I love my family because...

I took a survey of my family, and here is what we came up with, when asked to finish the sentence: "I love my my family because...

Ephraim: "...we have people to play with."

Aaralyn: "...we snuggle together."

Aaralyn and Eden: "...we go swimming together."

Eden: "...we encourage each other."

Mike: "...we love each other."

Carla: "...we love to sing all sorts of songs together" and "...we laugh alot together."

That about sums it up...we laugh, sing, snuggle and play together. What struck me about this is what is missing. Not "we have a really nice couch" or "we drive a sporty car" or "we have a Wii". Nothing about what we own or what we have or what we don't have. For the kids, it is all about being time - what's that saying about how kids spell love: T-I-M-E. Again and again I am reminded about what is important. You'd think I'd learn the first time (or the third or fourth or fifth or sixth time...).

How was your Valentine's Day? We began the day with chocolate waffles, strawberries and whipped cream, and ended the day with heart-shaped hamburgers. In between, we witnessed the baptism of beautiful baby Ava, re-connected with some family members, and I had some 'quiet' time while Mike took the kids sledding (what a good Dad!!). So, so thankful.

Oh...and Mike bought me this book for Valentine's Day. I devoured "Eat, Pray, Love" and am looking forward to her thoughts on marriage in this book.

Have a wonderful, wonderful Valentine's week - and enjoy that little bit of chocolate that is left guilt-free!

Happy February!

A few things...

I love this post about getting the story down. I love it because I need to hear this a lot, so I don't get stuck in my own head about the layout not measuring up. I love it because I can write it down somewhere, put it in my 'to be filed' pile, and find it again in a few months and then remember it.

I love this post about getting into the spirit of Valentine's Day. I challenge everyone to do this for the next few weeks, but I would extend it to everyone you know, not just family. After all, we are to love everyone we meet, not just family.

I love the feeling of paper and embellishments and texture in my scrapbooks and because of that I have decided to use these page protectors for my 'picture of the day' project. I printed a few digi ones out, and I just wasn't happy with it. I am just way to tactile - I need depth. So, back to square one - hoping to have a plan put together this weekend...the only problem is, all the page protectors I ordered are on back-order (grrrrr...)

I love my new silhouette machine. I haven't had a huge chance to play with it, but here is a little something I threw together for the front door to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Happy February!!!