I can remember every major holiday walking downstairs and a card or a gift would be waiting for me and my siblings. My mom is one of those moms that LOVES to go all out with decorating the house, making elaborate centerpieces, giving sweet gifts and putting thought into making special memories. I can remember my dad making little scavenger hunts with rhyming clues for us to find our “treasures”. Crazy awesome right???
When I married Matt I soon realized that his mom was just the same. She LOVES to decorate, loves to make lasting memories, and loves to make holidays special.
Both sets of parents continually amaze me. Some days I cannot even think through what I’m supposed to do the next day…yet both sets of parents somehow have the forethought to think of our kids, buy them cards and gifts and get them in the mail in more than enough time for the special day! I can only hope that maybe one day I’ll become as organized as they are!
To say I am thankful would be an understatement. So, Mom and Mama…if you’re reading this…thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I love you both. I love that you have done those things for me and I love it even more that you continue to do those things for my kids as well.
Clearly my love for holidays and my hope in making them just as special for my kids as they’ve always been for me has been impacted by these two women. I too now love to pay attention to the details and to make every effort to see their little eyes light up knowing that they are treasured beyond measure. I love to see them play together and giggle with one another. I love to see them open one another’s packages and help when a toy doesn’t work right. I love to see them sharing their treats and giving one another bites of their donuts…even though they have the same exact one. I love to watch their little fingers and their little toes wiggle with delight as they open their gifts and enjoy their presents.
I don’t deserve this precious family. I was never promised these little ones and not a single day goes by that it doesn’t cross my mind that we were told we would never have any children. I pray my life would be spent, exhausted if need be, in loving them to the fullest.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
xoxo
February 15th, 2016 at 11:42 am
Love these pictures!!! Love the joy on their faces…..love 3 of your babies in my baby’s jammies (maybe the other 2 are too, I just can’t tell!!!)….love this celebration of LOVE yesterday for the 7 of you! Though…. your beautiful, warm home always feels like Valentine’s Day to me!!!
I understand what you mean about your parents doing “big” holidays! My mom always gave us cards and a little bit of candy but my Dad just didn’t. (they were divorced) I will never forget having a sleepover at my friend’s house in 7th or 8th grade on the night of the Feb. 13th….we woke up the next morning and her Mom had made heart shaped, red pancakes, had decorated the table and house, had little gifts for all of us (including me!), the whole 9 yards! I could not believe it!!! It felt like Christmas to me! The gifts were just little party stuff but I loved the “fun” of the day! From that forward, I swore that I would always “do” holidays in our home and my kids LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Nothing crazy or too expensive, just decorations and little gifts and candy….but it is always something that makes the day feel a little extra special—whether its Easter, Xmas, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, whatever! We have a tradition of reading “The Night Before _______” books together—me or Jason still read them to the kids, even though the kids can clearly now read them on their own. <3 So good for you for carrying your Moms' traditions….your kids will treasure these memories and years just as much as you an Matt do!! In a busy, hectic life, "holidays" are a great excuse to stop and celebrate the day!!! Maybe a Blog post on how to make these little special celebrations for our families on a budget? You are SO good at that and Easter is just around the corner!!! As for saying you will be more like your Mom and MIL in the "organization" category….it WILL happen!! When your 5 kids are grown and gone!!! LOL! 😉
February 23rd, 2016 at 1:39 pm
I LOVE all their different enthusiastic expressions!!! You did such a great job! SO cute!!!
January 10th, 2017 at 7:21 am
I left you a message on the main page but am so confused if I am doing this correctly I just wanted to say I truly enjoy reading your posts and articles. They are such an encouragement. Thank you for being so transparent.