Thankful Thursday

Brrr!  Winter has arrived for us.  It is going to be freezing temps here through Monday I've heard.  School was cancelled for today.  I am mindful of the many who do not have a warm home and also all those who are out working in these freezing conditions.

This week I am thankful for....

~ my husband's 18 year anniversary with USDA.  I am thankful for his hard work and how he provides for our family.  There have been challenges every year but the last 11 months have for sure been new challenges with him working from home.  He's done a good job learning how to do his job in a new way.

~ seeing my big boy in the ring with his steer Terry.  He did a great job showing him, and this was a wonderful experience for him.  There were over 1600 steers competing in this show.  

~ my sweet little guy surprising me with roses.  One day he went with his brother to the store.  He came home and told me close your eyes.  He handed me a bouquet of roses.  He told Caleb he would give him money for them when they got home, and he got it from the envelope he had saved from his birthday gift money.  They are so pretty, I've enjoyed them this week!

~ a little time to volunteer at the school.  Elementary did a fundraiser with "Nothing Bundt Cakes."  The time to pick up the cakes was this week so I helped pass them out.  Also one night I helped make some treat bags that parents had bought for their children for a Valentine surprise.  I have missed being on campus to volunteer so I was thankful for this opportunity this week. 

~ the fire to keep us warm.  My husband made one yesterday for me, and the boys fixed one this morning.  

~ success on a quilting project.  I had saved a picture of a pillow on Pinterest that was made with Christmas material.  I had a jelly roll of fall print fabrics so tried making it.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  It was the first one to do on my own really without my friend/mentor beside me! I was proud of myself!  My measurements were off but the extra was trimmed.

Have a day of blessings! 

 Bethany

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Something little you are loving right now? 

I have a little lip balm from Mary Kay that I love .  I can't read the print on the bottom to see the name or color.  I like to put it on even if I'm not going anywhere.  

2. Red roses or pink peonies? Red wine or pink lemonade? Red lipstick or pink polish? A cotton candy colored sky or a fiery red sunset? A book-movie-song you love with the word red or pink in it's title? 

Here are my choices:

red roses
pink lemonade
pink polish
fiery red sunset
Clifford the Big Red Dog, Big Red Barn, Where the Red Fern Grows....(I had to get some help from Google on this one!  And my choices make it obvious I have children and like children's books!)  

3. What's something you currently have your heart set on doing-going-seeing-or experiencing?

Running for local school board.  This has been on my heart for 2-3 years.

4. Who would you most like to have a heart to heart with right now? Is that possible? 
There are so many people I could pick.  I would love to talk to my Peepaw and have a hug from him and see him wave his pinky at me as I left like he always did.  

5. Write an acrostic for the word L-O-V-E. 

Listen
Observe
Value
Embrace

I was thinking of ways to show love to those in my life.  Doing these actions will let them know I love them.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Every year for the past several years we have counted down the days to Valentine's Day with our mailboxes.  We each have one we decorated.  We leave little treats and notes for each other.  When the flag is up you know you have mail.  The boys look forward to it, and it has become a fun tradition!  Today I left the boys a note and gave them a helium balloon.  I get them a balloon every year as part of this.  Some days they get the same things but not every day.  Titus has been writing us notes and coloring pictures for us to put in our mailboxes.  

Have a day of blessings! 

   Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Happy Thursday! 

This week I am thankful for...
~Valentine memories with my husband.  It's been 21 years since he asked me to be his Valentine on February 13.  :)  This time of year I always think about those memories.

~ talking with my son in the car.  There was a student at his school that committed suicide.  It just breaks my heart.  I was thinking to myself this is not a conversation I ever want to have with my son, why does this even have to happen? I was glad to hear his thoughts and that we had the time to talk. 

~ enjoying some time at the park with  my little guy on a pretty sunny afternoon. He told Daddy on the phone, "I'm just at the park.  I'm just playing with Mom at the park."   

~ an answer to a simple silly prayer.....it reminded me that God listens to my prayers and He answers prayers.

~ counting down to Valentine's Day with my boys with our little mailboxes.  We have had fun leaving treats for each other.  Titus has been making us pictures and thinks it is so fun to leave a "clue" note to go find a prize that doesn't fit in the mailbox.  He'd picked out some chips for Caleb and hid them in the closet since they wouldn't fit in the box.  Then I helped him write a note for Caleb with a clue. I sounded out the word to see if he could do it, he did really good.

