52 Weeks of Romance

If you're a regular reader around here, you've no doubt heard my little spiel about Valentine's Day. In case you've missed it, here's the gist: I like the holiday, but more in the let's do something nice to acknowledge it together way, not in the let's spend lots of money and get each other really extravagant things.  It's always a challenge for me to come up with something thoughtful and useful for Josh.  But this year, I'm thinking I may have come up with a winner.
Like most couples who have young children (or at least the ones I'm friends with), romance often takes a back seat for us.  We're so busy parenting and surviving that by the time the kids are tucked in snugly to bed, we are both ready to check out as well! Josh and I have often talked about ways we could bring some romance back to our relationship, but oftentimes are discussions are a lot more talk and a lot less action.  With Valentine's Day being all about romance, I figured this was the perfect time to attempt to do something real about it.

Enter our 52 weeks of romance jar.  I spent a few days brainstorming romantic gestures...and of course, I turned to Google and Pinterest when I couldn't come up with any more!  Because romance has so many dimensions, I tried to touch on all of them in my list.  In the end, I came up with 52 acts...one for each week of the year.  My thought is that we will  pick one stick a week and then have the week to accomplish the task...this way, there's still a bit of an element of surprise as to when the things happen.
I'm hoping that my jar will cause us to be a little more thoughtful and a bit more connected.  And then Valentines Day will last all year, and not just one short night!

Easy Valentine's Grandparents Gift

My boys have gotten really embarrassing about holidays and gifts.  Each and every occasion, including other people's birthdays, is about what they are going to get from it.  When we picked out Valentines to give to their classes, Colton initially threw a fit because he wanted to keep all of them for himself.  On the way to any birthday party, all both boys talk about is the goody bag they will eventually receive.  And don't even get me started on Christmas and how they ripped through present after present, asking for more when they were finished (in fairness, they were fine when they realized there were no more, but still...).
I'm hoping this is purely a developmental thing, but I'm also trying really hard to teach them that occasions are about more than just them, gifts, and candy!  So we're starting with Valentine's Day.  I've repeatedly enforced that the real point of Valentine's Day is to tell and show those you care about just how much you care about them.  We've gone over and over those in their lives that are special, and not surprisingly Nene and Papa are generally near the top of the list.  So we decided to make them a little something special to show them the love.
I picked up some heart frames from Michaels for just $1 each and some red, white, and pink paints.  Once we got everything home, I instructed the boys to just use their fingerprints to dot the wooden part of the frame.

They had a really good time doing it and it was a pretty mess-free, easy, affordable project.  Plus, I love the way their personalities shine through in their frames.  Note: Colton's perfectly filled in, all red frame, while Levi's creation is a total random scattering of all three colors (the third one was a collaboration in case you're curious).

Obviously, we're going to add an adorable photo of the boys in the frame before we gift them.
And I think we may even combine them with a few of these cookie pops (which I'm also thinking we may give to the boys' teachers).
                                       

via

I don't know if this spirit of giving is really working (considering they're still most eager to check their mailboxes each morning), but I'm hoping if we keep at it, they'll start to get the point.  And hopefully, Nene and Papa (and a couple other special people) will love their presents!

Mom's Day Round 4

Mother's Day: possibly my favorite day of the year.  I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving family, both in my boys and husband and beyond them to my parents, sisters, brother, and niece.  Mother's Day is the perfect day because I get to take the time to honor and enjoy all that I have.  And this Mother's Day, officially my fourth (!) as a mom, was quite possibly the best yet!
We started off the morning with Josh getting the boys up while I lounged in bed until about 8.  Once I was up, they gave me some gifts, including a gift card to a swanky bathing suit/clothes boutique to get myself something nice for the summer (woo hoo!) and Colton's footprint butterfly he had made at school.

Afterwards, we all got dressed and headed out to breakfast...just the four of us!  Of course Levi was a messy disaster (that's pretty much how he rolls), but it was really nice to have some quality time with my boys.  Once we were done, Josh took the boys off for some visiting with his mom and grandmother, while Chipper and I held down the home fort catching up on DVR and relishing in the quiet.  Seriously, I can not tell you the last time I sat in my house alone (probably some time around December 2011), and I must admit it was glorious!  

The boys got back eventually, and we all spent some time playing before they went down for naps.  And when they got up, we headed out to meet my parents, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and niece for dinner out.  

