Sharing Love

Not many words, just a little love to share in this one. The kids and I had so much fun on Friday at Sonshine's Valentine's Day party, which is one of our homeschool groups. They came home with a bag full of love and lots of goodies to enjoy.


{Gracie and her friend Leah, passing out their Valentines}
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{the Sonshine kids posing for a picture after their Valentines exchange}

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{Look how cute Colton and his buddy Lucas are with their arms around each other. I love the friendships that my kids have made through Sonshine.}

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We're looking forward to another Valentine's Day party this week with our school, Olivet. That makes for a total of 300 Valentine's Day cards that have been signed at our house (50 cards per child times 2 parties). Josh said I need to get stamps made with each of their names. Not a bad idea! He's always one step ahead of me ; )

Pride

Yes, this mama is full of pride! I won't lie!

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I just had to stop for a second in my busy day, to tell you just how very proud I am of this little guy.

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{by the way, he came up with his attire for the day completely on his own. This is how he came out of his bedroom. And yes, he is "playing" nunchuck guitar. Click on the photo for a better look :-}

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Come on, wouldn't you be proud?

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Let's just say I'm so thankful that I don't have a bladder control problem. Otherwise I'd be cleaning up puddles all day. This son that I've been blessed with IS. A. HOOT!!!

My Funny Valentine

In preparation for the big day of L-O-V-E, I have been having fun looking at Valentine's Day cards from the past and present. Here are some of my favorites.

Old....

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And new...

While we're talking about love, I just started reading the book "The Love Dare" as featured in the movie Fireproof, and so far I think it is a very well written book. It's a quick read (only a few pages a day for 40 days... wait, can you consider that a quick read?) but I think following the author's daily "dare's" can definitely improve the quality of your marriage. It gently helps you to open your eyes and practice loving your spouse unconditionally.

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Day one was all about being patient. It is one of the two pillars that love is built on so I'd say it's a pretty important one, but not an easy characteristic to have. It is being able to control your emotions to be able to respond to a negative situation in a positive way. It's not rushing to a judgement (which I'm usually guilty of) but slowing down to listen to what the other person is saying and seeing the whole picture. It is also giving your spouse permission to be human. Understanding that everyone fails and choosing to give them more time then they deserve to correct their mistake. Patience gives you the ability to hold on during the rough times instead of bailing out under the pressure.

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So on day one of our challenge, our dare was to demonstrate patience and not say anything negative to each other at all. I'd say we did pretty good. It probably helped that I was busy with the kids all day and Josh came home from work with just enough time to shower, eat dinner, talk a little bit and head out to church for his leadership training.

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So does it still count if we only had maybe five conversations during the whole day? I'm going to count it anyway. I don't know where this book is going so we might be able to use all the points we can get.

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So today's challenge was the other pillar of love. Kindness.

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Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. ~Ephesians 4:32

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Kindness is creating blessings in the other persons life. It is fulfilling the four ingredients of kindness, which are gentleness, helpfulness, willingness and initiative.

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I must say that it's not always natural to plan ahead to do something unexpectedly kind for Josh. I feel like I'm always just trying to keep up with meeting the needs of being a wife and raising a family. I typically don't go searching for unexpected acts of kindness to surprise him with as often as I should. So today's dare was a little bit more challenging for me. In fact, I've yet to fulfill it.

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Do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness in addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse today.

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Since Josh took my car to work to put on new tires, I thought in the little bit of spare time I had I would use it to clean out his truck for him. He always has loved a clean truck but now three kids later, that is a sight that he rarely gets to see.

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But then he unexpectedly stopped by the house earlier than I expected and took his truck back to work with him. Failed attempt!

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Now what? I'm searching for something out of the ordinary to do for him. Send him a sweet email? Maybe. I know he'd love it. But it's not out of the ordinary. Clean out his closet for him? It's surprisingly already clean. Clean out the garage for him? No thank you. Bake something for him? That's how I used to win my way into his heart, but ever since his dad told him he's getting fat, he's had a bit of a complex. So I wouldn't be helping him there.

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Hmm.

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Well I guess I'll have to keep searching but I guess getting off the computer would be a good place to start.

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Or... I may just have to wait until tonight to complete my task.

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Oh come on guys! What did you think I was talking about? Don't you ever give your hubbies relaxing massages? I know my man has never turned down a single one yet!

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Remember my friends. Patience and Kindness is the key!

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Sending my LOVE to you all!!!

Run, Run, Fast as You Can

Yay for Field Day! The kids all had a blast today at their P.E.'s Track and Field Day. They competed in several different events (50 & 100 yard dashes, hurdles, softball throws, running jump, standing jump, etc.) and came home proudly displaying metals around their necks and certificates.



{Colton's friend Brandon asking him "hey dude, how 'bout we tie?"}


{Colton and Brandon have been friends since birth}


{Jonathon, Brandon and Colton. Brandon by the way is sweet Claire's big brother who praise God is doing so very well!}



Gracie has been more on the shy side with P.E. lately, some days not even wanting to go at all. Being that she just made the cutoff for Kindergarten, she is the youngest and smallest, so at times she gets self conscious that she can't keep up. So I was very proud that she not only was so brave and competed in all the events but she did so without showing any signs of shyness at all. She just didn't worry about anything else but doing her very best. Before beginning, the coaches preached to the children that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them, then prayed over them, and I believe that it made all the difference! The spirit that filled these kids was such an awesome sight to see!



And eager Fletcher got his turn to run in a race too. The diaper dash! He ran all the way to the finish line with a big silly grin on his face. This boy loves to run!

{Josh said I had to add this next picture as it shows Fletcher's true personality. This is the response I got when I said "Hey Fletch, look at mama so I can take your picture."}

{And here you'll see a very proud big sister. Yes, she's following right along in her mama's footsteps. Oh how joy filled I was to see them supporting, encouraging and congratulating one another! I loved it and was so glad to be there to witness it.}

5.5

Can you believe this little beauty is five and a half? I know I have knots in my stomach as I type these words. Seriously. It just can't be.



Josh admits that he's taking the fact that his little girl is growing up, much harder than he is with the boys.

She just makes the cutest little 5 year old. Don't you think? She was meant to be a sweet little girl and she needs to stay that way. Forever!

Although I can't control the fact that she's growing up, way, way too fast, I will say that I'm so very proud to be her mama and am completely excited for the life that we get to share together.

Yesterday as I was scrubbing the cabinets (remember those white spots the nice mr. bug man left behind?) she asked me if I was cleaning because I like my house to be super clean. She said in a very grown up voice with her baby doll on her hip, "yea, my daughter just got married, and she's always cleaning the house. She likes her house to be very clean."

Slow down Gracie. Please, for your mama, slow down a bit. I like you just the way you are.

To celebrate the big 5.5, we took her bowling Saturday night (her choice), then after church on Sunday which was the official 5.5 day, we went to the bachelors (poppy and pop pop's) to feast on stone crabs and brownies (what a combo huh?) and watch the super bowl. Gracie got to play with Gizmo and that made her half birthday a day to remember.

I love you sweet girl.

p.s. even if you do grow up, I'll still love you just the same.