Love is a Battlefield

Everyday our house is a danger zone..you are in peril as you walk by Harrison who sings the Imperial March (Darth Vader's theme) while swishing a light saber.  He has even made me change the words to the "Wheels on the Bus," substituting the cute preschool words for Katelee's gun or Grant's light saber, followed by sound effects that just sound pitiful coming out of my mouth.  We have a constant Nerf gun zone in and out of our house.  These events are mostly fun.  Then there is the real battle of parenting...which frequently ends up looking like this 

(I may have been the one in this position a couple of days ago) 

It's amazing that role that encompasses unconditional love in a way I couldn't explain, incurs daily battle scars.  There is also the struggle of who is the actual leader on this front?  I'd like to think it was me (partnered with Dave, of course)  but each child seems to want to usurp my "authority."  This little lady in particular wants to rule the roost.  

Here Brenna is on her birthday, posing as the self declared "Queen of Shopkins."  She recently told me she would like to live in another family.  When I asked if it was because I don't let her do everything she wants, she explained it is because, and I quote, "I don't let her rule the world."

We had a great time celebrating the Queen of Shopkins' 6th birthday.  We had a yummy dinner with drumsticks, peas, chocolate dipped strawberries, chips and she chose a merry go round cake.  

We  were all flattered that Brenna chose a family party this year instead of a friend gathering.  So, for an evening of family fun, we went to dinner at Zupas and then spent a couple of hours at Kangaroo Zoo.

Brenna is such a fun girl.  She provides a lot of comic relief to the house and a lot of mischief as well!  Brenna is outgoing and friendly, silly and extremely smart.  She is a fabulous performer and always has something to say.  We love  her so much!  

Harrison is big enough to climb up and down the slides now and he enjoyed every minute.  

Everyone had a great time going down the inflatables...except for Dave. He recently dislocated his shoulder (on the bunny hill for his first run snowboarding with Grant one Saturday! Yea, not something to be bragging about!).  He had to have Grant run to the medical clinic, carry all the gear and four people helped pop that stubborn shoulder back into its socket.  It was painful and a bummer-snowboarding season done for Dave this year.  But, I did dust off my skiing abilities and joined Grant a week later for a week on the slopes.  It was good times, except for the portion of the day we overestimated our abilities and ended up on runs that we should not revisit for a couple of years! 

Of course, in this season of love, there was Valentines Day.  The older kids made their Valentines boxes...

Grant's was a waste management garbage can.  Katelee's was pretty cute:

I can not even say how many times this box startled me.  Katelee had it sitting in her room for a week or so and when I would walk in or kiss her good night I would see this large body-less face staring at me.  I may have screamed a time or two!  Lucky for me, Brenna made her little bag in her class to collect Valentines cards.  

I didn't use to enjoy Valentine's Day.  I mean why do we need a designated day to tell people we love them?  But, you could argue that with many holidays...Thanksgiving-shouldn't we be grateful everyday?  4th of July-can we honor our country daily?  Christmas-the light of Christ can burn brightly wherever we are.  But, these days are good reminders of virtues and what is better than LOVE?! So, I embrace it much more now.  

We decorated the kids' doors and got them a tiny box of chocolates each.  Dave got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the girls a couple flowers too.  We had our special Valentines breakfast commemorating the momentous morning our fates met and we went on our first date, the two of us went out to dinner that weekend and on Valentines night we had our special candlelight dinner with the fam.  

The ladies are escorted to the table by the gentlemen and we talk about love...how we show love, about serving and maybe even about our crushes.  

We spotlighted each family member and said what we love about them.  Brenna had to stand up each time and give a small speech about each of us.  It was really thoughtful.  I had to try not to laugh out loud when she went on about Katelee-how she plays with her, how nice she is and how she is "almost as smart" as Brenna!

We toasted, had a dance -it really was a night to remember!

So, cheers to love!!  No matter the injuries involved, the battlefield of love is where we are.  The squabbles and pain are worth it.  Many times when the kids fight, I have them spend time together, maybe serve each other, and very often I make them hold hands and sing "We are a Happy Family."  They have to hug after and they typically HATE it!  But, we all need reminding that we do indeed love one another!  Ha!  Thanks Valentines day for the reminder!