Moore Minutes: February 2013

Friday, February 15, 2013

Our lovin' Valentine's Day 2013

Always so MUCH to be thankful for and always so MUCH to love!

Little loves

like the way I love a good sandwich

and the smell of rain,

and big loves

like the way I love every.single.little thing. my boys do

and like the way I love the forever connection that my heart has

with my husband's heart.

Of course I love to celebrate February 14th:

Love is that extra bit of delight in daily living

It's the buffer put up to protect us around our trials

It's the added depth to life over and under us

It's the joy that exceeds any pain

It's the purpose for our tomorrows

We started out with heart-shaped homemade waffles. Love the day. It's fresh and new and ready for us to embrace!

I added cut up cherries to the mix for CHERRY WAFFLES!

First thing in the morning Chris surprised me with a ring...a great big red paper heart ring!

He made an origami heart ring and it melted my lil heart. :)

He even got down on one knee again.

Gosh, this big strong guy can be romantic too. {wink}

Remember the dozen red origami roses he made me last year?

Well, he made a single giant rose bud this year.

It is awesome!

Soon after that, my Dad knocked on my door. I've shared this tradition a couple of times

here

on my blog before because it means so much to me and I hold it close to my heart!

My dad has been bringing me pink roses for Valentine's Day ever since I was a little girl.

My SWEET Mom dropped over later that afternoon with a fun and ADORABLE box

of Valentine goodies for each of us.

Grey cloth napkins for me, protein bars for Chris!

She made each boy a red pompom bookmark!

Love that.

We did some HEART DAY baking too!

I baked Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies (recipe here).

Individually wrapped and ready for deliveries!

photo via mooreminutes Instagram

The boys and I also made our traditional Cherry Kiss cookies.

I've been baking these since I was a little girl!

(recipe here)

photo via mooreminutes Instagram

The kids made Chris and I smile wide with their special gifts!

Titus handed us a handmade card, full of his classic drawn on smiley faces and hearts.

Cameron wrote each one of us a beautiful card.
He used gorgeous handwriting and a lot of care.

His words to each of us were incredible and I've tucked those words forever in my heart.

He is full of so much depth and I am humbled by his love.

His words on each card made my heart so full.

He designed such a fun game for us! We went on a paper red heart search and had a contest with them before we were able to open our cards. I absolutely loved his idea and his creativity!

I think we all felt so loved by Cameron.

Kotah surprised me with a single long stem white rose.

His money,

his own idea,

made this mama's heart soar!

He is my heart throb.

For their school party, we gathered up the PUPPY LOVE Valentines.

(See here for classroom Valentine ideas)

and I brought a bunch of colored mini heart balloons to pass out to the students.

Balloon shadows!

The boys excitedly passed them out to their classmates

School party!

We loved the day

GIVING

and

RECEIVING

this little-big thing we call

LOVE.

Happy

Valentine's

Day!

This is my cute little attempt to blow kisses ;)

Thanks to EACH of you for reading and caring!

Much love!

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This post is linked to: Under the Table & Dreamin, Nifty Thrifty, Made by You Monday, Met Monday , Tuesday Tutorials and Tips, HOMEWORK: Be Inspired, Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On, Works for Me Wednesday, Organize and Decorate Everything, Transformation Thursday, Tablescape Thursday, Strut Your Stuff, 36th Ave, Foodie Friday, I'm Lovin It, Tickled Pink, Friday Flair, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up, Six Sisters Saturday

Monday, February 11, 2013

Family Dinner Lessons for Kids about MONEY, and the gift of STOCKS

*note: This is NOT a sponsored post. I'm just sharing what we're loving at the moment.

I've shared before about the true VALUE in family meals. In our hurried and overstuffed schedules, we are unable to gather around the table EVERY night, but we treasure the handful of nights that we do!

Occasionally, I grab the chance to make a fun night centered around our family dinner with little surprises, learning lessons, exciting announcements, or a time of sharing together. If you would like to see the details of our traditional FAMILY SHOW N SHARE NIGHT, click here to see photos and read all the good details!

I used this winter cozy family dinner night as a time to teach. It was a kick off to a new educational series of money, investing, and personal finance for our kids! Personal Finance is a skill that our boys will be practicing every.single.day. of their adult lives. I've felt an intense responsibility, as their parent, to find a way to incorporate this teaching into our schedules.

As they ran down the stairs for dinner, they quickly noticed the mysterious kraft paper-wrapped-somethings in the center of the table, along with a stack of books. In the middle of our cups of water, Correlle dishes, S&P shakers, was a stack of FUN in the center of our table.

turkey meatloaf for a cozy winter meal

along with family time to learn

personal finance

I am so excited to start this financial curriculum with my boys! I have so much to learn as well and I can't wait to make positive changes in our life. There are a few curriculums available to use in teaching children about personal finance and simple economics. I chose Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Jr. (again, this is not a sponsored post, I'm just sharing our pick!).

