Family Days

Back at the beginning of 2013, I decided to try to do a family outing every month. We tried to pick out somewhere we hadn't been before and make a day of it. 

From festivals to museums to vacation destinations, we did quite a bit together as a result of this resolution. For the past few months though, sickness and bad weather have shaken things up a bit. As a result, most of our family nights have been spent at home lately.

In December, we did things like decorating a gingerbread train and playing with Christmas decorations together since we weren't up for the normal festivities. As the new year approached though, we made a list of all the things we'd like to do in 2015 and began putting them on the calendar. 

For January, we talked about taking everyone to an indoor waterpark, but after looking at the price tag weren't sure if that was the most economical choice, especially with our two littlest who wouldn't be able to do a lot of the rides anyway (not to mention that we'd have to recruit a third adult on such a big adventure). When that fell through, I thought maybe we could just go to the D.C. aquarium, which is what we'd planned for our Feb. trip, but to our surprise and dismay their website revealed they have been closed since 2013 for renovations. 

Finally, we just decided to stay home and have a family movie night. 

While our kids get their fair share of TV and watch movies on occasion, we've never had a movie night as a family of five before so it was a unique experience. We made a tent - throwing a sheet over the back of the couch and kitchen chairs - and then popped some popcorn as we snuggled in to watch our Redbox rental Despicable Me.

While I love taking the kids to new places and introducing them to things they haven't experienced before, usually our family days exhaust me and frequently they feel like a whirlwind. I don't always really get to enjoy watching my little ones because we are so busy keeping up with everyone and everything. With the movie night though, I didn't have to worry about a ton of logistics. I actually sat back and watched my family more than I did the movie probably, savoring our time together. 

At home, there is always something to clean, and I often feel guilty if I sit down to just relax when there are things to be done. That is part of why carving out this time felt so good that night.

In February, we decided to stay put again for another family day at home. One Sunday when church was canceled due to snow, we did just that. 

Typically, we try our best not to do much housework on the Sabbath (except maybe tidying the kitchen after meals), so Sunday was the perfect day to spend together without the nagging of the to-do list in the back of our minds. 

Since we were missing our normal service, Dave decided to have Sunday school at home with the kids.

His mother used to make craft activities for a ministry website, several of which are still available. Remembering a conversation he had with her before she passed, Dave found the perfect one to go with the story we read about heaven.

Reid can hardly believe Daddy just gave him crayons. "You know I eat these, right?"

Hadley liked talking about heaven. "Grandma's talking to God, Daddy," she squealed excitedly. "I want to go to heaven too!" 

The kids had never seen a three-hole punch before and were excited to try it, especially Caleb.

Later we settled in for another movie together - Jonah (the Veggie Tales version)!

We even baked a cake for Daddy's birthday the next day. I had three good little helpers.

They older two both wanted to pour in the ingredients.

Then everyone got to pick an egg...

...even Reid.

Reid didn't want to give his up to put in the batter though.

"Can you believe they took my egg and gave me this silly spatula?"

Guess who even dropped by? NaNa!

The following two nights we got in even more family time, celebrating Daddy and NaNa's birthdays. 

Caleb thought Daddy needed a Hokie party, so I tried to whip up a VT cake. It wasn't a "piece of cake" like I expected though. I had to use a ton of icing coloring to get the right shade and stained my hands red in the process. Plus, I didn't get to freeze the cake like I normally do, so despite the crumb coat I attempted, pieces of chocolate cake were coming off left and right and mixing into the icing. I tried to use the store bought stuff rather than butter cream this time to save a little money, but that was part of the problem. It melted and wouldn't spread like I needed it too, but finally I got it looking half way decent and started making supper - Caribbean steak with pineapple. :)

At least my hubby and the kids liked it.

Reid gave him a better present than a cake - baby snuggles.

After dinner, it was time for Daddy to blow out the candles. Caleb got so tickled when Dave pretended to miss.

Yay! Daddy did it!

I had to use so much dye that the icing tasted awful, which we learned a little too late. Most of us just scraped it off, Hadley didn't seem to mind though. 

The following night we had shrimp and an ice cream cake with my grandparents for Mom's birthday. I wasn't feeling well and didn't get many pics but here's a cute one of the little boogers at their kiddie table.

Bottom line, the past couple months have taught me something valuable. We don't have to be on the go so much to have a good time. Sometimes it's best just to stay put and enjoy the seemingly mundane moments.