~ being able to attend a meeting with others from our Sunday School class to make some plans for the upcoming year.

Have a day of blessings! 

     Bethany

Thankful Thursday

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day.  I saw some good thoughts that made me stop and think as I looked at this post by Ann Voskamp yesterday.  It is called "When Lent and Valentine's Day Collide."

Today I am thankful for...
~ 20 Valentine's with my hubby!  He gave me the first card on February 13, 1998 that he had made.  It said "Will you be my Valentine?"

~ my big boy feeling better.  He felt bad Tuesday when I picked him up.  I thought at first he was tired from his basketball game on Monday and getting to bed a little later than normal.  Then he started having chills and fever too.  I got him an appointment with his doctor on Wednesday morning.  He tested positive for strep.  He felt pretty crummy all day Wednesday, not eating and just sleeping mostly. He stayed home again today and is feeling much better.

~ hearing my little boy pray.  He went to the back window today and said Thank you God for the sun.  He said a few things, it is always sweet to hear.

~ having a nice Valentine's Day and enjoying our "countdown" with our mailboxes.  I told Titus the mailboxes were done now and he said no, I don't want them to be done!  He also asked was it Christmas now.

~ warm sunny days to be outside.

~ getting caught up (mostly) on laundry.


Have a day of blessings!
  Bethany

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Have you ever written a love letter? Have you written one recently? Had one written to you? Did you keep it? Yes many, but not recently.  I always keep the love letters my husband writes to me.

2. What's a movie that ends in a way you especially love? Facing The Giants

3. Something that makes your heart sing? And for those of you who are parents, I mean something besides your children that makes your heart sing? 
When I had a miscarriage in 2013, I received a package from my cousin.  This was one of the note cards she'd sent along with some pens because she knows I like sending cards.  I framed this and have it sitting by my kitchen sink.  It says "Every sing day, do something that makes your heart sing." --Marcia Wieder

So related to this, something that makes my heart sing is sending and receiving mail.

4. What's the last event you had to attend, phone call you had to make, routine task you needed to complete, or meal you had to prepare, that you did do, but only half-heartedly?   When I went to the grocery store I guess....this is a task I have never minded and mostly enjoy doing.  I guess the past two weeks have been done "half-heartedly."  This is my normal day to have a lunch date with my husband as well. and both weeks he has been out of town on the day. I didn't look as forward to going without looking forward to the lunch with him too!  (And as a side note, I can tell the baby is growing---so thankful---and my belly is getting bigger and I have pains when I walk. I don't want to complain about it because I am thankful for this time.  I don't remember feeling this way with Caleb's pregnancy. So that makes grocery shopping less fun too.)

5. Tuna fish salad-yay or blech? If you said yay, how do you like your tuna salad prepared? Hey, this is the Hodgepodge, right? Today blech. I do like it but have not had it in a long, long time. I remember as a child when we'd go to my great grandmother's house she always made tuna and it was so delicious. She had a special bowl she used for it every time, and I remember seeing her make it.

6. What's something you 'know by heart'? math facts, recipes, lyrics to favorite songs
  
7. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, what two or three word phrase would you write on a conversation heart for someone you love? That someone could be a spouse, child, parent, cousin, bestie...anyone at all whom you love.  You're the best!

8. Insert your own random thought here. 
Information about a free book to download.  I've read this one and reviewed it here.  Good book!
It was free when I checked as I posted this, not sure how long it will be free...
Click for Nook
Click for Kindle

Have a day of blessings!

Valentine mailboxes

This is our second year to do our Valentine mailboxes.  I started typing this post last week and didn't get it finished but wanted to share about our Valentine fun.  I wrote about the mailboxes last year.  We have had fun doing this again, and Caleb looked forward to beginning on February 1.

We kept the same boxes we made last year.  Caleb wanted to add some stuff to the outside of his.

When the flag is up you know you have mail.  Sometimes Caleb would sneak something in and announce "You've got mail."  We told him that was a phrase in the early days of email and he liked to say it.

