Love affirmation seriec ~ Affirmation Door

Love Affirmation Mini Series

So as we chatted about the other day, you don't need a major holiday to show your family you love them.  I know I know you are thinking you're the CEO of your house, you are mom.  That is showing them love daily.

True.  Very very true.  However, I believe very strongly in the book "The Five Love Languages".  If you haven't read it, you can get it here on amazon, for your kindle or this is the hard copy version.  I HIGHLY suggest reading it, if you or your spouse doesn't feel totally "fulfilled".  It is how we each give and receive love differently and sometimes, we give how WE would like to be loved, not necessarily how THEY like to be loved.  There are also love languages of children, and this is what this project is for...

My kiddos are very different, while they have some similarities my middle girl especially loves to be told what is lovable about her.  It is another "words of affirmation".

So in the spirit of carrying on this series, I am going to show you what I did for Valentines day for them.  My Affirmation Door

 I plan on doing it every year, however I also plan on carrying it out in future years, all of February, I mean it IS the shortest month of the year!!  And my girls woke with a bound each morning!

The best part, you don't need any fancy tools, though they are fun.  I did use my Silhouette Cameo for this, but you can just as simply cut your own hearts out.

I would suggest taking one night and cutting out ALL your hearts, so you aren't like me scrambling each night to make em .  It really will save you some time!  But I took a heart for each girl and every night I would write things I love about them on it.  I would title their mane and what day number they were on.

They LOVED hunting for their new heart each morning.  

My oldest asked that I don't throw them away, so at the end of the month, I plan on taking them and putting a hole punch in the top and taking just a small ring, the cheap kind you get at Hobby Lobby in the jewelry making section...and putting it through so they have a little book to look at through the year with everything I love about her/them.


Go ahead, try it for just two weeks, and see how it fills your child's love tank up!!

Let me know what you find :)

Love affirmation series ~ Love jar

Love Affirmation Mini Series

I am going to kick off a two series of posts that were originally geared toward my family for Valentines day.  But I am a VERY firm believer that you need to show you love ESPECIALLY on the non holidays.  The just because occasions.  You don't need Valentines day to show your love...

I mean think about it.   How often do you wish you got something small.  Just because.  No reason.  Other than you are awesome.  Or your loved one is awesome for giving it to you.

This first one is for the hubby.  You could adapt for anyone...my buddy is adapting for his wife..really you could even do your kiddos, but I say hubby because a lot of men out there, whether we like to admit it or not aren't necessarily a gifting person.

They like to be affirmed.  They like to hear how awesome they are and what they mean to you.  They work hard for the family and it is in their make-up to want to provide the best for their families.  But for some reasons it is so hard to tell them this on a consistent basis.  Whether it is because we expect what we expect from them, life, marriage, or because it isn't "our love language" it's still a very important aspect of a fulfilled marriage.

This little gift is actually pretty darn simple and very inexpensive.  Find a bag of Hershey kisses...a cute jar, some sticker paper, and a 3/4 " punch and you are done!  Cost me a total of about $6.

Its my "Things I love about you" jar.

He even took it to work.  My hubby is NOT a gifts guy, but he loved this one, because it was useful, he can eat it!, and it wasn't costly, and most of all it hit his pride button  :)

So I have included the sheet I used to punch out for you to download if you want.  Otherwise you can make your own....just make a 3/4" circle and put whatever you want in it.

Print it out on a single sheet of sticker paper.

Use your punch and cut it out and stick to bottom of the kiss.

Present to your love as a gift of honest expression.

If you decide to do this, please please let me know what you did and how it turned out!! 

Weekend Review ~ Read and Build Books By Lego

So I am back with my reviews, I know I love knowing what I am getting into, so I feel it is an important part of my blog.  Is there a product you want a review on?  I probably have it.   Especially if it is a little girls product! I swear I have every thing for girls known to woman!  So ask away, and I will review it if I have it!!  Or maybe I'll buy it  :)  I seem to always have one girl or another with a want or need. 

