yay for technology!) So I cut out a bunch of leaves from them and left them in the box at the base of the tree along with tape and a pen. The hope is that the girls (and Mike and I) will be inspired throughout the month to stop and think about what they are grateful for, and make our Gratitude Tree grow. I'm so excited for Family Home Evening tonight! I love the idea of being immersed in gratitude. Hopefully that same feeling will carry on into the next holiday, as Christmas certainly tends to turn us toward what "I" will be getting. I'll post about this again after Thanksgiving so we can check our gratitude growth.

Halloween! Halloween! Lots of Fun on Halloween!

If any of you remember last year's Halloween post, you'll know how much I was looking forward to trunk-or-treat again. THANKFULLY, there was only a slight resemblance to the mayhem of Halloween '08. Kids were fairly well behaved and although I was trying to do the work of three people (Mike had to work a viewing), I managed to get my kids around to all the trunks, hand out candy, and take care of a cold fussy baby, all on my own! Ok, so I had a little help with walking the kids around to the trunks, but I really felt like I was Lynda Carter, hiding my secret Wonder Woman identity. A couple of turns in the parking lot and my costume would've been revealed! What a great trick--I'll have to keep that in mind for next year...

Hannah Montana, Rachael Ray, Miss Smarty Pants

& Tutu-wearing Gangsta Bunny (I really have no idea where she got this pose from...)

My girls and their Super Heroes! Batman, Spider-Man & Superman!

Not quite sure how the Bride & Puppy fit in.

Bridget as "Bunny"

Katie as "Rachael Ray"

Brooke as "Miss Smarty Pants"

Maggie as "Hannah Montana"

Zach as "Batman"

Wes as "Spider-Man"

Ben as "Superman"

Meredith--Trying to relive the happiest day of her life in MY wedding dress. I think Tyler was a little embarrassed by the photo shoot going on in his front yard...
If that's not creepy, I don't know what is. Happy Halloween!