Amazingly, I had managed to keep quiet for about a month, but my sister-in-law had done a cousin photo shoot awhile back.  My parents have been working on a gallery wall, and we figured one of the three of them together would be the perfect addition.  Since I haven't been able to show you before now, here are some of my favorites from that day.  Poor Riley was pretty much at the boys' mercy...

We did manage to get a good one framed, though.  And we also put together a basket of some of Mom's favorite things...besides her grandchildren, of course... to give her (yes, that is a big ole bottle of Grey Goose, definitely one of mom's fave things!)

Mom really enjoyed her gift (so much so that I'm temped to repeat it for dad's Father's Day gift!), and we all had a great dinner together.  

Like I said, in the four years that I have been celebrating Mother's Day, this is hands down my favorite yet.  Man, that's a lot of pressure to live up to for Josh in about a month.

Buckeye Bark

I don't know why I do this to myself.  I was in charge of making the desserts for Thanksgiving, and while I am a big fan of the seasonal regulars, my brother is not.  Being the nice sister that I am, I figured I should make something he would like.  But here's where I got myself in trouble because in selecting something he would like, I also happened to pick something that looked pretty darn good to me too.

In fact, Buckeye Balls have been a long-time favorite of mine.  After all, they're you're basic chocolate-peanut butter combo...my most favorite ever!  The problem with buckeye balls, though, is the work required.  I mean, who has time for all that ball forming, freezing, and dipping?  So when I saw this easy bark version, I kind of assumed it would be a winner.  Which it was...on all levels: ease, taste, and weight gain assistance.  

To make matters worse, I decided to take home the left overs from Thanksgiving.  By Saturday afternoon, I had to force myself to just throw the rest out to spare my waistline any further damage.  Needless to say, I'm a big fan of this stuff.  And it would make a pretty good holiday gift, so I figured I should share the recipe with you too.

Buckeye Bark

• 18 oz. chocolate chips
• 16 oz. peanut butter
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

1.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 45 second intervals.  Spread into cookie sheet so chocolate forms large rectangle, approximately 1/4 inch thick.  Place in freezer.

3.  While chocolate is freezing, combine peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter.  Remove first chocolate layer and spread peanut butter over chocolate.  Return to freezer.

4.  Melt rest of chocolate.  Remove bark and pour final chocolate layer over.  Return to freezer until well set.

5.  Cut with butcher knife.  Store in freezer or refrigerator.

The Gift of Memories

As I mentioned in my vacation recap posts, we were actually in the Bahamas to celebrate my parents' 35th wedding anniversary.  With five years of marriage and 2 children under my belt, I can certainly appreciate how much of an accomplishment 35 years of marriage (plus raising 3 children) really is!
Truthfully, though, my parents didn't just accomplish...they've done an amazing job.  As we sat around together as a family for the week, I realized it really is a tribute to them and the way we were raised that all of us remain so close.  They provided us with a loving, nurturing, supportive environment stemming from the love and respect they maintain as a couple.  They are truly my marriage (and probably life) role models.
But in the months leading up to this big anniversary, my brother, sister, and I were left with our typical tremendous challenge: what the heck do you get two people that have given you so much?  We quickly realized that there was nothing material that we could get them that they didn't already have/we could afford/they would even want!  So, instead we turned more in the sentimental direction.  On top of their 35 years of marriage, my parents actually dated about 8 before that (they were high school sweethearts).  In that time, they have touched a lot of people's lives and created so many shared memories, so when we (as in my sister and I) saw the memory idea on Pinterest we knew it was perfect for them.
In case you are unfamiliar with it, we sent out a letter to special people from various stages of their lives together.  We asked those people to send a letter or email describing their favorite memory of my parents.  Honestly, most people didn't necessarily follow that direction and instead chose to send a general memory and/or anniversary wish, but in the end, it didn't matter.  What we got was a collection of over 40 letters and emails to share with my parents.
My mom is pretty nosy when it comes to this stuff and had been trying to figure out for months what we were going to do for their anniversary, so when we presented her with this rather boring package I think she was a tad shocked.

But then they started reading.  And the laughs started coming, and the tears started flowing, and we all sat together listening to a brief history of their relationship of sorts all told by the people who had helped shape it.

My dad is hard to get, but we definitely got him with this one.  They were both touched beyond belief and it really was special to watch them relive so much.  It really was perfect!

Oh, and since this post is about their gifts, I should also mention that we had actually already gotten them a family portrait before we left for vacation.  My brother, sister, and I had done the same thing for their 25th anniversary, but obviously that one didn't have the boys in it...or even Josh or my sister-in-law for that matter.  We all agreed that the 10 year update was significant and appropriate.