My Valentine

A day late. These are my thoughts from yesterday as I was too exhausted after party day to record them. I could have gone to bed at 6:00 last night had the others in my house have allowed it.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. I love Valentine's Day. Not because of all the commercial issues. But I love the chance to reflect on those I love the most. We don't do big things for Valentine's Day. We don't usually exchange gifts. In fact, we don't send our kids Valentine's balloons or stuffed animals to school. However, we do have a special dinner together. So, this year we had our special dinner a day early because it was just easier that way. Our dinner consisted of heart shaped pizzas, koolaid in wine glasses, diet dr pepper cake, fine china, and candles all over the table. We had a great time. But my big thought for Valentine's Day came the following day while driving in town to school. I looked out and saw fields covered in snow. The snow was like a cleansing for the earth and made things beautiful. That's when it hit me. That's what my God does for me. And on Valentine's Day of all I reflected on the fact that I have the greatest valentine ever. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for me because He loves me that much.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Things That Make Me Happy All In One Day

Things that make me happy, and that's just today. Here goes:
•waking to a text at 5:45am that says no school due to inclement weather
•falling back to sleep until 7:00am
•waking to the little diva saying, "Mommy, there's snow outside. It's real. I promise. Can we go outside to play
•making donuts for my lovelies on a day spent together at home
•watching my kiddos sled down the back hill together and hearing them roar with laughter
•snuggling by the fire to warm up after playtime in the snow
•playing Life with my Big Girl even though I smoked her. Sorry sis. I'm a little competetive.
•baking and icing 4 1/2 dozen heart cookies for Valentine's parties tomorrow
•watching my kids play together for hours and mostly getting along the whole time
•making heart shaped personal pizzas for those I love most
•eating dinner by candlelight and listening to the kids excitement
•koolaid in wine glasses and pizza on china
•Diet Dr Pepper cake with chocolate glaze. Mmmmm! Delicious and low calorie, too.
•the cutest dog ever showing up at our house. Shhh! Don't tell anyone I like him. I'm pretending that I don't. That way no one can blame me when he is a nuisance. BTW...the kids have already named him Playdough and daddy already took a nap with him on the couch.
•kids sound asleep in bed. They look like angels when they're sleeping.
•quiet time in a hot bath in absolute silence
...and that's just today. I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me tremendously. Thank you Father.

Dating My Husband

So, I got a text on Wednesday afternoon. It said, "I have a sitter for Saturday if you want to go out to dinner and a movie." Seriously?!?! What kind of question is that? A night with my husband? Absolutely! So, Saturday afternoon came. We packed the kids up and sent them to Grandma and Grandpa's. As for us...we stayed home. That's right. Just the two of us at home all night in the quite of our home. A quite home around here is weird and somewhat awkward. Of course, we missed our kids. But it was a time of relaxation and refreshment. He made a nice dinner. I made dessert, and we enjoyed a movie together. We woke up this morning and went to church. Just so happens that the sermon was on submiting to your spouse and loving them. "Submit to one another out of reverance for Christ." Ephesians 5:21 Ok, allow me to brag for just a moment. The sermon was great. I took alot from it. But that man of mine...he makes it easy to submit and love him. He's the greatest man on earth. I know what you're thinking...nope mine is the best. Well, sorry ladies. I hate to break it to you, but he's a rare jewel. And he only gets better every year. I love that man! I hope God blesses your marriage and you are as happy in yours as I in mine. It's not always a walk in the park, but as long as it is a walk with God in the center there's nothing that can tear us apart.

Time Out

The little diva was telling me tonight all about what she's been learning at the sitter this week. In our discussion she told me that Jonah went to time out for 3 hours in the belly of a whale. To a little one 3 hours could very well feel like 3 days. So, she wasn't to far off. Then, I asked why Jonah went to time out in the whale. "Because he was runned from," she replied. I asked, "Should we run from God?" "No mommy. But one time we went on the boat with grandpa." So I asked, "Were we running from God?" Sigh, rolling of eyes, and look on her face like good grief mom don't you know anything. She says, "We were on a motor boat and we weren't going to Ninevah."

Birthday Boys

January 30th is one of my very favorite days of the year. I not only get to celebrate one special guy but two. My two favorite guys ever share the same birthday. Don't get me wrong. I love celebrating the birth of all my lovelies but something about celebrating my two favorite guys on the same day gets me a little emotional every year. Maybe, it's because there's two of them that I spend more time reflecting on what they mean to me. Maybe, it's remembering the 18 hours of horrible back labor I had with the little man. That was quite an accomplishment if I must say so myself. Anyway, words can't come close to expressing what these two guys mean to me. I have never loved anyone the way I love my dear hubby. He's a rare jewel that I try never to take for granted. Then there's that boy of mine. So full of life, spunk, energy, endless words,...exhausting for this mom but when those husky arms wrap around me or the almost too big little guy tries to fit on my lap or the random, "I love you mom" comes from his mouth this momma melts.

So, happy birthday to my two favorite guys in the whole wide world. Happy 35th my wonderful hubby and happy 8th my sweet little man. My life is truly blessed to have you both in it.

It's a love, hate relationship

If my husband can't keep me guessing (cause men are different than we women are) then my kids take over. One moment they're playing beautifully together. The next minute they can't stand to look at each other. Why?!! I can't figure out what changes from one moment to the next.

Well, anyway today was one of those days when they absolutely love each other. Thank you Lord! I needed it today. Oldest and little diva spent time this afternoon playing. Oldest dressed up the little diva make-up, hair, jewelry,... That's heaven for my diva. After dressup they decided to play house together. They played all day absolutely wonderfully together. I love it! It makes my heart glad to seem them love each other. Then, little man got home with dad. The fun continued. Oldest and little man were spies in training. They made up their own secret codes for the walkie talkies. They even had training sessions and scored one another. Love, love, love watching them play together and used their imaginations.

Today was one of those days. The ones at the end of the day when the kids are in bed you smile as you reflect on the day. And you hope and pray that maybe, just maybe you'll have another just like it tomorrow.

Happenings

Oldest and I started about a week ago doing a quick devotion together every night. It usually consists of a verse, a short paragraph to read and think about, and then a short writing about your thoughts. It's been great! I live spending time with the Lord but don't STOP long enough to really be with Him. That whole "be still" thing...yep, that's my struggle. This time every night has given us the chance to talk briefly about life, right and wrong, how we should live our lives and so on. So, we started because I knew it would be food for oldest. Turns out it's really good for me.


We celebrated little man's bday today. Yes, it's 8 days early. I know but winter weather is generally cold and miserable. The temp today was suppose to be 73. 73 in January?! Wow! Must enjoy and relish in the beauty. So, we planned a trip to Devil's Den to picnic, hike, go caving, ride bikes, and have fun with cousins. Well, the weather didn't turn out to be that nice. In fact, with the windchill it was just downright cold. So, we changed plans. We were going to give little man several options to make the day fun and special. Turns out he just wanted everyone to come to our house to eat lunch and play. We had a great, relaxing time. Wonder if he'll always be this easy to please.