Good thing I didn't pay for it!

Our church enjoys bread on occasion from one of the local grocery stores, and I always grab a loaf of two.  This week I grabbed three, since we had to make sandwiches for our after church fellowship on Sunday night.After being gone for about an hour on Saturday, this is what we came home to...pieces of bread all throughout the house.  The naughty dog struck again!  He jumped up to snatch a bag off the counter and then proceeded to tear into it.  We had crumbs from one end of the house to the other.

Friday night fun

My prince took me to the Valentine banquet!  And Auntie took the kids for some more fun!

We laughed...alot...at our table!  Conversation hearts, candles, roses...and a wonderful meal!

A game of Finish the Thought.  The couple in the middle won...and have been married the longest.  I sang "Say I Love You" and our speaker spoke on showing the right kind of love.  Giving our time, watching our tongues, and sharing a touch...it was such a good reminder!  We always honor the widows in our church during this time.  I was struck by the words that I sang and that the speaker spoke about...

"Life is but a moment, quickly vanishing away...wait until tomorrow and your chance may flee away.  Give a fragrant flower while its beauty still can charm...give a kiss to warm the longing heart...Say I love you, while the heart can feel.  Say I love you, while the hurt can heal.  Make a heart rejoice, give your love a voice. Speak the words while you can say, I love you!"

I am thankful that the Lord directed me to this song...it fit so well with the message.

Most of the laughter, at our table, was about our silliness in our marriage relationships...men see things differently from women!  I think it is hilarious when the guys talk of those differences...they feed off each other. 

One of the table games...write your own message for a conversation heart.  When the love of my life wanted some of my dessert...I remembered one of my favorite sayings..."GET YOUR OWN"!  There are some things I just don't like to share...especially, when there is plenty for him to have his own!  Yes, I get a little testy about this.  The carmel pecan cheesecake was out of this world!  I did share...it was very rich and I had to sing after the meal!

Ted won a prize for his conversation heart...after winning many a gasp from the audience when it was read..."True love is being man enough to tell your wife to shave her mustache before Sunday."  It kept with the annual Ted and his man rules theme.  All the other hearts that were read did not have a name given.  Our youth pastor made sure Ted got credit for his, and then gave him a prize for it.  It was pay back for the grief given last year when our pastors wore pink shirts. 

If the love of your life can't help you out in private...well...then you will have to deal with things in public.  That is our philosophy!  I love my husband...and I appreciate the fact that he looks out for me! 

The special day that never ends...

lunch with Tom&Jerry and Valentines from Grammy and Grampy.  If you are wondering...yes, we did complete all required and scheduled schoolwork!  Between bouts of sugar consumption!  While the grown-ups get a date night (Valentine's banquet at church), these little sweethearts will be with their auntie.  Now how special is that?!

How do I spell relief?

F-I-L-E   S-A-V-E-D

Our Mother's Day program is typed, saved, copied, and ready to be distributed.  Practice begins on Sunday.

Prince Charming is showing up Cinderella these days!

And it is a good thing!  Be glad Cinderella was too grossed out to take pictures of the results of the Fairy-Good Rug Doctor's work.  She was actually speechless and dropped her head in shame and defeat.  Her little subjects danced around with glee as they watched the magic.  Prince Charming cleaned the recliners (shiver), couch (oops...gagged), and carpets (yikes)!  It had to be done.  He conquered the objects and room with several strokes without...barely...breaking a sweat. 
I...I mean...Cinderella, thought she and her little subjects were keeping a clean house!  Waiting till the stroke of the twelveth month...never a good idea!  Thank you, my Prince, for rescuing us from the evil dust-dirt-and other assorted nastiness!  My hero!

suGar and HeaRts and CardS

Toasty-grams from Mom.

Another fancy breakfast...it is all in the stemware!

Special little tools for school...heart pencils and number fruit snacks with a joke.

I'll bet my mother-in-law didn't think of this use for heart pillow cases when she made them a couple years ago!  They covered up the treat bags perfectly!

Teddy wins for most creative bag decoration!

Reading love notes from Dad...I loved the looks on their faces!

Sweet and practical...and enjoyed by our three energetic students!  We still have the special envelope from Grammy and Grampy, time with cupid, and a couple more days of sugar!  Have a hug-filled weekend!

Got Ink?

I really like http://www.familyfun.com/ for all sorts of ideas...meals, treats, parties, and holiday fun.  While we were making cousin and grandparent Valentines, the kids asked if we were going to have a Valentine Party at school.  Uh...of course!  Do we get to pass out Valentines?  Sure!

After walking around Target by myself yesterday...fun!...I decided it was not frugal to buy something.  We have a class of three, one teacher, and one principal.  whispering...I got the treats...now we just need a little note for them.  Thank you, FamilyFun!  We now have jokes and pencil toppers too!

Our principal wanted to know when we having the party...I think, we will schedule it for Friday (tomorrow)!  That way we can enjoy treats all weekend long!  We even made Valentine envelopes to hang on the back of our chairs. 

At first, their request made me giggle.  But I realize...this is important to them and something they miss from previous years.  So now...I have gone the extra step to make it special...

because that is what love does! 

"Love is kind..."

Out my kitchen window...and beyond.

