All posts filed under: Holidays

May the Fourth Be With You

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Happy Fourth, everyone! Today is one of my favorite holiday non-holidays! And for this exceptionally awesome day, I thought I’d share our Star Wars Birthday party I threw for the boys a couple of years ago. The location was a rock climbing gym which made for a simple, Tatooine-ish planet. Then etsy helped us out with their abundant assortment of SW themed anything you could possibly imagine and then some.   Easy Yoda ears on kid friendly Izze’s.    Force Fuel  water bottles to keep the young Jedi’s hydrated!   Jedi Robes – take one yard of  basic brown cotton fabric and fold it in half horizontally. Cut out a half circle for the head. Fold into a nice square and wrap the party favor up with white rope or chord (also doubles as the belt) and there will be a plethora of happy young Jedi’s running around.    Because you just have to.   Light saber popcorn holders.    Don’t worry- thermal detonators were chocolate covered cherries in disguise.   Two gluten free chocolate …

A Present of Presence + a Simple DIY for Valentines

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How’s everyone feeling? Lovelier? Lighter? Crazy and tired? Yep, me, too. Wrapping up our (almost) two weeks of love spreading, I subconsciously focused the first week on friends and strangers. This week I realized there were a few people who could use some extra impromptu love right under my roof! I started thinking about what kind of Valentine surprises and treats I would make for the kiddos and Joe when God hit me with a big – Your presence is the best gift they could receive. Wow. Ok. Got it. After that very loud whisper I began consciously leaving my phone and laptop in our bedroom or in my purse. If it’s not out, I’m not perusing mindless activity that has nothing to do with the current moment I’m sitting in or who I’m with. And guess what? It worked! I’ve had a really lovely week with my children and my husband. Nothing mind blowing. No fireworks. We kept our quota of crazy, hair bending moments, too. But there were loads of extra hugs and laughs …

A Tribe Called Love…And TWO Sweet Little Recipes to Warm You Up

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Y’all! You guys! You’s guys! We have a new TRIBE of over 500 LoveJoy warriors. Here we are. Together. Ok, I’m not typically a kumbaya kinda gal but I am beyond amazed and thrilled! Welcome and big cyber hugs all around. Now, let’s get down to business. I walked into a gas station this weekend with the kiddos and we were bombarded with all kinds of Valentine’s Day hoopla. 3 foot tall cards and bears and CANDIES were screaming at us from the shelves! Needless to say, I’m not a fan of commercialized holidays. If that’s your thing, thank you for spreading love in any and all ways! Now, I love holidays – Christmas and Easter are favorites and I even like Valentine’s Day. I mean, who doesn’t love feeling extra loved? I just don’t care for the commercialism side of it all. I started thinking, how could we change this? Noah’s class recently sent home a note sharing they have a make your own Valentines policy, which I think is sweet. This sparked a conversation about why we celebrate …