I would like to come back every weekend and do this, so let me know if you find it helpful!!?? 

Today I"d love to introduce you to 

 the Read and Build books from Lego

They were pretty new on the market and I was curious because my youngest LOVES books, and she loves creative things.  So she got one for Christmas and one for her birthday a few weeks later.  And let me tell you she LOVES them!!  She constantly wants to play with them, she creates her own things with them but her favorite part is following the book along.  Then after the build and story she plays with them as a toy and the story has sparked her imagination. 

The book actually has incredibly clear pictures showing each step of the way how to add another piece on.  And with each step is a cute little story. 

Even my older girls love it, though I would not recommend it for much older than 5ish.  I will say tho my 5 year old gets a new sense of fun with it as she is learning to read, because instead of just making the toy, she can now read the story on her own as she builds, it gives her a new sense of confidence.

There you have it...
All and all i would say go out and buy every one because they are well worth their money!

AND the FINAL days of Christmas were...

OKOK I guess I can be thankful I have so many good friends who actually read this!  THANK you.

I do have a journal of posts I wanna make, and I am going to try to organize how I do this so maybe it becomes much more steady!! 

With out further adoo, the final days of Christmas were............a shock.  And the BIGGEST blessing of all!!

With day 10 we got a note saying that dinner was coming the next night at 6...
There was only one problem with this.  we were going on the Polar Express and weren't going to be home.  So, it was so sweet, I left a note, as did Alia, saying how much she loved our named "secret Santa" and I left a cooler asking for it to be put there.  I also had mentioned we were flying out Christmas Eve.

When we got home and there was nothing there I wasn't sure what to think.  Dinner was meant for the 24?  Or they just didn't do anything.  I was stumped.

Either way, we were getting ready for bed...I had a TON to do before leaving at 8am the next morning for our flight.  The night was already looking so short for me, as it was 8pm. 

All of a sudden I heard a knock at the door.  Something we had become accustomed to lately...so I sharply told Alia and Alyssa that NO it was just our secret people and to not go look and not answer it!  I mean it!!  But Alia in a pleading tone says "No mommy it's Santa."  I responded with "yes Alia I know they have been doing this every night"

Alia throws back "NO MOMMY, it REALLY is SANTA!!!!!"

Brandon gets up from his chair and sure enough, there was SANTA at our door.  And more so, he was waiting to come in!!  So we let him in and the girls can barely contain their shrieks of excitement. 

Behind Santa, was our piping hot Pizzas.  Which proved to be a GREAT midnight snack for us that night.

Now for the best gift of all...no it wasn't the black garbage bag full of presents just waiting for us to open them....it was how Santa talked to the girls.  He KNEW Alia was in Jazz dance, and Alyssa gymnastics, and even KK was potty training...and when he mentioned it to her, she gave him full detail of how she poops in the potty and when she does she wipes the front and mommy wipes her butt and so on and so on.  Sliiiightly embarrassing!  Anyhow, when he asked Alia about her dancing, he sealed a deal.  And a very important one at that!  One that was slowly unraveling at our household.  She believed, but with skepticism since some of the kids in her class no longer believe.  But after this, that PURE and SWEET innocence that is a child and their faith.  It was ALL hers again.  And for that I will be FOREVER thankful.  If we didn't get a single one of the things we were blessed with through this journey, that would have been enough!!!


But....................we did get presents....12 for the TWELVE days...and it was TONS of fun opening them there under our tree with the girls, some that night and the rest that morning before we left. 

All from our Secret Santa

It truly was, for me, like Santa came. 

The girls got wonderful gifts, ballerina princesses, crowns, crafts, and MY favorite for Brandon and I (maybe it was the family) was Twister.  It is a game we actually don't have, and well, we played it the week we came back and Brandon and I laughed and connected like we haven't since long before the strokes. 

It was a BLAST!  And little giggling in the background was the perfect music!

