Chocolate and Shrove Tuesday

Sometimes chocolate is just a good idea. It comes in a variety of sweetness levels, satisfying the severest sweet tooth to just one that needs a lit kick in the pants and everything in between! We're working on lifting spirits here this week. After another week of "fever baby" we could all use a little lift, and so what if we use chocolate as a motivator?!

 

 

Luckily for me (and really, do I need an excuse?) Valentine's Day is this week and today just happens to be Fat Tuesday, perfect time to indulge a little and bring out the bulk chocolate that's been sitting in the freezer since Christmas! 

 

A few weeks ago I bought a few packages of dried fruits: cranberries, blueberries, cherries, and plums. My original intention was to bake with them but then I realized.....who doesn't love chocolate covered dried fruit? Chocolate covered raisins has always been a hit, maybe we could take a walk on the wild side and try something new! Thank goodness we're a fearless bunch because these are just simply divine!

 

The littles we're thrilled to get their hands in a plate full of melted chocolate. I didn't have my eye on them the whole time so I wonder how much actually made it on the plate as opposed to in their bellies :)

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Then there is always the cliche of chocolate covered strawberries.

 

As this is the start of the Lenten season, I feel a very strong pull to just let the spirit flow and do whatever it is that I'm being led to. I haven't always allowed myself that luxury, and well.....having five children can make that a wee bit challenging at times. Our Lenten journey is described well here in this older post; how we hold on to the reverence of this time and nourish our spiritual bodies. As I form a clearer picture of our current state as a family, I'm realizing that nourishment for our collective and individual selves is paramount. We've all had to sacrifice quite a bit as of late, it's time now to figure out how to manage the difficulties in our lives without sacrificing our family body. I am really quite inspired that all of this seems to be culminating at the time of Lent.

 

"I believe Lent is the time to work with what gets in our way - the obstacles to our desire to fulfill our destiny." ~ Lynn Jericho on the spiritual practices of Inner Lent.

 

You can read her full post about Inner Lent here.

 

How will you work with what gets in your way this Lenten season?

 

Valentine's Day Window Hearts

 

Candle light, moon light, star light,
The brightest glow is from love light.

~Terri Guillemets

 

We made a simple Valentine decoration today to adorn our front door windows. I am in love with window transparencies; I love the colors that shine through, how they instantaneously beautify a space, the time and patience it takes to create them. These were awfully simple to create. Using white coffee filters, we water colored them and after they dried, I cut them into heart shapes and glued them to our front door windows (using a glue stick). Using homemade window paint (a simple mixture of tempura paint and dish soap. I didn't measure, I just eye balled it and hoped for the best) I traced the hearts on the window and there you have it!

 

Valentine's Day, I have found, can be such a bright and fun day while we are in the midst of February. At this time of dark and cold days, it's nice to have a day that is simply focused on just being kind and sweet and in love. We'll pull out the Valentine hearts we made last year and use them to decorate our nature table as well as create a few new ones to add to the lot.

 

 

As we get over the February hump and get closer to seeing the stirring of Springtime, I can't help but feel hopeful for the newness that we'll begin to witness. The sheep are beginning to show signs that lambing season will soon be here, birds are busy and chirping away, days are becoming longer and longer, and I know soon enough we will begin to see buds popping up from beneath the snow. Valentine's Day, for me, is a day to stir the sleepy busyness within me. It's been dark and cold for many months and while Valentine's Day isn't warmest or sunniest day of the year, it helps me to remember that with love......all things are possible. We can brighten each others day by simply acting out of love, being love, seeing love within each other. I'll be the first to admit, that it's been hard to be in that place this winter. It's been a trying time and I know I haven't offered up my best self on more than one (or two, or three) occasions. The light that will shine through each of the hearts on our front entry way will serve as a reminder to try to recommit myself to this virtue::

“Before you speak ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, it is true, does it improve upon the silence?”   
~ Shirdi Sai Baba

 

*sigh* Love is good. It softens the heart and brightens the day. How might Valentine's Day shake the winter blues out of you?

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Ironically, as I was perusing Pinterest after this post was published, I came across this post with the exact same Valentine activity!! This has happened before and I love it!! It's amazing to me! Nonetheless, I feel it's important to include it here :)

http://innerchildfun.com/2013/01/quick-valentine-window-display.html

Coloring Winter (an older post for today)

Feeling like a wee bit of color is needed in these dreary, wintry days. Here is an older post (tutorial) on bringing in the forthcoming season of St. Valentine. A bit early, I know but who cares!! It's all in good fun :)

Click the link below for the full post and tutorial!!

Valentine Window Transparency

Misty Rains

"Let your love be like the misty rains, coming softly, but flooding the river." 

 ~Malagasy Proverb

Today is Valentine's Day, what does that mean to you? Does it have any meaning? Is it just another day of the week, the month, another day in your year? For some it's a day of sadness for they feel as though they have no one who loves them, or maybe they are missing a loved one. For others the commercialization of this day drives them into protest. There may be some people who simply just don't partake because they feel as though this holiday doesn't represent anything significant because they spend their lives loving fully and intentionally everyday.......which is really how we should love, don't you think?

