On Tuesday, February 12th since we were still snowed in, I decided to have a bit of quality time with each of the kids. I had recently had each of them take the kids version of the Love Language Quiz. It's technically for kids that are 9 and up, but I had Zeke take it as well. The results were really interesting and eye opening, but at the same time a little predicable.
Jack's score was...
5 Quality Time
5 Words of Affirmation
4 Acts of Service
4 Physical Touch
2 Receiving Gifts
Jack top score of Quality Time surprised me a little since he is so good at playing by himself. He will quite frequently choose to go upstairs and play all alone. I do understand that quality time doesn't necessary mean quantity of time though. The words of affirmation did not surprise me at all. He thrives on being uplifted with words and it's something that I need to get better at. Another thing that didn't shock me was the low score for Receiving Gifts. Of course Jackson likes gifts, but he always has something to say about it...."I wish it had been red"..."I wish it was the turbo version"....so on and so forth. I'm always having to remind him right before his birthday or Christmas to say nice things about the gifts he gets. He has high expectations I guess. He is much more inclined to buy himself something instead of waiting to get it as a gift.
Jackson loves to help me in the kitchen and since Quality Time was his top score I thought he would enjoy being with me.
We made banana bread and he did almost all of it with just a little direction from me.
It's a little tough to crush the pecans, but he got the job done!
Zeke's score was...
7 Quality Time
5 Receiving Gifts
3 Acts of Service
3 Words of Affirmation
2 Physical Touch
Zeke's top score of Quality Time surprised me a bit as well since he's so good at playing by himself. Plus he's just at that age where I think it's hard to read him. There is a reason that the test is for ages 9 and up. It was still interesting though and I do absolutely agree that right now Physical Touch is on the bottom of his list. He does want to be hugged and snuggled, but he's also SO ticklish and squirmy!!!
Since Zeke is 6 and his attention span is less than that other kids I decided to have him help me make Kool Aid. Plus it made for a fun treat to have with lunch and dinner.
We decided to mix one packet of lime and lemonade together.
Official taste test approved!!!
Owen's Score was...
6 Physical Touch
4 Acts of Services
4 Receiving Gifts
3 Quality Time
3 Words of Affirmation
Owen's top score of Physical Touch was absolutely NOT a shocker at all! That kids loves to snuggle and be hugged! I would say all of his were accurate. In fact when you look at his scores he's quite a well rounded kid!
Owen got to help me make cookies!
He did really great, but had a hard time when the mixture got thick so I had to stir it for him. I also had to teach him about equal portions so the cookies would cook evenly.
Ella's score was...
7 Acts of Service
7 Words of Affirmation
3 Quality Time
2 Receiving Gifts
1 Physical Touch
Ella had 2 top scores and they were a total shock to me! I would have sworn that her's would be Quality Time. It makes sense though as the majority of women are Acts of Service.....I am!!! Also I do know that she thrives on Words of Affirmation and I need to be better that giving her love that way. The most eye opening to me was her low score for Receiving Gifts. I love to buy things for Ella...duh she's my only girl! I always have this expectation that she's going to be so happy and excited and I'm usually letdown. Now I know why! It's just not the way she feels love. The super low score for Physical Touch was not surprising in the least. I've literally had to make her wrap her arms around me to give me a hug goodnight!
At first I wanted Ella to help me make ice cream, but she didn't seem excited about that at all. She did say she would do it, but I could tell it wasn't going to be something she would enjoy so I told her we'd think of something else. That's when it dawned on me that we hadn't bought the kids their Valentine's Day cards yet. I had bought Ella a box of Organic dye free gummy bears at Costco. They came in small packets and would be perfect to give out with Valentines. Ella loves to make crafts and she loves to use stamps so that's what we did.
We found all the Valentine related stamps, figured out the design and got to work. I cut all the paper to size.
She did all the stamping...
and she wrote 'from Ella' on each Valentine.
Super cute! After that I stapled a packet of gummy bears on the back of the card. It was a super great way for her to feel loved!
After that Ella went off to play and the boys and I play Catan.
Zeke begged me to play and then of course he wanted to skip out halfway through. I made him finish though and it was great. We did take a break in the middle for lunch and came back to finish it up. The best part was the winner really was up in the air since Daddy wasn't playing. If he plays 90% of the time he's wins and it's no fun! Jackson did win and everyone had a great time!
After that I gave the kids the option of having electronic time so we all went our separate ways for about 2 hours to just veg out!
It was a great stay at home day with my cute kiddos!