"Is it my turn to stay up with you?"

So one of my friends in Spokane gave me a great idea a few years back.  She said that once a week, she would stay up with one of her kids for an extra 30 minutes or so of one-on-one time.  This was especially important to her, as she was a single mom and worked full-time.  I thought that was totally inspired and was so glad she brought it up that day!  Dave and I were recently feeling that it was getting harder to communicate with them as they were growing.  And talking about it, we felt that this would be a perfect way to improve communication and closeness between us & our kids.

So once a week, Dave stays up with one of our kiddos, and once a week, I stay up with one of our kids.  They have loved this, needless to say, and we hear often: "Is it my turn to stay up with you?"  Playing games together, watching funny YouTube videos, making crafts, sewing, making and eating a special treat, reading books of their choice together, sometimes going to the park (during the summer), playing a sport together, painting fingernails, building something, doing facials or foot baths, pretending to do things (Cov loves to set up his little tent, go camping and tell scary stories, haha!) these are a few of their favorite choices.  It's seriously been so good!  The kids love it, and we do too, and we've been able to help our kids feel loved individually.  Sometimes it's hard in a larger family for each member to feel valued, and this has helped us let each of our children know they are appreciated and special to us, not as a group, but as an individual.

Though we don't take pictures very often of our fun, here are a few pictures of our late-night shenanigans.