I've read many peoples thoughts on the day today, amazingly, there aren't many positive attributes to share! So many folks are feeling dragged down by the thought of sharing love, receiving love, admitting love. Has love really become a lost emotion? Are so many feeling that love is not worth the time or energy or that there are better things to do than to express how one feels about another? I'm not an expert and to be honest I live in a bit of a bubble but I would hope that somewhere deep inside those folks they can find that there is more to today than just roses, diamonds, fancy dinners out, and Hallmark cards. Somewhere I hope they can see, like any other festival or holiday that marks a milestone in time, that this day commemorates the celebration of love. How love has triumphed over evils. How today there are more and more people who are able to freely love whom they choose without laws and fewer protesters to hold them back. Today, in my heart, marks a day in our history where love prevails. It reminds me of how fortunate I am to be loved so deeply by so many; my husband, my children, my family and friends.......my cat! Like any other day, today brings up my intention to be more mindful and grateful for the life that I have. Promising myself to live each day more fully and with less fear. I think about those who love but are missing and for those who feel like they are not loved or those who think they just don't have anything left within them to love. In my mind, I imagine loving them, sending them hugs and loving thoughts that will carry them through the day, imagining that magically they feel loved but are unsure as to where it's come from. Maybe they will find a sense of strength that comes from within and they realize that someone does love them......that they love themselves! From that moment, they smile more, reach out, and in turn give back this magical love that they feel to someone else who might feel lonely or sad. Love is eternal, never ending. It spreads faster and wider than any other emotion, why not do amazing things with it?

There are many conflicting stories when it comes to the history of St. Valentine's Day. One thing that is for sure is that the word Valentine comes from the Latin word valens meaning worthy, powerful, and strong. If today is considered to be a day to celebrate the love in our life........aren't we all worthy of love? Are we not powerful and strong in our emotion to love and be loved? Isn't our love so powerful that it has affected another being? Are we stronger in heart and soul when we know that we are loved by another or when we are free to love and express our deepest passion for another being? Like the quote from above, our love should flow gently and steadily like a misty rain but overflow the boundaries of the one we share our love with. Our love should exceed any walls, break down any fears, hold strong all that is good

On this day, if you are one of the folks feeling low, think about how your love is strong, worthy, and powerful. Consider how you might think differently about love in your life; how you express your love, how you accept love, how you give love, or even what you might expect out of love. Do something special for yourself and another being if you choose........prepare a delicious meal or treat, spend time feeling loved in nature by going for a walk or sitting near a stream or river, visit your local shelter and share some goodies with the animals who are seeking their forever loves, volunteer your time with a group that prepares free meals to those who are less fortunate, make some birdseed treats and hang them in your trees to share the love with your feathered friends, or simply remind yourself that you are loved by someone, somewhere and you don't need some material object to make it so. Sit quietly and think deeply on those you love or have loved. Thank them for that precious gift. Try to open your heart to the possibility of loving again, or rekindling a love in your life.  Any and all of these ideas can happen today, tomorrow, next week.......any day! Love doesn't come and go with Valentine's Day........it is eternal. Share your love eternally, the only consequence is your heart may double or triple in size!

Wishing you nothing but love in your life, to give and receive, today and everyday!

New Post on TASTE

Join us on our TASTE page and see how my Bella will be spreading the love with her classmates at school! Give our Valentine Keepsake Brownies a try.......I'm sure you'll love them! xoxo

Click here for our New Post on TASTE

Valentine hearts are full of sunshine

These little hearts were super fun to make. We saw them in a magazine a few years ago, Martha Stewart, I think, and decided this would be the perfect holiday decoration for our front door since that window receives the first days light. It's amazing to watch them transform right before your eyes from plain, white paper and then multi colored, multi faceted prisms. When they are out of the light they are pale in color but the moment the light hits them they shine radiant colors from the various colors of melted wax from within.

To make these hearts

you will need::

crayon pieces for melting

vegetable peeler or small grater to make crayon shavings

waxed paper

heart templates of various sizes

pencil

scissors

string

hole punch or large needle



To start, cut a piece of 12-16 inch waxed paper to a length of 32 inches. The wider and longer the more opportunity for heart shapes but also the more space to fill with your crayon shavings. It's up to you how many hearts you'd like to make and how much wax you have available to use. Our piece of waxed paper gave us 13 hearts (we had room to cut about 5 more but are going to wait and use them for something else!).

Next, fold your your paper length wise to form a crease. Shave your crayon pieces over one half of the paper. You don't need to fill it so full but include a nice variety of color to create a little depth and dimension to your finished heart.

Fold your paper length wise again, using the crease that you formed before. Then, close off the three open sides by folding them over. This will prevent hot wax from leaking all over your work space and iron. Our iron is used for crafting (mostly) so I did not put anything over the paper once I began to iron. However, if you've got an iron that you wouldn't want to risk getting wax on I suggest covering your bottom work surface with newspaper or an old towel as well as the top of your wax filled paper. Just in case!

Once you've gone over your folded paper a few times with your hot iron you will notice the wax melting and spreading around the paper beneath. Once your sure the wax is completely melted turn your iron off and set it aside. Let your paper cool a minute or so. Now you can trace your heart shapes all over the paper and cut them out!

Lastly, we popped holes in the top of our hearts and strung some string through them at varying lengths. We then attached another piece of string the width of the window on our front door and tied our hearts randomly from this string, creating a beautiful heart mobile that radiated bursts of color with the daylight shining through them.

Wishing you a lovely Sunday full of color and sunshine xoxo



New Post on DO

Come see what we're doing to prepare for Valentine's Day! Discover a sweet finger play verse for your little ones and check out Bella's beautiful needle felted heart! Valentine's Day is just 4 days away.......how will you celebrate your loved ones?

Click here for our New Post on DO