Family Night-Shrekin' It Up!

Friday Night Family Night was definitely a challenge last night. Not that we didn't enjoy ourselves but we sure did have some cranky children. It all started when Little Miss Adeline decided she didn't need a nap so we ended up with a VERY emotional little lady. Tavish was having tummy troubles so of course he was one sad little dude. However, I was bound and determined to make Family Night successful and with what I had to work with, I think it turned out pretty great! 

Our theme for the night was Shrek! 

To kick off the evening we started with waffles for dinner. If you have seen the movie, them you know the part where Donkey makes the statement, "This is gonna be fun! We can stay up late, swapping manly stories, and in the morning, I'm making waffles!" Therefore waffles seemed like a pretty good choice for dinner! Adeline LOVED them! 

Eating Some YUMMY Waffle!

Once dinner was over, it was time to decorate Gingerbread Men. Ok, so we actually made sugar cookies in the shape of Gingerbread Men because 1) I couldn't find any gingerbread dough at the store (yes I know I could have made some) and 2) I'm really not a huge fan of gingerbread. So earlier in the day I baked some cookies and now it was time to frost and decorate them. Adeline actually preferred to just eat the candy, big surprise there. She is a sugar addict!! 

Adeline eating all the candy!

Struan decorating his cookie

Here is a picture of our completed cookies, Mommy even decorated one for Tavi so he was included!

After cookie decorating we played Pin the Tail on Donkey. I had a heck of a time finding one online, so I ended up making my own which actually worked out perfectly since Adeline thought it was a blast to stick the tails onto Donkey! Mommy & Daddy didn't even have a chance to play because she was having way to much fun! 

Adeline's First Attempt At Pinning the Tail on Donkey!

Once she had finished she would say TA-DAH!!!

 Once we had finished the game it was time to get our jammies on and start the movie. As I was getting ready to take Adeline downstairs Struan asked if I would grab him a flosser, Adeline decided she needed on as well. I couldn't pass up this cute photo opportunity of Adeline and Daddy flossing their teeth. She was pretty proud of herself.

Daddy & Lion Flossing Their Teeth!

Once we were all snuggled in our jammies it was finally time to start the movie!! I had forgotten what a great movie it was, and how many quotes I knew. Shrek is definitely a classic, I think Adeline thought it was pretty great as well. I mean it isn't Tangled or Brave by any means, especially in her eyes but it was one I think she would watch again.

Bueller.....Bueller!

Saturday night is date night at our house! Once the kiddos are in bed we set aside time to enjoy one each others company. I was in charge of this week, and kind of had a slow start at planning. Sooo the date that I actually wanted to do is postponed until next week, since I wasn't able to get everything to make it a fun date night.

During the week Struan and I were talking and I had learned he had never seen the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I was SHOCKED, I'm pretty sure that is a sin! For those of you that haven't seen it, shame on you!! This is one of the best movies EVER!! No but really its a classic. Since I heard that I knew we had to have a date based around the movie. That's where I got the idea for an 80's date night.

Originally I had planned to have us dress up, but looking in our closets I realized we really didn't have anything 80s and I didn't want us to come off as posers. So we were lame and stayed in our comfy clothes!

To kick off our night, I downloaded a want to be Simon game on my iPad. We had a pretty good time trying to master the game. Let's just say Struan is WAY better at it than I am, I blame it on having two kids! 

After a few rounds of Simon we moved on to 80s trivia. There are quite a few free apps you can find in the App store. Struan and I definitely aren't children of the 80s, we did OK on the music but when it came to television lets just say we were AWFUL!!  I thought he would want to quit after a while but he was a trooper and stuck it out with me til the end. 

Next we learned some sweet 80's Dance Moves (ok some were not so sweet) and then watched 80's commercials on YouTube. We had a pretty good laugh at them. If you ever have a chance to check them out I recommend it. I'm thinking we are going to have to have a 90s date in the near future since that would be from when we were little. It was nice to be able to laugh and joke about how things have come so far since then. 

Yes we even learned the Q-Tip on our quest to be awesome 80s dancers!

Finally it was time to expose my husband to the awesomeness of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (who we have decided reminds us a lot of my little brother Ryan, but that's a different story) I forgot how many great lessons are in this movie. My favorite quote has to be, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." What a fantastic quote!! This was something Struan and I definitely needed to hear. Life does move fast and sometimes we forget to stop and enjoy the journey along the way. Our kids aren't going to be little forever and we need to enjoy everything about them. Even when it can be overwhelming and stressful at times.

 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with my husband. Its so nice to be able to forget the things going on around us, and to just be able to let go and laugh with each other. Date night can be so tough when you have little ones, but I recommend trying your hardest to find the time. Our dates aren't anything fancy, but they don't have to be. The main thing is that you reconnect and are able to just enjoy one another's company.

Family Night - Hotel Transylvania Style

Wow!! Have I gotten lazy with the whole blogging thing! There really is no excuse for this, so I'm going to be better at this (fingers crossed)

Lately Struan & I have made Friday night family night, we enjoy being able to spend quality time with our little ones. Now that Adeline is two; yes TWO, we can make our activity a little more than just dinner and a movie. 

Our theme for this week was the movie Hotel Transylvania! We hadn't seen it yet but had heard it was super cute and thought that we should watch it. 

To kick the night off, I printed off a coloring page for the movie. Adeline loves to color and we thought it would be something fun for her to enjoy. She LOVED it which caused a problem when it was time to clean up the crayons and move on to the next activity. 

Daddy & Adeline Coloring

Adeline LOVES to color

Mommy & Tavish

After we finished coloring Adeline & Mommy did a Mummy wrap with Daddy. We took toilet paper and wrapped Daddy up to look like a Mummy. Adeline thought it was pretty funny, she giggled the whole time. Once we were finished, she wasn't to sure about it. It may have been the fact that Daddy started making Mummy noises which scared her. 

Adeline Not To Sure About Her Daddy's New Look

After we gave Daddy a new style we had dessert, and then snuggled in Mommy & Daddy's bed to watch the movie. 

 

The movie ended up being SUPER cute, one I would definitely recommend for family night. It had humor for all ages. I was worried Adeline might not make it through the movie where we had started it so late, but she was a little trooper and powered through! 

I am so grateful for my little family and the time that we were able to spend time together! Our family night's may not be anything spectacular but they work for us! I am hoping that we can continue to make memories, and that I hopefully will be better at documenting them! After all time flies by so fast and these little ones won't be little for much longer!!