In the box...

We have a lesson plan to follow, a commission chore chart system, and budget envelopes for each of the boys.

I also bought Dave Ramsey's financial book series for kids. We kicked off our money lessons with a story on saving. These books teach all the basic and essential values of money in simple and entertaining style for kids.

We did a brief overview over dinner, introducing the kids to this new program.

We will also be incorporating Warren Buffet's program for kids, Secret Millionaires Club to learn investing AFTER we complete the personal finance program.

photo source

After the kickoff was complete and our plates cleared, I revealed the mystery underneath the kraft paper wrapped packages. We presented the boys with their own specially framed shares of stock.

We actually bought these shares for the boys when they were toddlers. However, I waited to give them out until now. I wanted them to have an introductory understanding of what investing was, what a share is, and what stock in a company means! Chris has taught the boys some of this through the years and I'll never forget the year Cameron (6 years old at the time), asked for stock in Wal Mart for Christmas!

After I finished showing the boys the Dave Ramsey finance curriculum, Chris talked to them again about shares, stocks, companies, and business. I was part of the eager audience! I have so much to learn. I've always LOVED listening to Chris teach. His voice is so soothing and he explains everything perfectly. (Kinda love that guy a lot) ;)

They were very excited to hang their shares in their rooms! These shares don't have a big financial value, they are simply ONE share. It's the concept that counts. They make super unique gifts too! You can visit OneShare.com to pick a stock of your choice, personalize it, and buy it.

When I chose a company to buy a share of stock in for each child, I tried to find something exciting for kids and fun. Again, I bought these stocks several years ago when the boys were just toddlers.

I also personalized each share at the bottom, tying in the theme of the company with my words. For Cameron, I chose stock in Disney because he was always so full of wonder.

Dakotah's nickname is Kotah Bear, and he has always been our cuddly boy so a bear themed company worked!

Titus was always happy so the cheerful LeapFrog company worked for him!

These framed shares of stock hang in each of their rooms, hopefully reminding them of how much they're loved, to always work for their dreams, and to be wise with their money.

One of my personal goals is to focus more on using wisdom with each dollar God has blessed us with. It's difficult to change habits, but I am full of hope and anticipation as I embark on new challenges. I want to learn right along beside my kids, so that I can be the best steward of our money and foster a spirit of gratitude for the age of abundance we all live in.

photo source

To see other blog posts I've shared in the archives on MONEY, click HERE and enjoy! =)

My favorite blog post on money was one of my very first blog posts called 5 at a Time. This is a unique and easy concept to start saving CASH.

Here are the rules:
1) Use cash for all purchases
2) Never keep a $5 bill
3) Put all $5 bills in a jar

(if you get handed a 5 dollar bill as your change, it goes in the 5 dollar jar. 5 dollar bills NEVER go back in your purse or wallet. You'll be so SURPRISED at how quickly you'll accumulate cash by using this simple method.

If you have any tips for us as we begin this new adventure as a family, pretty please let me know!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Home of Hearts: Valentine Home Decor

Paper origami roses

that my main squeeze made for me

last Valentine's Day

February adds a bit of softness to our home that is usually taken over by LEGO kingdoms, thuds and jumps over furniture, and rooms turned into wrestling gyms. In this sweet month, with the quietness of winter, I get to softly make a home of hearts for the ones who have my heart!

As always, I just added tiny hints of the season, nothing over the top. My house of boys won't be walking into a pink house scattered with hearts. Well, there is pink. And the pink is mixed up with hearts. Oh, and love. Lots of "love" messages everywhere. Okay, so maybe my boys will be walking into a pink house of hearts this month after all.

However, signs of boys are all over our home sweet home still. BOY valentine colored shoes lined up at the door!

Red, white, black

ombre felted heart garland from etsy

I hung heart garland over my

Beattles inspired "All You Need is Love" sign.

Photo via @mooreminutes Instagram

Fresh Strawberry Cream Cake in lavender pan.

For Valentine's Day last year Chris made me origami roses!! It is one of my favorite gifts he has ever given me. I was excited to pull them out this year.

He carefully made me a dozen origami red roses. Love that guy!

I have this spunky little pillow that is just right for Valentine's Day.

I was about to ask Cameron to move so I could take a picture but then I decided to leave him in the picture because he looks so darn cute when he is deep in a book, brow furrowed.

There. Full view. {wink}

I made some love/heart photo collages with an old calendar I had.

Re-cyled and Re-styled!

Remember the incredible antique vending machine my Dad restored for me as a Christmas gift? It matches our season's decor too.

The boys are constantly spinning peanuts out of this thing...especially Titus! He finds a penny every day after school and rushes over to the machine.