I didn't notice at first...then something sparkled.  I looked carefully...frost on the trees again!  I tried to capture the beauty on my camera...I couldn't.  The sun's rays dressed our backyard with thousands of diamonds this morning. 
"Mom, what is the big deal?  It is just snow and ice.  I am sick of winter." scoffed Teddy. 
"Oh, son, it is beautiful!  God dresses each season beautifully!  We need to be thankful and enjoy the beauty!" 
It is hard to be thankful when the temp is 7 degrees and we had to run a quick errand before school.  I pointed out several sparkly trees. 
I couldn't help it...it was breathtaking from my perspective! 
Annoying from my son's perspective.
And still...another perspective from the back seat... 
"Mom, if you are going to point out another sparkly tree, could you at least not go so fast?* That sparkly bush has birds sitting in it...you will scare them away!" 
*I will defend myself here...I was turning a corner going to our street in a residential area...I may have been driving all of 10-15 miles per hour at this point.  Good grief!*

Making joyful noises...in the morning!

"Mom, I have everything done...can I practice now?" asked my little flutophone player.  After giving me the giggles yesterday (during her lesson), I smiled as I listened to her!  She is doing it!  She asked me to check to see if she had her fingers in the right place.  "Ok, show me an A, now a B, good, how do you make a G?" I coaxed.  A little voice behind me piped up, "Mom, watch...this is how you make a G (drawing with his finger in the air) start at the top and go around and back a little...there...that is how you make a G."

Alisa diligently filling out the notes, counting patterns, and adding the bars to measures.  She is catching on quickly!  This Mom is getting a little excited...held in check, by reality, of course...that we have some musicians in training.  The key word here being training!  Alisa was so excited when she got stickers...princess stickers on her pages during her lesson.  "When do I get to play songs with alot of notes?"

I missed it...

there was an "earthquake" in our region this morning...during the 4:00 a.m. hour!  So I missed it!  However...my little world has been shaken this morning as I have been reading and studying! 
I am going through this soul-stirring, heart-convicting, toe-crunching study by Martha Peace.  Wow!  There is so much more to being The Excellent Wife than saying "I do" and washing loads of dirty clothes.  My father and mother gave me this book on our first anniversary.  I went through it ten years ago...and now I am re-visiting it.  It is more convicting to me now, because I see how badly I handle certain areas in these most important relationships I have...wife...mother.
I went through the chapter this morning "The Wife's Domain"...being a "worker at home".  Good for me...I am here...got that covered.  Then comes the importance of setting the tone of your home.  Okay...it is a comfy and cozy and clean place...good for us.  Um...a tone of joyfulness, optimism, and a delight in the Lord and in her family.  Oh...you mean every day of every month?  All the time?  Even with the lack of sleep?  Hmmm.
She asked the question, "If your family were called upon to describe you, what would they say?"
Oh dear...
Do they see a joyful attitude, feel the effects of contentment, and hear thankfulness from my lips? 
Or do they see unhappiness?  Hear complaining? Feel the effects of hysterical fears?
"The home is the wife's domain.  We are called upon by God to be there!  What are you going to make of your home?"
Yes, I have been shaken from my own "warm, fuzzy view" of my domain...and shaken by what my family would say! 
You see...I have to work on the "all the time" part...some days are a struggle and I don't always seek the Lord's help when I need it.  "Love is patient, love is kind, seeketh not her own..." I Corinthians 13 again.

The next chapter..."Love, The wife's choice"

Back to the story of Job

The Lord gives and takes.
This was another one of the thoughts that Ashlynn wrote down, unprompted, in her notebook the other night. Job lost his family, his possessions, his health...yet, he continued to say,
"Blessed be the name of the LORD".
We haven't finished the whole story of Job.  He lost everything when it came to material possessions.  He lost those he loved...his children.  He lost his health.  Then, he loses whatever confidence he had in the relationships he had with his friends. And to me, one of his greatest losses...his wife's support.  I see how important that support is every year that we are married!  Through all of those losses, he still held strong to his relationship with his Lord.  So many times we blame the Lord for our losses.  Why do we do that?  He said He does all things for our good and His glory...He knows what I need.
The Lord is allowing us to see and experience a number of different things in our life right now.  We are thankful that He has given us examples to follow...in His Word!  And oh what a help His Word is when we are trying to explain and teach things to our children!  They have a reason to trust...because their parents are trusting...with our whole heart!  Proverbs 3:5-6
No matter what happens throughout our life...we know who is in control! God allowed Job to go through trials, and he remained faithful to His Lord.
What a wonderful message to share with our children!

"This is like a fancy restaurant!"

Let's call it Kari's Kafe today!  It has a little ring to it, don't you think?! 

We'll be serving our hot drinks with whipped cream today...how about a "half and half" (hot chocolate and Tim Horton's coffee)?  MMMM!

My little shovelers went out early and I got a bright idea!  I'd welcome them in with hot chocolate and popovers for breakfast.

                                 

The critics are raving!  "This is the best!"  "This is a fancy...old-fashioned breakfast!" 

  "Um...I think we are going to need some more butter."  (Uh, no, you're good, I put out a half a stick!)

                                   

                                                               "Somebody cheer me." 

 "Oh, guys, and Mommy doesn't have to clear!"  "Oh...my stomach is so full it is going bust open."

This cook is grinning from ear to ear!  It is very satisfying to do something for my family that puts a smile on faces.  The ear-splitting "Thank yous" and other sounds back up their pleasure.

Kari's Kafe...A good place to eat where the reviews are three star and the customers care for the dishes.

Time to look through Gram's cookbook for another winner.

Popovers
4 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp melted butter

Heat oven to 450.  Heat muffin pan/popover pan in oven.  Brush pan liberally with melted butter when you take it out of the oven.  Pour the unused melted butter into your batter.  Immediately add batter to pan, filling each cup 2/3 full.  I used the blender to mix the batter and gave it one final whirl after I brushed the pans with butter.  Bake 20-25 minutes without opening the oven door!  **Alisa and I watched a gal on the Food network make these too.  She did not lower her oven temp or open the door, so I didn't either.  They turned out perfect the first time!**