Happenings

My goodness time is flying by!  I can't believe I haven't posted in 2 weeks.  Well since I announced my desire to RUN it seems like everything has been stacked against me!

I have been up to my eyeballs in "Mommy Duties"!  At my house we have had wisdom teeth out, double ear infections, head colds, stomach bugs, bad head aches, possible lactose intolerance (still investigating that), plus all our regular activities,  add to the mix a traveling husband and as you can guess...

I did not run as much as I wanted to!  Ha!

Hopefully the next two weeks will be better:)

 

In happier news this week..

 

Love is in the air!

 This is one of my favorite family traditions!  I love to read what boys consider "love notes"

A bowl full of candy motivates them to all kinds of poetic declarations!!

And more happy news--my boy is getting ready for his mission!  We started his papers a couple of weeks ago--wisdom teeth out, dentist and doctor appoints done and even a MISSIONARY HAIRCUT!!  Woo hooo!

 

 Pretty soon little brothers followed suit and I have myself some clean cut boys again:)

 

I even got my hair done.  Brad was out of town and wanted to see my new do and obliged since it never looks so smooth when I do it:)

 

Last but not least--Connor gave the best Family Home Evening on the Atonement and what it means to him.  He used the Preach my Gospel book and taught with the Spirit and a lot of heart.  It was awesome and I will never forgot it.

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!

We have are attending a couples party on Saturday and celebrating with the boys on Sunday!

I LOVE this holiday!!

xo

 

Valentine Craft Inspiration

Remember how I said "stay tuned for a Valentine Craft post"?

Well, I have to admit, I had great intentions, but crafting never happened over the weekend--darn it!

I spent most of my time watching boys wrestle and play basketball,--time well spent of course--but didn't leave much room in the schedule for my crafting plans.

Nevertheless,   I thought I would at least share with you my ideas, thanks to Pintrest:)

There is still time for these very sweet little garlands:

I want these draped on my kitchen chairs-- or hanging across the bed--who knows I may still do it after all--then at least I will have them for next year:)

 

 

 

 

Source: stylemepretty.com via Melanie on Pinterest

 

 

 

Source: bhg.com via Melanie on Pinterest

 How about this garland out of paint chips--how clever is that?!

I could probably even get my older boys to help me with this one.  Although they may not admit to it--I am sure they would secretly enjoy helping me--who could resist all those colors?!

Source: ohcrafts.net via Melanie on Pinterest

Last but not least--I LOVE this wax paper heart display, thanks to Ms Martha Stewart. The directions here, do not look too difficult. I think I could talk a couple of boys into doing this with me after school today.  I can just imagine how beautiful that would look in my kitchen with the morning sun streaming in.

 

Well, now I am in the mood to make something pretty, aren't you?!

 

I guess I better get a few things ready for crafting with my boys this afternoon:)

 

What about you...what have you been up to this month?  Do share!

xo 

 

Love is in the air

We have started celebrating the month of love around here.

I have my little homemade banner hanging proudly 

(directions to make one here)

A simple reminder on the front door...

Best of all, the annual "heart attack" has begun...love notes are starting to fill the kitchen cupboards... 

The boys have been very eager to write,  thanks to this:

More about our traditional "heart attack" here.

Some take this love note stuff very serious

(that is some work right there for a kindergarten boy)

 And others not so much...

Actually every time I see that one, I can;'t help but laugh out loud:)

Boys!  Let me tell you, there is never a dull moment around here!

I am LOVING February!

I have some very fun and simple Valentines Day crafts to share on Monday--stay tuned!

Don't you just love Valentines Day?

Happy Friday friends:)

xoxo

Valentines 2012

Due to a wrestling match that we had on Valentines night, our festivities started a day early  with our traditional dinner of heart shaped pizza, the ever popular LOVE POTION, candles and (fake) rose petals....I know, I know a little girly for this rough and tumble boy family--but, what can I say? I am that kind of girl...I can't help it:) My boys have learned to live with it! To be honest, I don't think they even noticed the petals --they were too busy trying to blow the fog at each other and snarf down the pizza.

