One of those large toy companies advertises Family Game night. But when one of your children plays Candy Land and the other two prefer Monopoly or Chess or The American Girl 3000 Wishes game, such a night is challenging, to say the least, Maybe in another couple of years we'll be there. So when one of the kids, I think it was Christopher, said he wanted to make pizza for dinner we thought it the perfect opportunity to do this as a family. I did all the prep work, chopping up all the ingredients that were requested -- olives, onions, peppers, pepperoni, meatballs (leftover from the night Christopher cooked) getting the cheese and sauce all ready for the kids to be able to spread. Daddy then took over with the dough. I got the pre-packaged stuff, 2 packages. Daddy put them together and then divided the mound into three equal sections, one for each child. He floured the kitchen table and placed their doughs in front of them. I let him take over from there and I poured myself a glass of Chardonnay and sat down to watch the children eagerly preparing their pizzas with thought and determination, as though the dough was their canvass and the toppings their medium. The end results were beautiful and indeed delicious. Better than any store bought or delivered pizza I have ever had! We had this with Christopher's version of our Valentine's salad -- He substituted the mozzarella for goat cheese and added red peppers, grape tomatoes and celery. (He hates tomatoes but likes the way they look!)

After dinner Alexander went in to the family room and passed out on the couch. He missed the Valentine's goodies. Each child got a book and a small hear filled with 6 chocolates. They were each allowed two. Alexander, of course, had his for breakfast this morning!

Last night was such a success I really hope to be able to do this a couple of times a month. Weekends are perfect because we are not stressed out by the demands of the day -- schedules, school, activities, homework, bedtimes. When we cook like this we go at a relaxed pace and we enjoy our family time and our cooking time. And this is one activity that works well for all ages.