Family Fun in February!

January always flies by for me. I guess it probably has something to do with planning two birthday celebrations in the course of a month. I didn't help things that the girlies got sick in January either. I felt like I was in a cave for a couple of weeks. But, I'm finally getting to the point where I feel like I can relax a bit and get into a more regular schedule. And I'm looking forward to February!

Last month, I decided to try to be a bit more deliberate in planning fun stuff to do with the girls. I even made a fun little checklist sheet to help them get involved in the planning. While we didn't exactly stick to our list, we DID have a lot of fun in January. Personally, I enjoyed the indoor snowball fights, doing crafts together, and of course the birthday parties.

So, we're going to try to keep the fun going in February. I really hope to do a bunch of Valentine's Day stuff with the girls. We really enjoy making our own Valentine's Day cards so I hope that we'll do that again.

If you want to be more intentional in your Family Fun, download the February Family Fun Printable and brainstorm with your family. Here are a few ideas that might make February a little more fun.

Family Fun Ideas for February:

Decorate for Valentines Day

• Make words for your mantel. I just love my "Love does." decor that's on my mantel. Kids can help decide on the words, trace out the letters, and even assemble them depending on their skill level.
• Make a sparkly heart garland. I haven't done this but I think my girls would enjoy it.
• Make heart-shaped salt dough candle holders. This is an easy craft to do with the kids. I think I might turn mine into a centerpiece for our dining table. They'd look pretty for an at-home Valentine's dinner.
• Make heart-shaped borax ornaments. They'd look pretty hanging in the window.

Make Your Own Valentine's Day Cards

• Crayon Hearts
• Friendship Blossoms
• Lollypop Flowers

Enjoy Sweet Treats

• Creme Brulee. This is one of our family's favorite desserts. Plus, it's always fun to bring out the torch.
• Cupcakes with Homemade Buttercream Frosting. The girls LOVE making cupcakes and LOVE adding sprinkles. I pipe on the frosting so it looks fancy.

Want more Valentine's day ideas? Check out DIY on a Dime: Valentine's Day at Life as MOM this month!

The Summer Survival Guide

Okay, I'm trying not to freak out that summer is nearly here. Lu finished preschool on Tuesday, and Ella is set to finish in just a couple short weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have them home for the summer. But, I'm also just a tad overwhelmed as well. Now that we're living the life of a law school family, I'm working from home as a virtual assistant for bloggers and blog contributor to supplement our income (aka school loans). Somehow, I've got to figure out how to juggle that along with having two kiddos at home full-time. I know that they will become bored and bicker if I don't have something up my sleeve. One of my solutions? The Summer Survival Guide!


Last year, my big sister Jessica published this awesome ebook full of summertime inspiration for planning family fun. It includes printables and customizable pages as well as ideas for home management, emergency preparedness and more.


As someone who has personally read every one of the 200+ pages in this book, I can confidently say that it is worth every penny of its $9 price! If you're interested in learning more about the book, click on the link above. You can even view the Table of Contents as well as a sample to see if it is right for you and your family.

Last summer, we were in the midst of remodeling our condo, and packing up for a cross-country move. Sadly, we weren't able to plan much summer fun into our lives. This summer is going to be different with the Summer Survival Guide!