We all three left surprises for each other in the mailboxes.  Caleb would write us coupons for things he would do for us.  One of mine was for me to borrow his new "lightwedge" that he uses to read in the dark.  I thought it was so sweet because he had just gotten it and he offered to let me borrow it.  He did make me laugh when he added a stipulation when I read it that it was at home, not in the car!  haha  Another one he gave me was doing a laundry load of whites.

My husband had some creative ones too.  He got us some candy and other days gave us coupons.  One of mine was for dessert of my choosing.  I used that one Saturday night for some chocolate cake at Cracker Barrel.  Yummy!  Another was for a foot massage. 

I used several ideas from Pinterest that I found for my ideas.  (Some were kind of corny but fun!!) Like I gave my husband a banana with a note that said "I'm bananas for you" and a bar of soap with a note that said "I was 'soapin' you'd be my valentine."  I found these crayons at Walmart and gave them to Caleb one day.  Also the 12th was his "half" birthday so I made him angel food cake for that day with a "happy 1/2 birthday" note in his mailbox. 

My husband surprised me with this Precious Moments figurine.  It is called "Our Love Is One of a Kind."  I collect Precious Moments, and it has been a long time since he gave me one so it was a fun, sweet surprise! 

(Image from Precious Moments website)
 

Have a day of blessings!

Our Valentine fun!

This year I wanted to do a countdown to Valentine's Day.  We each decorated mail boxes that I got at Target in the dollar bins.  I fixed little notes and small prizes for both of my boys beginning February 1.  When the flag was up, you knew you had a prize waiting. 

I knew Caleb would love this and have fun with it.  He was really excited about it, and it was so fun to see how he wanted to get involved in giving us little surprises in our mailbox too. 

Before we started this I warned him that the prizes weren't going to be big things (like Lego sets or big toys!).  I didn't want him to be disappointed the first day!  He really enjoyed it and looked forward to it.  On the way to school on the 15th, he said he forgot to check his mail box.  I told him the countdown was over!!

The "mail" included ideas I made up or saw on Pinterest.  Here are some of the ones we had: 

1.  conversation hearts game--The mail was a note and a box of conversation hearts.  I wrote on the note that they would have a game after supper with their box of hearts.  Then I made up various challenges for them...like how tall can you stack the hearts in 30 seconds or who can sort their hearts the fastest.

2.  I love you books--For my husband I made an "ABCs of our Love" book (idea from Pinterest).  I loved how it turned out and how it really does tell the story of us!  On the same day I had a book also for Caleb that was "7 1/2 reasons I love you."  I thought 7 1/2 would be fitting because it was the mailbox prize for the 12th and he was going to be exactly 7 1/2 years old that day! 

3.  Valentine craft--I found all different sets in the Dollar Bins at Target.  I chose some little pom pom critters for Caleb to make.

4.  Family fun Friday--After school Caleb and I cut out heart shaped cookies.  Then after supper we all three decorated them with frosting and sprinkles. 

5.  Coupons--Caleb really got into this.  He would write coupons for us almost every day!  One of mine was a coupon for him cooking supper for me.  Another one was folding laundry.  He gave me coupons to exchange for pictures he'd made for me too.  He gave one to Daddy to take out the trash.  We gave Caleb some too.  Daddy gave him one for watching an extra episode of "Dick Van Dyke" together (they like to do this in the evenings after bath). 

My husband gave me some fun mailbox surprises too.  The first day there was a note that said when I found another yellow stickie to follow the directions on it.  When I got in the car to take Caleb to school, the note said to play the CD in the stereo.  He had downloaded a song ("No Doubt About It") for me.  I was smiling all day; it totally surprised me and was so sweet!  He gave me other things he knew I liked in my mailbox like Bit O Honeys, note pads, Valentine socks, and candles.  He gave me some coupons too for a date night, back rub, and fixing me supper.. 

I believe our Valentine countdown will be a new tradition for us! We all had fun with it.
I fixed my boys a Valentine supper on Monday night because Tuesday  morning my husband had to leave for an out of town meeting.  Originally the meeting was going to be all week so I was very thankful it got shortened and he was just gone two nights.  And also thankful that I got to see him on Valentine's morning.  :) 

On Valentine's Day I helped pass out "Val-o-grams" at Caleb's school.  It was a PTO fundraiser.  Caleb got this little frog balloon and a kiss on the one we ordered for him. 



The balloon kept moving when I was trying to take a picture!

