The Butler's Annual Valentine's Family Dinner

A couple of times over the course of our marriage, we have cooked a nice dinner, dressed up and used some fancy glassware for Valentine's Day.  After J was born, I decided I wanted to do it again, but it seemed silly to get a babysitter for us to stay home.  So, our annual family V-day dinner was born!  This year did not disappoint!  First, there was a bit lost in translation that had a fun result.

Me: "So for our special dinner tonight we're all going to get dressed up so you'll need to go pick out what you'd like to wear.

Miss Z's big eyes are getting bigger and she starts to squeal with excitement.

J: I don't know what I should wear. 

Me: You could wear a sweater or a nice shirt.  I can help you later, if I need to.

J: (His eyes start getting really happy all of a sudden.) I don't know if I should be a pirate or Woody (from Toy Story).

Me: No, I don't mean to dress up as a person.  I meant dress up in nice clothes.

J: But you said dress up!?

The definition of dress-up was left wide open this year and it worked out alright!

Miss Z chose a princess with boots and J opted for Woody.

We went with more traditional attire.

Then there is always a fun treat for dessert.  It was a little chilly but not too bad to use the fire pit and I thought I would give the healthier versions of 'Smores try.

I thought they were delicious!

And everyone else agreed!

 And of course once I ditched the heels, miss Z had to give them a try.  

Finally, we used the dinner as an opportunity to tell everyone why we loved each other. With a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old parrot, things were pretty interesting!

In some ways I guess it is a fluff tradition to keep, but I have 3 reasons I plan to continue it.

1) It's FUN! Getting dressed (however you define it) is fun! Using fancy dishes is fun! And special treats are fun!

2) Special dinners and intentional family time is important.  Life is busy and will only become more so.  Now is the time to invest in our family identity, our memories and appreciation of each other.

3) Valentine's Day is saturated with romance and not enough real love.  I fully support romance and celebrating your valentine (mine's pretty great), but everyone will not always have a romantic valentine every year.  Learning to love and celebrate others on this 'hallmark holiday' is something we could use more of rather than more pressure to meet expectations.

Bill Cosby Friday

Sometimes you just need to laugh and I can't think of anyone better for the job than Bill Cosby.  For the next few weeks I've decided to share excerpts of  "Bill Cosby, Himself" with you.  Hope you enjoy!

Why So Serioussss?

Sometimes (ok, a lot of times) I take myself way too seriously.  Perhaps you do too?  If there ever was a Calvin incarnate, it would be my husband.  The intelligence of a rocket scientist, but the goofiness of a 5 year old.  This little perfectionist sometimes has a hard time keeping up with him! But, the sentiment of this comic and living with Randy for almost 5 years has taught me a thing or two.  Some days, you need to be silly.  When  you have green ugly goo for dinner, why not turn it into an art project? More importantly, laughing and being silly makes the hard stuff easier. 

Why not get the job done with a smile on your face and a joke up your sleeve today? :)

Just For Laughs

Sometimes you just need a good laugh.  "It's so FLUFFY!"

A little fun for the weekend!

Here are a couple of videos of some sisters you might have heard of.  I'd forgotten about the band She & Him (featuring Zooey Deschanel) and stumbled across a new video, which reminded me of how much I enjoy them.  And there is a video of Emily Deschanel, who stars in Bones.  Just some quirky fun to brighten up the day! :)

Funny Get Fuzzy

Get Fuzzy

Next to Calvin & Hobbes, Get Fuzzy is probably my favorite comic and as such I have a daily strip sent to my inbox. In the last month or so, there was a hilarious series that daily just cracked me up. That's due partially to the language arts references, which I love, but still is just too funny not to share.  So, when you have 5 minutes to relax, have a few laughs on me. And for those unfamiliar with Get Fuzzy, the premise is Rob lives in an apartment with a generally offensive cat, Bucky and a sweet, but not that bright dog, Satchel.