Happy Valentines!

Sisters,

Happy Valentines Day!  I wanted to share some of the things I love about Valentines. I know I've shared this before, but at our home Valentines has become a family event...and one the kids look forward to and love.  We always have a family dinner complete with using the nice china and crystal.  We always have steak and shrimp...which we never have except for on Valentine's Day.  I also decorate the table in a fun way and we have angel food cake with strawberries and cream for dessert.  We love it.  

Another thing I love is the sugar cookies...what is Valentines without sugar cookies?  Nate and I had a great time making and delivering cookies yesterday.

One more of my favorite things includes getting valentines ready for the kids to take to school.  Tom is very creative and this is the one time during the year that the kids beg him to help them make a creative valentines box.  This picture is the one that he and Em made for the big day.  She really wanted to make a dragon.  It turned out great and she was so excited to take it to school.  They had a great time making it together. Now we'll see if the kids feel okay putting their hand in his mouth to deliver valentines! As a mother, I love seeing the kids so excited about something creative that they are doing with their dad.  Now I'm anxious to see what they'll come up with next year!!

 

I'd love to hear about some of your Valentine's traditions.  I hope you all enjoy your Valentines day!

Love,

     Amy

Weekend Recap and the Coveted Recipe Revealed

Dear Sisters,

I can't believe that you have already come and gone! I've been looking forward to your visit for over a year and now it's over. Hard to believe. We had such a good time and I'm so grateful that you were all able and willing to come. I truly loved spending the time together with you and Dave and mom and dad. Molly, we so missed you.

Here are a few photos of our memorable weekend:

The bike ride to the beach.

Canoe Races

Mom and Dad

Paddlers Extraordinaire

 I tried to include photos from the lighthouse, but they kept inserting sideways. Huh. I don't know. Anyway, we enjoyed some fun food during your visit and several of you asked for recipes. Here's one of my faves from your visit:

Roasted Red Pepper-Basil Pesto (compliments of Bobby Flay)

You can roast the red peppers as he does. Obviously, that's preferred. If you're typically short on time (like me), you can use the jarred variety. 

• Roasted red peppers (the equivalent of two peppers worth)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Put the peppers, garlic, basil and pine nuts into your food processor or blender and pulse until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and pulse to emulsify. Add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste and pulse few more times to combine.

We have used this recipe for everything from pizza sauce to a dip for crackers and veggies to a sauce for sandwiches (as we did during your visit).

I can't wait to hear what you do with it. I'm excited to share with you next week the recipe I found for laundry detergent. I wanted to test it out before I shared. After using it for about three weeks, I really like it and haven't had any problems. So, next week it is.

I had such a great time with you all and thank you for the fun visit.

Love, Kate

p.s. LOVED the tomatillo salsa you made while you here, Ames. And Dave, LOVED the stuffed jalapeno poppers you made...even it it did take me hours to recover from the heat.

Awards

Sometimes I feel like when I talk to my kids about their behavior, it's always to talk about the things they have done wrong. When I saw this post on 71 Toes, I knew I wanted to make up our own awards that we could hand out once a week. On their bedroom door, we have each child's name and then a space below where they can display the award for the next week until they're awarded again. We usually hand them out at Family Home Evening, which we have every Monday night. When we announce the awards we try to talk about a specific thing the child did to earn that award. I'm hoping that this will help reinforce good behavior. We tried to create awards that would encourage the specific behaviors that we struggle with or that are especially important to us as parents. Here are the awards we've come up with for now.

Cheerful Charlie: This goes to a child who has made good efforts at being cheerful and helping our home to be a happy place.

Busy Bee: This is for someone who has been especially helpful around the house, doing their chores, etc.

Self Starter: This is awarded for doing good things without having to be asked.

Fleet Foot: For quick obedience.

Brilliant Bookworm: (Should have been Brainy Bookworm, but I didn't think of that until recently.) For doing their daily reading cheerfully and consistently.

Choose the Right Champion: For making the right choice even though it's sometimes hard. I'm hoping this will prompt the kids to talk more about their days at school.

Reverent & Respectful: For showing the right respect and reverence at church, but also for family prayer, scripture study, etc.

These pictures are from a good week when all the awards were given out, but this past week, only two awards were given. We want them to be genuinely earned, so if that behavior wasn't displayed, the award will not be given. We may add more over time as we want to encourage other behaviors, but for now, these work. I don't know that I've seen a significant change in behavior, but it encourages me to praise more. Throughout the week, I use these terms to identify good choices. If someone gets to the table quickly for dinner, I say, "Good job, Fleet Foot." If someone is speaking kindly and obeying happily, I'll say, "Thank you for being such a Cheerful Charlie." I have a piece of notebook paper taped up inside the pantry door where I can jot down examples of the kids' good behavior, so that I will remember specific examples on the night we give out the awards.

Most importantly, I think it's good for the kids to see what an artistic virtuoso their mother is. The exquisite quality of these awards is sure to be inspirational, don't you think? I mean, that bee looks like it's about to flit right off the page. Many years of notebook doodling are finally paying off.

The Healing Fields

Sisters,

Yes, I am finally contributing to the blog. Sorry I am so slow. Bear with me as I am still trying to figure out how to do this whole thing. Last week our family went to the "Healing Fields" and it was amazing! I wan't to share it with all of you. With the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11th tragedy, I found myself remembering with deep sorrow the events that took place. It was difficult to watch the programs on TV. However, I was in awe of these people who have overcome so much...survivors of the devestation and loved ones of those that passed on. We saw some incredible stories and watched it as a family.

At the time in 2001, my oldest was only 3 years old. She wasn't much aware and doesn't remember anything from that day. While watching the program we were able to discuss things as a family. It was a great experience and we were so touched by the stories. We then went to the "Healing Fields" which aren't far from our house. This was a park about 2 football fields long that was covered with American flags. There was a flag every 10 feet or so, and one flag for each person that died that day. On each flag there was a 3x5 card of a person's name, occupation, age, and where they died. On most of the cards there was also a little bit that told about them. I couldn't believe how many people there were that died between the ages of 30-50. Hundreds. It was quite an incredible scene to behold all of these flags, people reading them and visibly moved by what they saw. It was hard for the kids to imagine all of the people killed in this tragedy. Seeing it brought it into better perspective and helped them to realize how many people lost their lives that day. It was an amazing experience to have as a family. I am so grateful and proud to be an American.

Valentines...a family event in our home!

Happy Valentine's Day.  I thought I'd share one of my favorite family traditions.  Years ago, when we only had one child, I was planning a candlelight dinner on Valentine's Day.  I got our 2 1/2 year old to bed early and started making a romantic dinner.  My husband was gone, so it was perfect...it would be a fun surprise when he arrived home.  On a student budget, I had planned and saved so we could have steak and shrimp.  The meal would be finished off with my husband's favorite dessert, hot fudge pudding cake!  Dinner was about ready when Tom got home. Little footsteps could then be heard coming into the kitchen.  My sweet little boy had awakened and wanted to see his daddy.  We pulled up his high chair and he was so excited to join us for our romantic candlelight Valentine dinner.  He then kept asking when we could have shrimp again.  Needless to say, Valentines is not a romantic dinner at our home, it is now a family event.  It has been about 15 years and every February 14, we have a steak and shrimp family dinner. I try to make it special by using our good china and goblets as well as decorating the table.   Every one of our children look forward to our FAMILY Valentine's dinner.   What is one of your favorite Valentine's traditions?  I'd love new ideas.
Amy