For the love of Chocolate

Happy Valentines are in order! Can you believe it is February? I'm shocked it is halfway over, but I guess I've been a little on the non-existant side for a few months. I think being pregnant & having a baby has clouded my mind, but it is a good cloud! And yes, I was pregnant and had a baby. I will play catch up in a few days.  I do love February though-- it means that tulips are coming around.  It makes me smile every time I come into the kitchen to see these soft pink ones.

Anyway, Valentines Day is here. This morning I had good intentions of having a valentines breakfast. So I decided to make my Belgian waffles with buttermilk syrup. I tried getting all fancy by piping a red heart in each waffle (made with colored batter). Can you tell that is a heart? I guess it would have worked better with pancakes, but I love waffles more than pancakes (yes, they are different). The buttermilk syrup made it all better for me, but not my kids-- they missed having their usual waffles with ice cream. I was trying to go a little more on the healthy side with buttermilk syrup!!

And then it was valentine's boxes, candy and parties for the day.  I love that my kids get enough candy to share with me.  Kendra came home from preschool and looked through her candy to find the sugary candy and some chocolate (nummy Rolos). She took one look at the chocolate, put it all in a pile and said, "Mommy, you can have these!"  What is it about kids and sugary treats as opposed to chocolate? Do your kids pick out the suckers, gum and the like and ditch the chocolate? I was elated, but I knew I shouldn't be for the sake of my breastfeeding baby and my extra chubbiness that I'm trying to shed.  Shortly after, my teenager walks in from school and I proceeded to tell him to get a snack.  His comment on his way to the kitchen, "I'll take the waffles...DUDE ROLOs!" (all in one breath) And quickly put them in his mouth.  I guess my chubbiness has been spared extra poundage by my son!  I'm happy, yet sad... for the love of chocolate!

Because of being behind in the times, I realized I didn't have any valentine decor this year.  So to kill two birds with one stone, we had a family home evening lesson on this Mormon Message...

We talked about the happiness that everyone showed in the video through their smiles and laughter.  We talked about showing greater love towards others, especially our family.  And we talked about looking to the ultimate example of love... The Savior.  Afterwards we each cut out paper hearts, decorated them and wrote something we love about each of our family members.

Mallory wrote poems, Kendra drew pictures and others wrote things everyone was good at.  We then posted them all over the kitchen and read each and every one.  It was so nice to hear what each kid had to say about their brothers and sisters.  We loved it!

Kendra asks me everyday "What does my hearts say?"  She loved hearing all the "loves" for her!  So did everyone else!  My favorite was from my sweet hubby...

It is true-- this new baby does make me smile.  I love that my husband notices it.  After I read this, I realized that I love being a mother and I love my kids-- no matter how "kid-like" they can be, no matter how many times I have to tell them to do something and no matter how tired I get from picking up their things.  No matter that this family home evening lesson will have to be repeated again in a few months... to help us remember to love others!

Happy LOVE day!