All you need is love.

Earlier in the week I asked Uriah if he'd been wishing for anything in particular (secretly hoping he'd say Girl Scout cookies so that I could try out the Thin Mint recipe that I found.).  He said plain old Rice Krispie Treats.  Nothing fancy...Scotcharoos were out because he doesn't like peanut butter, just some butter, marshmallows, and rice krispies.  All I could think was boring.  I've tried to limit my baking to once a week (that includes bread, quick breads, muffins, cookies...I feel as though my creativity in the kitchen is being stifled and Beverly is going to find someone new to be her BFF.).  In reality, cakes and cookies are not conducive to loosing weight, I get that.  But I like the creative outlet that baking provides, and I love my husband, so I acquiesced to plain old, dull Rice Krispie Treats.

Or not...

I have this minor flaw in that I'm very OCD when I cook and I don't like people (side eye to Uriah and Abby) getting up in my business before I'm completely finished.  Unfortunately for Uriah and Abby, they decided to eat the rice krispie scraps as I was cutting out the hearts, which irritated the love right out of me.  I scolded.  I reprimanded.  To no avail.  So I told them that if they wanted to eat the hearts, and coincidentally,  the rest of the scraps, they had to list all of the reasons they love me - and it had to be heartfelt.  And the list had to be long.

Or I would let Finn eat the entire pan of rice krispie treats - hearts, scraps and all.

Let me tell you, what started out as kind of a joke, turned out to be a really warm and fuzzy moment.  Sometimes we forget how much we mean to people; and sometimes we forget to tell the ones we love how much they mean to us.  My heart felt a little bit fuller after hearing them list the things that they love about me.  And I think it helped to show them that maybe they've taken for granted some of the stuff that I do for them out of love.  Do I like folding underwear and socks?  No, but I do it because I love them and I don't want them to be the stinky ones at school and work.  Do I like to vacuum the floors?  No, but I do it because I love Finn and I don't want him to pick up random "snacks" off the floor and choke.

Abby said she loves me because I make her do things that she doesn't want to do and then it turns out in her favor in the end (she didn't want to do a list of chores on her snow day on Friday, but she got to go to a movie and a sleep over because they were all done when I got home from work.).  I guess that's all a parent can ask for...the light bulb to go off in their kid's head once in awhile.  And to be present to see it shine.

Uriah's was pretty simple:  he loves me because I make him laugh.  And I love him for the same reason.  And also because he usually takes the morning shift with Finn because he knows how much I hate morning.

I'm going to try to do something sweet for my loves in February during the days leading up to Valentine's Day, and the days after it, too.  I'm currently scouring Pinterest for ideas.  If you have any good ones, I'd love for you to share.  Just drop a note in the comments section about something romantic/loving you've done for someone  or something someone has done for you (and it doesn't have to be limited to just Valentine's Day, either!).