We started a new tradition this month...We decided to celebrate our family!
Saturday was the 1st annual Messick family "We Love to be a Family" Day.
It wasn't my idea but I shamelessly copy brilliant people to enhance our family life! Here is a post about the original idea and tips for planning your own (it's not as hard as you think...we decided to do ours 2 days before!)
It was so refreshing to pause all the other "important" things that steal our attention and keep us multi-tasking 24/7, to remember how much we love each other. We celebrate all kinds of other holidays during the year...why not make time for the most important thing to us? Our family. Our plan was to celebrate our family by doing things that we like to do together...
Ryan whipped up this treasure map with some paint and a brush at 10:30 the night before! I added hearts that had our surprise activity scribbled on the back (you could get really creative with clues, poems and riddles...but this was our first attempt...simple!)
We started off with a little discussion about why families are important to us and covered some of our religious beliefs about the purpose of life and where we came from. We talked about how lucky we are to have each other to experience life together. It's good to remind us all that even though kids fight like crazy sometimes, we really are each other's best cheerleaders and truly want each other to be happy!
Then the girls and I got silly "striking a pose" for the camera!
Then it was time to start discovering the secret plans on our treasure map...one heart at a time...
#1: Time for a Heart Attack! Decorate the kitchen with family love.
We do this activity every year around Valentine's day anyways. We hadn't done it yet, and it was a great way to start the day off.
Everyone started cutting out hearts and filling them up with all the things they loved about each other. I love how involved even Audrey stayed the whole time. She and Alice were our expert wall designers...they filled that wall up as fast as we could pump them out!
#2: Call Great-Grandpa Jolley just to tell him we love him. Sing some favorite songs to him.
We are so lucky to have my Grandpa living in Virginia with my parents right now. The girls have fallen in love with him. They were so sweet on the phone and he was thrilled to get a call on his slow Saturday morning! We even sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" at Audrey's request!
#3: Take Treats to some friends that just moved back to our area. Welcome Home!
#4: Watch a movie as a family (while Audrey takes a nap!)
It's always amazing when we all sit down and take time to laugh together. It seems like normally when a movie comes on I take advantage of the time to accomplish things that I can't do with kids under-feet. It sure was nice to just be snuggled up with everyone in the middle of the day!
#5: Make an official 2012 Family Playlist/CD
I'm so excited about this part!
Everybody got to pick 3 songs. Then we had a little space left (CD) so we all agreed on a couple more that had been big hits when it was time to clean recently. I'm not sure if this screen shot is the final version but it's close!
We love music and singing and dancing in our house! You'll notice from the playlist that we have a few Taylor Swift fans. It was funny to hear them debate the songs. They all agreed that certain songs that were suggested were "so last year"! I think it will be so fun to be able to go back to see what music was the soundtrack of our lives 10 or 20 years ago.
Drumroll...
#6: The finale! CiCi's Pizza for dinner
The kids have been begging to go to CiCi's pizza for quite some time. We knew this was an easy way to end on something they'd be ecstatic about. I mean what kid isn't in heaven with all you can eat Mac&Cheese pizza?!?!
Of course I was so excited about this quality establishment that it slipped my mind to take pictures. But you know what kids look like when they zone out to cartoons while they are eating! Ryan and I enjoyed a decent dinner conversation!
___________________________________________
I'm not sure how the date will be determined each year. I'm certain that the activities will stay simple but won't necessarily be the same each year (except that playlist!). We were definitely disappointed that we couldn't do one of our favorite family activities of hiking because the weather was so bitter cold and windy that day...maybe next year we'll wait until March?
But...what a great experience! I love how traditions and rituals are the glue that keep us together as families. I think this one is already one of our favorites and a definitely keeper!