Then in the afternoon I helped with his class party.  We had ice cream sundaes, which the kids loved!  After school Caleb went to his art lesson and then we went to eat at Whataburger.  It surprised me he chose that! 

Thursday my husband got home, and I had another surprise for him!  I had ordered a "My Husband Rocks" tshirt from Union 28.

I had it on when he got home, and he was so surprised.  Caleb wanted to make a welcome home poster, and then when he saw my shirt he wanted to pin his sign on his shirt.  (I told him they have "My Dad Rocks" shirts too so he wants to get one of those!)   

Have a day of blessings!

My Valentine Wreath

I found an idea on Pinterest to make a Valentine wreath using the directions at this blog.  I got the stuff and made my own.  It was very fun and easy to make.  And I like how it turned out!
I started with one yard of material and a 13 in. round wreath (which I got at the Dollar Tree). 

I cut it into strips that were about 1/2 in. wide x 6 1/4 in. long.  This was not exact, I just guessed as I was cutting.

Then I tied the strips onto the vines of the wreath.  Tie each strip in a knot and fill up the wreath until you can't see any more of the vines.  It took me nearly the whole yard of material to cover my wreath. 

Here is the finished wreath.  I might add a foam heart to hang in the middle with fishing line, but I haven't done that yet!  It looks small in this picture but hanging on the wall it seems to be the right size! 

This was a fun, easy project.  I want to do another one with other material for another holiday or season. 

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

We are meeting for Thankful Thursday in February over at Grace Alone with Iris. 

Happy February to you!  I always love this month and all the special memories that it holds for me.  What are you thankful for today?  I read this verse and wanted to include it on my post today. 

"I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High."  Psalm 7:17

Here is my thankful list for today:
~ My husband's "first day of February" surprise to me.  He'd made a cd with the song "No Doubt About It" on it and put it in my car to play when I took Caleb to school. 

~ My boy sleeping soundly this week.  Which means Mommy is sleeping soundly too!  Last week he got up several nights for various reasons so I have noticed sleep this week! 

~ Taking a walk around our neighborhood in the pretty sunshine.

~ Having fun with our Valentine countdown!  All 3 of us decorated mailboxes Tuesday night.  We put little notes and surprises in them for each other until Valentine's Day.  We know to check our  mail when the flag is up. This is Caleb's box he made.  The inside is decorated too.  When I told him we were going to do this, he kept asking me what color his was.  He said you didn't get me a pink one did you?  As you can see, he is learning cursive!
 

Today Caleb's note said he had to wait for the surprise until after school and the clue was Mommy was making it today.  It is over of the oven now, and I will frost it soon!  (I hope he wants to share with  me!) 

~ the enjoyment I've had teaching the 4 year old class at our church on Sunday mornings.  It is so exciting when I see they have remembered something from a previous week, like their memory verse or something from our Bible story.  We've had several lessons on Hannah and Samuel; next we will have lessons on Elijah. 
Have a day of blessings!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to you! I hope you have a wonderful day and feel loved.

My day has started off with hugs and smiles. My sweet Caleb was excited to give me the card he made me. One evening he asked me "Can you go do your Bible or something? I want to make your Valentine." So I left the room and he sat at the table with Daddy with his art supplies. He made me the sweetest card and wrote some sentences that he made up himself. It just touched my heart!

And my other Valentine made us cinnamon toast for breakfast with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

I'm looking forward to the fun of the day with lunch with my hubby and a school party this afternoon.

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers & Promises Week #7

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have a wonderful day and that no matter what you know that Jesus loves you!

This week's verse is 2 Peter 3:18--
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

Are you growing in grace? Something to think about for sure.

Last week there were a couple prayer requests shared in the comments that I'd like to share here for you to pray for today:

~ Robin, a prodigal causing much pain for her family.

~ Shawn, looking for a job since Thanksgiving.

And a couple other requests:

~ Buddy, the brother-in-law of my aunt who had some heart problems with week.

~ Harlan, nearly lost his foot in a farming accident. I grew up with him, we went to school together K-12th. The doctors were able to save his foot. Pray for him and his family as he recovers.

~ Also, let's say a prayer for those who are single. Valentine's Day is not a fun day for those who don't have someone to share it with so let's remember them in prayer.

Let me know if there are other requests. Join us today for Spiritual Sundays.

