A Meaningful Valentines Day (+ Bonus Movie Review)

     A while ago my mom started a tradition that I think is really cool. She started a Valentines box. It's a big box that we get out and put valentines for each other in throughout the month of February (and if we get it out early enough through some of January too but that doesn't always happen). The goal of this tradition was to get us to say something nice to each other at least once a year. (We say more nice things than that a year ok.)
    If I remember correctly I believe the tradition was started around a time when I was not getting along with one brother in particular. Ironically now me and him are best buds.
    That aside we started this tradition years ago and know that when the valentines box comes out its time to make cards. My mom made a few rules for this activity which have been mostly followed throughout the years (we may have made a few exceptions for the younger ones and special cases):

1. You must say something nice in the card to the person that its meant for (no mean valentines so far)
2. You must make your own valentines (yes, you must put some time and effort into making your card, none of those pre-made dinky valentines that you get for handing out to your class).
3. You must make an individual card for each individual person (not an easy task when your talking about making 13 valentines. Little ones are not held to the same standards on this one but when they are being helped they tend to get at least one valentine for everyone.)

At first we had one who didn't really like that you had to actually make cards for people but now he seems fine with it and everyone does get a card from him that is handmade.
      We also usually have a fondue dinner for our valentine celebration. We start out with the cheese pot where we dip bread cubes into the melted cheese mixture. Then we move onto the main course where we have some kind of stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable) in a fondue pot and cook our raw meats and vegetables in there. Last, but definitely not least, is our chocolate fondue pot where we dip fruits, marshmallows, and sometimes graham crackers in.
     We usually open up the valentine box right after our fancy 3 course meal and pass out the cards.
     It's a fun family tradition that helps me to really appreciate each individual person for who they are as, well, a person. It also is a reminder for me to encourage my siblings and parents in things that I see in them as positive things that they do everyday. Too often I forget to praise them for the everyday things that they do and too often I just take those things for granted.
     It's good to have those things that refocus us on what we appreciate about someone and remind us not to focus on the negative in that person. Valentines day is a good time to do that.
     I have asked myself these questions his year when writing out my valentines:
-What do you appreciate about this person?
-Can you encourage them in any way?
-What are some things that they do that you might take for granted that it might be nice to notice?

     On another note, if you happen to be looking for a good movie to out to for valentines day (or any day) I would encourage you to go see Frozen. It is a movie about the importance of relationship and sibling love. It does have a little bit of romance but it isn't overly emphasized. Our whole family enjoyed it from the little 3 year olds all the way up to my dad (and all 7 of the boys including the "cool" teenagers in spite of the fact that it is a princess movie).

A Peek into Our Saint Nicolas Day

     At Christmas time we have a few traditions that makes Christmas special for our family and I thought I might share them with you through this season.
    So our Christmas traditions start December 6th with St. Nicolas day. This is our "Stocking day." My family started to celebrate this after we got a book about St. Nicolas which talked about the real man behind our modern day Santa.
        In the stockings we always put gingerbread people because this man named Nicolas would give gingerbread to the poor children as treats. We also always put chocolate coins in the stockings to represent the story where Nicolas found out about a poor man who had 3 daughters of marriageable age.
     In his day if girls didn't have a dowry they had little if any chance of getting married. The eldest daughter was going to sell herself into slavery so that her sisters would have a chance at getting married. Nicolas went at night secretly and threw money into the window to keep this from happening. When he did this the girls had hung their stockings by the fire to dry and the money landed in the stocking (hence why we use stockings to put gifts in).
     So that's the bare bones version of the story of St. Nicolas. December 6th is the day of his death and we celebrate him not only because he was so generous but also because it helps to get Santa out of the way so we can focus on the real reason of why we celebrate Christmas.
       We also have more fun this way because we aren't trying to do both gifts and stockings and food and clean up all on the same day. We do have the most awesome gingerbread men on the planet, just sayin'.





     What else do we put in the stockings? Well we put a couple of candy canes someone ends up with some coal in their stocking (this year everyone did with this cool recipe we found on Pinterest).
                                                


(The recipe is on http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/06/grand-cayman-no-bake-cookies-and-cream-bars/) we made ours coal shaped and let them harden that way rather than pressing the mixture into the pan like Sweet Pea does.
     The rest of what we put in is random stuff we find at thrift stores, little snacks, and candy. Most of it is under $5. It's pretty laid back and it's so fun to watch the kids come running out in the morning to get a peek at what St. Nicolas brought them.