Happy Valentine's Day!

Each of these pictures are phone-taken. 

Sorry about the lack of quality; we have first-generation smart phones.

Ender helped make these Valentines for his class; we had a different plan originally, but when we couldn't find the matching candy for the note, we changed plans...and I think this is more fun, anyway. Ender's class thought they were really cool. I'm glad! For such a simple idea, it was a lot of work to fold all that cardstock!

We haven't exactly started a tradition of it, but we really love visiting the temple on Valentine's Day. We did last year, just as a couple, and it was very relaxing and romantic. This year, we took advantage of the Gilbert Temple Open House and took the kids with us (yesterday)! The temple was exquisite, as would be expected, and the children felt like it was a really special experience. Scarlett was so excited about the temple that she made some LEGO temples today. :) And Ender was really excited at the idea of going to the temple when he's 12...even though that's 6 years away! What a sweet family memory to make! Love is a great focus of any temple work. It was wonderful to share it all as a family.

I wish I could have taken a picture straight on, from between the rows of palm trees-- that was one breathtaking view! But there were a LOT of people (and the kids were feeling so ready to be done)...and our phones were in the van.

I've been having fun lately with my nails. I keep them short and practical, not just for the harp's sake but for general housekeeping and day-to-day functioning. But I've been prone to rest more lately with this little growing baby soaking up my energies, so I took advantage!

This is just an LED treatment for gel polish. It helps the polish dry/harden faster and somehow seems to make it last longer. I'm always surprised when my nails don't chip after I use them like tools.

I wish I could get an accurate picture of what this really looked like; my pink polish is sort of neon, and under the light it was absolutely electric. :) Pretty cool! 

So...I gave a heart-box of chocolates to Michael and each of the kids, since I knew I wouldn't be doing anything more fancy for the kids. Looks like Scarlett decided one wasn't enough? I found her like this when I came into the kitchen, and I almost said something to her about it but realized what a funny sight it was. :) 

I still wanted the kids to feel like they were included in all the fancy Valentine stuff, but I do realize it's a lot of chocolate for a kid. I do. Don't worry.

The beautiful roses are from Michael. :)

Our Valentine's Day is somewhat up in the air, and we're not stressing about scheduling anything crazy. We'll have a romantic evening, that's for sure, and we have plans for tomorrow and Sunday, so there's no stress. 

While Michael was at school, I spent the morning taking some time for makeup, and then I did some service-oriented organizing around our bedroom. Our Love Nest is beautiful. :) It's clean, and now the closet is, too. I used to take up 90% of the closet, no joke. That's a shame! It's embarrassing, even! Hahaha! So I sorted through my clothes until Michael finally has his 50% of the closet for perhaps the first time ever in our marriage. :) When I showed him his lovely side of the closet, he definitely appreciated the significance, but he also said he never minded that my clothes took up so much space. Isn't that so sweet? I really think so. I love that he doesn't get annoyed with me or my silly habits. He never makes me feel like he's "putting up with me," either. He is so good to me. I love him so much, and I feel so loved by him.

I felt very happy thinking about him all morning, doing all that organizing for him (the closet project meant taking care of several other projects all at the same time, because I STILL have tons of clothing tucked in various places...goodness, it's ridiculous). 

That's our Valentine's Day so far! I'm going to go snuggle with Michael, enjoy my kids playing with the enormous heart balloon Ender chose for me, and have a really happy and love-filled evening. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!!

How to Clean Your Room - for kids

I was wondering when my next creative boost would hit...but it seems that creativity breeds creativity. I didn't have to wait long.

When Ender and Scarlett are supposed to clean their room, it nearly cripples them with anxiety. Um...okay, just Ender. Scarlett doesn't care. But Ender feels so daunted by the task because he can't help but feel like I'm asking him to climb Mount Everest. He'll try to start, and after putting ONE thing away, he gets lost in la-la land, and it can take almost the entire day to really get the job done. I so wish I were kidding.

The thing is, I understand. I'm like that myself, and I get very distracted in the middle of tasks like that (or at least I really did as a kid), and I do tend to blow things out of proportion when I'm stressed. Like anyone, right? We usually offer our help to Ender, helping him pick things up and giving him game ideas ("pick up everything red!" or "pick things up with your toes!" or "grab everything you can in 30 seconds, GO!"), but it never seems to work well enough. He was still stressed...and then we were, too. Because it's annoying to try and help your kid when they won't DO anything.

My "creation" for this month is, hopefully, a solution. Ender hasn't seen it yet--wish me luck. The idea is that he will be excited to move from one thing to the next, almost like a race (and I have seen this method work REALLY well for him with other things). And my plan is to have him cleaning his room nearly every day so that it won't get too galactically catastrophic from cleaning to cleaning.

These were drawn on the backside of an old calendar. The pages are a little difficult to turn, so Ender may need my help between steps (doesn't bother me yet). It would be easier if I had some sort of easel stand; that's what I'd recommend to anyone else. As with many of my projects, you may copy my work. I really don't mind in cases like this because I understand that there is a need to minimize the daily potentials of power struggles between parents and kids. 

Announcing...