Days 7, 8, 9, and 10 of my Days of Christmas

As Christmas neared things became a blur.  But one thing stood steady.  My secret Santa and delivering a surprise each morning.

Well sometimes it was at night, and two of those times they down right scared us!  But in a good way.  But we were well into our nighttime routine and then there would be this BOOM BOOM BOOM.that you woulda thought we were prepared for.  But each time it came as a new surprise. 

sometimes the girls would RUN to the window trying to "catch" him.  All but one time they never saw a thing, and even that one time it was just a blurr of a kid running away. 

And when they would ask to open the door, I would shout NO (yes admittedly maybe a little to zealously) that they had to wait till the morning.  It was so cute to see Alia wake each morning just anticipating and guessing what Secret had left us this time.

Day 7 was a neat one they still adore....7 Swans a swimming turned into the Swan Princess movie.  And they have only watched it a little under 100 times!!

Day 8 was another hit, especially with my two youngest.  8 Maids a Milking.  And for that one we got a gallon of Chocolate milk.  SCORE another "breakfastish" item I didn't have to worry about. 

Mom and Dad made sure to each have a TALL glass ourselves too!!  The pre-made kind just isn't something we buy often...see even made a fun treat for all the kids I was watching that Friday :)

And day 9.  Girls got to open a pretty black and white present.  It was 9 Ladies dancing....at the ball...

Upon opening it, they immediately started playing with it, families can always use a strong well made ball, however this one is now waiting till spring where it can show its true colors  :)

And lastly, and I think I forgot a picture of this one!!  Is 10 Lords a Leaping.  Or in this case, leapfrogging.  A game that is now our in the car travel game that can be taken anywhere.  :)


SO STAY TUNED!!  I have to tell you about our last two days,especially the last one!  There is even a story to go with it, and if it is all I got all season, this was the most precious gift of all!!

The Rest of the Days of Cristmas...

So we left off with the fourth day of Christmas.  I bet you are waiting with baited breath wondering what happened to us....ok so even if you aren't I'm going to tell you, because this was seriously the coolest experience of my life!!

Sorry it took till now.  Traveling with a family of five across country for Christmas, and then all over the state and then getting back into the swing of life once home, including but not limited to the flu can prove to throw even the most organized mom off (which i surely am not).

And hey this blog was about life as a mom right?  And keeping it real?  Right?  So you should be smitten with me because I sure do keep it real! 

Anyhow, the FIFTH and SIXTH days of Christmas were cute.  The girls just loved trying to guess the next item since sometimes it just contained one word of the traditional song.

Day 5 was FIVE Crispy Creams...

Which was wonderful for this mom, another day of not having to find breakfast for the kiddos!!

Day 6 made me question what time of year it was  :).....I wondered if it was Easter....six geese a laying became 6 Christmas eggs...........

Ok here's to promising you...yes you Heather, that I will be back tomorrow with another days surprises and I even have a few other topics planned for later this week and early next week!!

And the mystery continues...4th day of Christmas

Ok so this sweet person has done something that NO ONE has been able to do for quite a long while now. and not for lack of trying.  My poor sweet friend Heather has tried almost weekly, slyly suggesting it here and mentioning it there.  

This person gave me a gift I hadn't realized how much I missed.  Writing.  I loved sharing here on the blog, and writing in general.  And this has sparked that once again.

But it was this person, this Secret Santa who has me going!

Man know it or not, they sure know how to take care of the love language of gifts!

This fourth day was a ton of fun.  Reminiscent of my childhood.  It was four calling birds, and we got four stockings with penguins in the top.

The memory part?  The toothbrushes and toothpaste in them.  My parents used to do that when I was little!  It has carried through with me for life.  So it was kinda of a sweet reminder of childhood.

The candy is never so bad either!  And the girls LOVED everything about theirs. 

As you can see from this picture, they all adore their little penguins.  They carry them around all the time, and each one is safely tucked in at night....