 Then the ding door ditchings of homemade Valentines began...with Brad starting off with some sweet roses for me:)  We had decided to celebrate sans boys this weekend, so this was a big surprise!

 We soon had a big pile of love...

 And I knew it was time to quit when we started getting fake Valentines like this one...

They thought they were so hilarious!:

 I was happy to see that ALL of my boys still LOVE this tradition and I was pleasantly surprised with my older boys witty, but heartfelt messages.

Cannon was absolutely delighted with the whole idea of leaving love notes with treats and ringing the doorbell. For days he continued doing it at the most inopportune times,  until all of his treats from his preschool valentine bag had been sweetly re gifted to all of us.  It may have been a little annoying ...but so darn cute that everyone loved it:)

On the actual day I was able to help out in my Elementary School boys' class parties.

What a treat!

Bridger and his darling kindergarten teacher Mrs Chamberlain.

 And we wrapped up the night cheering on our boy TJ at a wrestling match.  His coach needed him to wrestle Varsity in a weight class 10 pounds over his weight that night.

It was a very exciting match--probably his toughest one this season--it was very hard fought---but he WON!

The crowd was on the edge of their seats and everyone was yelling...it was awesome:)

(TJ in green)

Valentines Day with boys--never a dull moment!

Valentine's Day Tradtions: Heart Attack

We have added something new  to our Family Valentine Traditions:

THE HEART ATTACK

 In the middle of the kitchen table, I put a bowl with a whole bunch of pink and red construction paper hearts ,a couple of bags of Valentine candy and some markers.

 I told my family to enjoy a piece of candy whenever they compose a loving note on one of the hearts.  I also suggested that everyone  could write at least one for each family member.

The boys have loved this...and I am loving the results:)
There are some suprisingly sweet sentiments covering my kitchen cabinets!

 For the rest of our Valentine's Day Traditions click here.

And for some yummy Valentine treats click here.

How do you celebrate?

Hope your Valentines Day is sweet!

Valentines Day Traditions

Happy Valentines Day!

I love this sweet Valentines Day, and it shows becuase my little boys think it is a major holiday. Last night as I tucked Bridger into bed he said very happily " I am sooo excited that tomorrow is Valentines Day!" Then this morning he was very dissapointed and perplexed as to why his Daddy had to go to work and big brothers to school on Valentines Day! He thought that was a terrible injustice! I have to agree! We should all get to spend the day in our cozy home drinking hot cocoa, eating heart shaped cookies and making valentines to our hearts content! Until that day we will celebrate the best we can before and after school, work and errands:), darn it!

Our Valentine Traditions:

* The night before I like to decorate our kitchen eating area with a red tablecloth, hearts, (fake) rose petals and anything else valentine-ish. I set the table for breakfast and some years have a little treat by each plate. Start the day with sugar--yay!

*In the morning I make a yummy breakfast of pink heart shaped pancakes or waffles and a nice pink smoothie.

*After school my boys are greeted with a {sugarless} heart shaped snack. For example I have a mini heart shaped cookie cutter which is perfect for cheese and crackers or I will make bran muffins in my heart shaped pan.

*For dinner we always have heart shaped pizza and LOVE POTION (some type of pink or red punch or pop with dry ice bubbling within)

*We make valentine notes and treats for each other and ding door ditch them. So after dinner the doorbell ringing begins and lasts for about 30 mintues. Each person sneaks out with their handmade notes and little treats leaving them on the doorstep ringing the doorbell and running back in through the garage. It is hilariously fun and my boys LOVE it.

*Tonight since it is also Family Home E vening, I have a special lesson planned about love at home. It should be a fun night!

What are you going to do?

PS Menu Monday is being put off until tomorrow, as my computer time is up...I have little boys dying to decorate sugar cookies (click for link to our fav recipe)--gotta run!