Have a day of blessings!

A dozen things I remember...

Thursday afternoon I received a surprise delivery. The UPS man pulled up. Caleb said, "I hope it's for me." And I said, "I hope it's for me." The delivery man got out and had in his hands a box from Proflowers. Inside were a dozen multi-colored roses. The card said there was one for each year I've been his Valentine. I was so excited. Soon after that my Valentine got home from work. He said he thought they were coming on Friday. It was so sweet and such a sweet surprise!

I've had my very special Valentine for 12 years. He asked me if I could believe it has been that long and really, I can't! On February 13, 1998 he gave me a card he had made and asked me to be his Valentine. I'm so glad I said yes. :)

So today I'm remembering. I'm remembering a dozen things that have happened in the past 12 years since I said yes.

1. Remember giving me a Valentine in the Bean during lunch. You must have been nervous! It had the poem in it about the value of a smile. It made me smile again to read it the other day.

2. Remember not being sure you'd be able to come back to ACU yet God made a way and you were there every year and finished your degree there. I was so proud of your hard work and determination through those years. It really was inspiring to see you work so diligently in pursuit of your dream.

3. Remember on December 2, 2000 when you surprised me with a marriage proposal (which I will say I was expecting at some time, yet not at that time!) What a great surprise! I loved it!

4. Remember when people asked us where we would live or how we would make it when we got married. We didn't know all the answers but found out God did!

5. Remember our perfect, beautiful wedding ceremony, those delicious chocolate covered strawberries at our reception, leaving without shoes on, and our wonderful honeymoon together (and getting sunburned!).

6. Remember when God provided my first teaching job for me in a district that was closing schools at the time and said they weren't hiring.

7. Remember the excitement we felt when we found out we were expecting our first child only to go through a miscarriage a few weeks later. You were such a rock for me of love and support during that painful time filled with questions, sadness, hurt, doubts, and fears.

8. Remember when God gave us good news (just when we needed it) of a new job for you, one for a position that you really specifically hadn't even applied.

9. Remember how we watched our home being built and we'd drive out most days to see the progress that was made. We have so many special memories here in this home.

10. Remember on that wonderful day in August when the doctor said "It's a boy!" Our lives have never been the same! Parenting has been an amazing learning process with you. You've supported me in countless ways, and I appreciate that more than words can say. Seeing you with our son brings me great joy as well. You are such a great daddy.

11. Remember how we helped each other through the painful times, including sicknesses and the deaths of our loved ones. Having each other to lean on helped so much. I know there will be other times of pain and sadness through the years, but I know we count on each other.

12. Remember, always remember that God has a plan, His timing is perfect, I am proud of you always, and you are the best.

It's wonderful to remember (and kind of hard to stop because I keep remembering more things) and be reminded of all the ways God has been there for us through every thing we've been through together. Thank you for so many wonderful memories. Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet wonderful amazing forever Valentine! I love you...

Have a day of blessings!

"Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath

For this week's song in honor of Valentine's Day I want to share "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath. I have been hearing this song regularly on KLOVE. It is based on I Corinthians 13.




I'd like to dedicate this to my husband today. He has taught me so much about God's love and lived that for me. We have grown so much deeper in our love for each other and God I believe through the years we've been together. I'm so thankful for share this life and love together with him.

Have a day of blessings!

Our Valentine's Day weekend

We decided a few weeks ago to do something special for Valentine's Day this year. I've probably shared this here before but the weekend is special to us. On February 13, 1998 during our freshman year of college a cute boy gave me a special Valentine card in the Bean (the ACU cafeteria) during lunch with our group of friends. The card said "Will you be my Valentine?" and was homemade (which just melted my heart even more!). I'm so glad I said yes! I think I waited until Sunday actually to say yes because Friday after lunch we both headed in our separate directions to our homes for the weekend.

Since February 13 was on a Friday this year we decided it would be fun to go back to our "college city" of Abilene for Valentine's Day weekend. My husband took off work and realized he was off Monday too for President's Day so it turned into a four day weekend for us.

