I know in the book that February’s main focus was on Marriage ~ Giving Proofs of Love to your spouse. And while I love that and continue to make the Captain my main focus, I’m also implementing the same effort into other people {and animals} in my life.
1. The Way to a Man’s Heart is Through His Stomach
*Really, the way to anyone’s heart I’d say! 😉
One of the biggest ways that I give proofs of love is through food. I LOVE to cook…for myself, my family, and our friends. I love creating a fun and healthy platter for the kids and their friends, having people over for dinner, trying a new meal, making a fun dessert, or recently, even making raw meals for my dogs. I’ve said it for a long time, but I mean it: The kitchen is my happy place. When I am there I am at my best. I’m not a chef by any stretch {the kids on Master Chef Junior put me to shame in a huge way}, but cooking is something I enjoy. I also happen to love grocery shopping because I get excited to have all the new and fresh food in my house. lol
This delicious Baked Garlic Cheddar Chicken from Kitchme is our most recent favorite. Even the kids can’t get enough!
Another way that I give proofs of love with regards to the Captain, is by serving him. I mean physically serving him his meal. He’s never expected it and is always genuinely surprised when I hand him his plate, which is definitely part of the fun. Look, the man works hard..and for many years he was doing it so I could stay home with our kids {eating bonbons, of course}. I don’t take that lightly. When he would come home for lunch, I know it meant a lot to not only not have to prepare his own lunch, but also not have to plate it. He could sit down, relax and eat. And I LOVED having something prepared that just hit the spot. Same with dinner…I wasn’t always good about having it ready as soon as he got home, but I sure tried. Now, with him working away, these things aren’t as common. But the man still works hard {incredibly hard} and I know, after a long shift, the last thing he wants to do is try and figure out what to eat. As I’ve discussed previously, I send him with meals so once he’s done his shift he can shower, eat, and go to sleep. And I always try to have breakfast or leftovers ready for him when he returns home from his rotation, because otherwise he gets busy and doesn’t eat!
Okay, so we’ve established that I like to feed people.
2. Playtime
*I want more time to play. Less time of running to everything…and more just hanging out. As the weather gets warmer, I want us out riding our bikes, going for walks, and taking the dogs for a run in the field. This is a proof of love that, as I put the effort in, comes back. We all benefit because we all contribute. Plus, we’ll also be making memories, which is perhaps the best part of all!
This kid loves to be outside all the time.
The Kids:
*I admit we are a home-cozy family, so it can be important to make sure there are fun activities to do so they aren’t just wasting away on ipods/ipads.
Jonah BEGGED for a science experiment kit from the school book orders and I finally agreed to buy it, thinking it would just get forgotten. But they seriously do it nearly every day. It has been a great source of memories and fun. In this photo they made vampire blood.
*I plan to play more games with them. For Christmas they got The Game of Life and Operation, and we’ve had a lot of fun playing both of them. I love the time we put aside our other tasks, put down our phones, and just connect.
3. Snuggle Time
*I love snuggling. The kids love snuggling. I love when they curl up with me on the couch or even just come over for a hug and a kiss. And although sometimes there are other things to do, I {we} love ending every night laying with them, hearing about their day {do anyone else’s kids get super chatty at bedtime?}. It’s a pretty amazing time and we’ve had several honest and real conversations as a result.
Late night snuggle sesh watching Once Upon a Time.
We’ve been known to have *family sleepovers* when the Captain is away, and often they will sneak up after bedtime because *they can’t sleep*! Sometimes if I wake up in the middle of the night I will go get one {or both} of them to snuggle with. It’s a real problem we have. 😉
4. Down Time
*We don’t always have to be going somewhere or doing something. Down time is just as important…we can all be doing something different, but as long as we’re in the same room or same house even, it counts. Some of our greatest memories come from the time we spend putzing around and relaxing.
I came home from the gym to them jamming together, playing Rockband: The Beatles.
5. Date Time
*I’m not talking about getting a sitter and going out date time, although that’s nice too. But honestly, I find we are more *family daters* than anything and love to take our kids on mini dates. Because the Captain is gone, it’s difficult to justify taking more time away from the kids, though of course we do for certain things. But we love all kinds of dates: slurpees, ice cream, candy store, restaurant, and even stay at home – popcorn, milkshake, snow cones and movies kind of dates.
After an emotional Celebration of life for a friend of mine, I found that I didn’t want to just go home and lose the rest of the day. So we took the kids to the local candy store to make memories instead.
6. Getaway Time
*Several years ago, while talking about our parenting/family vision, we both felt that making getaways a priority was important to building and maintaining strong relationships with our kids. It doesn’t have to be an airplane to Mexico every time, though we wouldn’t complain, but every kind of getaway: Camping {even in the backyard}, the condo {whitefish}, our recent getaway to Canmore, or even quick day trips ~ date and getaway all in one!
For Christmas we decided to take the kids on a short getaway instead of buying several little presents. It was our best idea yet and we had such an amazing time!
7. Dog Time
*Yes, Malibu and Axel deserve our love and attention too. It can be a lot sometimes, caring for them in addition to everything else. But I am glad they are a part of our family and I love the days I make the time to spend playing with them. I try to every day, but it doesn’t always work. And there is a noticeable difference in how antsy Malibu, in particular, is on the days I don’t. They are big dogs and, despite having a big backyard, it’s not enough just being on their own. So they have really become a focus of mine/ours since the beginning of the year.
Malibu is nuts. That is all.
Now, there is one more person on my list that I need to make sure also gets proofs of love: ME! But that is a whole different blog post. It might seem silly, but it’s true. We need to take care of ourselves as well and I have been really making myself an additional focus since starting this Happiness Project. This quote from Buddha that I shared a while back on Instagram for a #SundaySays sums it up perfectly.
How do you show proofs of love?
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