family nights

i have a crush on them.

family nights, that is. they make me so happy!

the romance began last fall. i had put on my calendar to watch an online live conference on http://www.leadingandlovingit.com/. i remember before watching it, that i wanted to see someone on there that wasnt put together. preferably no makeup. maybe their house could be a wreck... (wink).

i was in the middle of being a momma. being mrs. coach. being a leader of 'real' in other areas in my community and church.

looking back i realize that in that moment its not that i wanted someone to be a mess. i desperately wanted to see what 'real' looked like for mommas in ministry. i am a lover of 'real'. i love when people are real with ya. ok, rambling....back to my crush.

so when laid back, fun heather whittaker http://www.whittakerwoman.typepad.com/ got on talking about 'being intentional with family time'...i was hooked!

its quite simple.

we spend time together. we laugh together. we relax together.

I. LOVE. IT.

thursday nights are our nights.

here's a peek a boo at last thursday...'snuggle night'.

after school i asked the girls what they wanted to do for family night. they pick most the themes and get creative which is half the fun. but that thursday i told them i just wanted to snuggle with them on the couch and do nothing. so we came up with make a tent, movie and popcorn daddy style...which means pourable butter. happy.

so after dinner we got on our tent making skills! fun fun!

family nights are health to us. they are the discipline i was missing. i was spending so much time with time outs, spankings, yelling and beating my head against a wall of what would work so they would just listen to their momma. and now...well i still have those times but they are fewer and farther between. spending time together is really the attention they were wanting. and i love it.

no matter what your family dynamic is...what do you do to spend time together? we're always looking for ideas!

oooo and one more pic! when we are plum out of ideas, we made this...

i got the idea from debra parker www.debraparker.blogspot.com who makes one for summertime...aaaahhhh summer...