Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.

These are demand photos. You know, the kind you take when your kids insist?

This is Mikko posing dramatically on the floor of the bouncy castle.
Because of course that's how one poses in a bouncy castle.

This next series is titled "Keeping Alrik Happy" because we kept taking pictures of
everyone at the table to show him the results.

Hi, Alrik!
Let's get reading!

5 minutes ago (1 note)

#poetry
#Poems
#marriage
A love poem about the everyday kind of love…and saying yes « Gems of Delight →
In honor of Valentine’s Day, a lovely and true poem:
The funny thing about love
is that you have to
keep saying
YES.
9 minutes ago

#children
#safety
Swistle: Idea for Helping Children Memorize Their Name, Address, or Phone Number →
I think I’ll try this! I’ve even had trouble getting Mikko to memorize 911. (I know! 3 numbers!) He keeps thinking it’s 991. For many reasons, let’s hope he never has to dial it!
1 hour ago

#play
#Independence
#continuum parenting
How To Encourage Toddlers To Play Independently | Love Parenting →
You see, in an attempt to meet my toddlers needs, every time he asked for my attention while I was trying to do something, instead of continuing with my task while meeting his needs, I would quickly give up, thus teaching him that nothing I do is as important as he is. That might sound like a nice thing to do, but it was not only giving him an unrealistic view of the world, but it was also giving him a role model who had no pride in her work. A role model who did nothing interesting to observe, but cook and clean and focus entirely on her child. In essence, although I hadn’t started out this way, I was becoming more and more child centred, and my own needs were no longer being met.
Thoughtful article with an update at the end.
1 day ago (1 note)

#adoption
#adopting older kids
View high resolution 
(via Adoptive mom’s ‘newborn’ photo shoot with 13-year-old son goes viral  - TODAY.com & Stefanie)
Funny photos & touching story!

Six Ingredient Challenge:

I hope you're enjoying reading along with the six-week Six Ingredient Challenge! How's it going for you so far? If you haven't started yet, we're just two weeks in, so feel free to join anytime!

Posts so far:

• Reclaiming "Healthy": On Intuitive Eating and Ditching Diets For Good (1/29)
• Join us for the Six Ingredient Challenge! (1/30)
• Rules & FAQ of the Six Ingredient Challenge (1/31)
• Involving Your Kids & Partner in a New Way of Eating (2/4)
• Shopping Strategies (2/12)
• Why have you decided to participate in the Six Ingredient Challenge? (asked 1/31; linkup 2/7)
• How's it going for you so far? (asked 2/7; linkup 2/14)
• What new foods or recipes have you tried or discovered? (asked 2/14; linkup 2/21)
• Chicken Broth (2/1)
• Peanut Butter (2/5)
• Almond Milk & Sweet Almond Cream (2/8)
• Flour Tortillas (2/11)
• Soft Pretzels (2/13)
• Coconut Macaroons (2/13)
• Ricotta cheese (2/15)

Start formulating your answer to the third writing prompt, and publish it on your blog by Feb. 21 (or save it to paste in the comments when we post our responses then). You can also read the interesting responses to our second writing prompt from the linky! Sign up and join in now — we're excited about the conversations we're having!

Giveaway:

I've got one big ol' giveaway going on right now!
Staying well during sick days + $100 giveaway from Children's Mucinex! {3.31; US}

Being sniffly doesn't have to mean being miserable.

Enter with one easy comment for a chance to win a $100 gift card to CVS.

Deals:

Surf with us:

We love following along with fellow Sunday Surfers. If you have your own post of reading links to share, please link up your post on Hobo Mama or on Authentic Parenting. The linky will go live every Sunday, and you can link up any day that week. You only need to add your post to one of the sites, and the linky will automatically show up on both sites.

You can get the Sunday Surf button by Jenna Designs and some code to add to your post from my Sunday Surf page.

Check out previous editions for good reading, and you can find more shared items during the week at my Tumblr blog, Hobo Mama's Shared Items.

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1. Feb 10-16: Buidling relationships, decluttering, fudge and "pins"	2. Authenti Parenting - holistic health edition
3. Hobo Mama = Demand photos