We left Thursday night and stayed the night with my Mom. Caleb got to go to school with her in the morning. He loves this (and she does too!). We stopped and picked him up as we were leaving town. My husband handed me a Valentine and said I really needed to open it. I told him I could just wait till Saturday. He kept telling me I should open it before we leave. So I did. (It wasn't too hard to convince me!) He got me a car charger for my Ipod called Itrip auto. I'd been looking at them but had not purchased one yet. This one is not just a charger though, it can also play the music through the car radio. It was really sweet of him. We have an envelope (in our Dave Ramsey plan) for gifts but he had used his own money out of his own funds to get it. I'm glad he got me to open it early!

We got to ACU in time for chapel. Friday is singing day and it was a wonderful time. At the end the president of the university, Dr. Money, got up and spoke briefly about some recent issues with the NCAA that was announced last week. I don't understand all the rules and regulations but one thing mentioned was a local church had a Christmas party for some students. Their receiving small gifts was against the NCAA rules. Kinda crazy in my opinion. Anyway.... After chapel we walked around campus and then went to the Bean for lunch. When I was in college I won a contest hosted by the Bean for a dessert contest. I won 10 tickets for a place on campus called Reservations Only. I never used all the tickets and emailed them to ask if I could use them previously when we thought we were visiting campus. I was told that Reservations Only was closed but come visit the Bean. This time I tried to email but didn't get a response so I just took them. They did give us a discount which was fine with me! The Bean has changed so much. It was much more open and looked very modern. Caleb enjoyed eating there and all the food choices. After lunch we visited with one of my husband's professors. We also went to the Campus Store. Caleb got a hat just like Daddy's. He was SO excited. He kept saying thank you for this hat, I've always wanted a hat like this.
Caleb took his nap after that in the car in a shady spot we found (after we hit Sonic's happy hour!) and then we headed to the zoo. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day. It was a perfect day for the zoo. All the animals were playing and we got to feed a bunch of them. Caleb's favorites were the prairie dogs, buffaloes, ducks and giraffes.

The giraffes at this zoo have always been my favorite because there is a tall bridge you cross and the giraffes come to the bridge and lick the animal crackers off the cement as you drop them down to them. It's always funny to see a giraffe tongue!

Saturday morning we got breakfast at Burger King and let Caleb play for a while there. It was a dreary, chilly day (we were so glad we'd gone to the zoo Friday afternoon). I went by James Avery to try on a ring I really like and then we went to a couple other stores followed by the children's museum. After lunch we went back to the hotel for Caleb's naptime. After his short nap Friday, he was wearing out. We went back over to ACU and walked around a while. We looked at the sculpture "Jacob's Ladder" also. It was a bit chilly so we didn't stay long. We ate early at Cracker Barrel for supper before it was busy. The boys played a couple rounds of checkers by their fire too. Then we went back to ACU to go bowling. Caleb saw the bowling alley Friday when we were walking around so after that he kept asking if we could go bowling. It was so much fun for us all.

Sunday morning we got to go to the church we attended while at ACU. Caleb enjoyed his 4 year old class. The teacher was the mother of one of my students I had while doing my student teaching. She was a 2nd grader then and now is a sophomore in high school!

We ate lunch at Gattiland and had a great time in their play area on the bumper cars. Caleb was tall enough to ride and he absolutely loved it. We went back to my Mom's that night and came home Monday.

It was such a nice weekend together. We made many happy memories in our favorite place! I was thinking when we were walking around campus Saturday how special it was to have Caleb there. As we were walking around reminiscing from our college dating days, it was special to have him running around the path in front of us and then stop and come back between us told hold our hands.

Another thought from this trip related to our FPU class. We had planned everything we wanted to do and were able to only use cash and put the hotel on the debit card. When we came home I thought how nice it was that it was all paid for and next month we won't see something we did on the credit card bill. In the past we'd put the hotel on it knowing we'd pay it off. It was just delaying paying for it though. It's nice to have it paid for and just have the happy memories to bring home with us!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For great is his love toward us,and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD." Psalm 117:2

A Valentine project with Caleb

We did a Valentine sorting activity today. I did this during my student teaching in ESL. My supervising teacher made a book to go with the project which I still have in my teacher stuff.

I've done this with Caleb in the past, but this year we made a graph too.

First he sorted the hearts by color.

The he counted the hearts and colored the corresponding squares on the chart.

















We talked about which colors had the most, least, and same amount. Here is the finished graph.

Do you have any Valentine activities you do with kids?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 NLT