Welcome February with a DIY Valentine Banner

I get so excited for this time of year! I think Valentines is one of my favorite holidays! I know that may sound silly but I adore all the love letters, sweetness and of course the chocolate involved! We have lots of family Valentine traditions and I have some new ideas to add to this year's celebrations--can't wait! Last year I had several emails asking where I purchased the' Love' sign gracing my mantel. I am happy to say--that I made it and it was pretty easy to do. It is the first thing I whip out after I box up all the Christmas stuff. I know I jump the gun a little with the Valentines decor, but I don't care--I love it! Anyway, I made the banner a few years ago while my babies napped. If you are in the crafting mood, give it a try--just be sure to use a sharp exacto knife (that was my only frustration)! Makes a huge difference! Enjoy!

You will need:
Stryofoam board from a craft store
Exacto knife
A can of spray adhesive
Decorative scrapbook paper
Ribbon

1-First print of the letters L O V E as big as you want from your computer (make sure to bold them--one per page). I used a simple font with straight lines, because I am not too skilled with an exacto knife:)
2- Carefully cut out your printed letters and two matching heart shapes (I just freehanded those hearts)
3-Trace the letters onto the decorative scrapbook paper that you want to use and cut them out.
4- Trace the letters onto the styrofoam board and using a SHARP exacto knife carefully cut them out.
5-Use the can of spray adhesive (found at a scrapbook store) and attach the decorative patterned letters onto the styrofoam board. I did this outside so I wouldn't spray glue all over my house.
6-I have a scrapbook tool that pokes holes and that is what I used to create holes in the tops of the hearts and letters. I then threaded some red ribbon throughm, tying little bows on either end. The bows hide the push pins I use to attach it to the top of the mantel.

Happy happy Valentines Day Month--let the Lovin' begin!

How do you celebrate Valentines Day/ Month?

Rock on Valentine

Last night after TJ's {awesome}basketball game

{our little point guard scored 12 points of his teams 22--and also had some perfect passes and great rebounds--woo-hoo!}

we stayed up past our usual bedtime to come up with a cool Valentine mailbox for his class party. There is a candy prize being offered for the best mailbox--which is very inspiring for a 5th grader:)

We had so much fun together creating this little number.

I realized that this is TJ's LAST year in elementary school--his LAST class valentine party--the LAST time I get to help him with a silly valentine mailbox.

My heart ached a little ...my little boy is growing up!

I am so busy all the time with my 5 boys--but this evening I realized it is such a short time that they need me.

I know I am going to cherish these crazy, busy, SWEET days forever!

My little Valentines Boy

Bridger with a bacpack full of Valentines

Bridger recently started a preschool group--and is LOVING it! When we moved here, I tried to get him into a preschool with no luck. All the classes were full. There is a group of ladies from our church that do a preschool that alternates homes. Bridger was invited to join them for the rest of the year. (Thank you Kristi!!) When I told Bridger, he was so thrilled and started counting down until his first day! In fact the night before he came into my room in the middle of the night just to tell me how excited he was for preschool in the morning. Today is his Valentines party--so exciting!

And a little treat for his teacher...

The recipe for this white chocolate Valentine Popcorn is here.

And do you need some valentine free printables?

Thank you to the very talented Amy at Living Locurto!
She has links to a couple more free Valentine printables here.

Valenitnes Weekend Recap

We had such a great Valentines Weekend with our boys. It started off with tubing at Soldier Hollow, in Midway with a bunch of other families from our neighborhood. After we stayed at my brother's place at the Zermatt in Midway.Thanks Matt-- It was so fun! Brad took us all to a yummy breakfast the next morning--before we were off to Basketball games for Connor and TJ. We ended the day with our tradtional Valentines dinner (just like last year) of Heart shaped pizza, Love Potion Punch and ding door ditching each other with Valentines. Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for chocolate fondue and the NBA all star 3 Point Shootout and Slam Dunk contest. I wish I would have snapped some pictures--but what a fun night with the people I LOVE!! *click on the pink writing!

"To: Super Hottie Connor"

Look what showed up on our doorstep the other night for our 6th grader son-

He wasn't home when it was secretly delivered. His little brothers found it. Coleman, our kindergartner was heard saying "I wish someone would do that for me!"

If Connor had any idea that I took pictures, and then posted it here, he would be terribly embarrassed...but I just couldn't resist!!