Valentine's Day Activities

I know I'm so late on this.  SO late.  But, I figured that I might as well post it now, or I never will.  I barely feel like Valentine's Day now, so I'm certainly not going to feel like it in July.  Anyway, I've never been much of a Valentine's Day person.  It's just not my favorite holiday.  I think it's mostly about marketing.  Not only that, but if you have a special someone in your life, then Valentine's Day is great, but if not, it stinks...big time.  So, we have never really made that big of a deal about it.  However, when I had children, I began to think about that fact.  And, I don't ever want them to feel bad on Valentine's Day just because they don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend.  I want them to see this holiday as a day when they express extra love to everyone in their life...mostly their family.  So we began to really "beef up" our Valentine's Day to make it a real family event.  We wanted to set up some traditions and things that would be really memorable and family-centered. 

One thing we decided to do was to not go out (who really wants to fight the crowd anyway?) but instead, to make a dinner at home.  We always make the same Valentine's Dinner...it's Chicken over Rice with gravy and corn and rolls.  We do this in honor of mine and Tim's first Valentine's Day together.  He made that very meal for me then.  So sweet.  We then tell the kids, every year, the story of our first Valentine's Day and how we got together and our Wedding Day.  It's always a really fun trip down memory lane. 

First, we started our day with Waffles topped with Cool Whip and Heart Shaped Sprinkles.

 

We bought flowers.

 

And arranged them together.

 

Lunch was heart-shaped English Muffin pizzas.  So cute and I love these things.  We have these at least once a week.

 

Then, we get dressed up.

 

And after dinner, we share our homemade
Valentine's with each other.  We read them out loud. 

 

It's always such a fun day full of extra hugs and kisses and lots of love.  I'm so glad that I am no longer a Scrooge about Valentine's Day.  It's now one of my favorite holidays. 

Random Updates

 

This will be an unusual post.  I'm trying to catch up on all the "important stuff" that I've been wanting to document lately but just haven't had the time.  Darn slow internet.  One of these days...

 

Anyway, did I tell you about Hannah putting an entire pound of ground beef in the potty?  Here's what happened:  I had put out a pound of ground beef from the freezer to thaw on the counter.  A couple of hours later, I went by the bathroom and noticed a lot of tiny little red pieces, but I honestly didn't think anything about it.  We had played with Play-doh that morning, and I figured that Hannah had just taken some of the Play-doh into the bathroom (which is not unusual!).  Anyway, I then went into the kitchen to start getting supper ready, when I discovered that the meat was missing.  I looked everywhere, and finally started to wonder if I had actually put the meat out to thaw in the first place.  Suddenly a feeling of terror came over me as I remembered that a.) I saw little red bits of something and b.)  My daughter is Hannah Wood....master of "getting into trouble".  :)

 

I raced into the bathroom, and realized that sure enough, those little red bits were raw hamburger meat.  Searching around for the big hunk, I finally found it.  Here...

 

 

One thing that I can say is that it's never boring with Hannah around.  Thankfully, nobody got sick that day or the next day, which I was super thankful for.  I was just having e coli nightmares for a few nights.

 

We have also done some pretty cool homeschool activities lately (if I do say so myself).  We studied the layers of the Earth a few weeks ago, and we made a model using playdoh.  It was pretty awesome.

 

The girls had some fun of their own as well.  They got to play in an oatmeal sensory box.  It was quite the hit!

 

Gotta throw this one in.  Crazy hair at bathtime.  Cuteness.

 

And the girls have found a new favorite hiding place.  Can you tell where they are??  The dryer.  Fun times.  :)

 

And last but not least, we made crayons.  Yep, it was quite cool.  We recycled our broken crayons into new circle crayons.  We are environmental that way.  I'll post about this more in depth later.

 

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed my post of randomness. 

My Blog

I've been missing in action on my blog for quite sometime, because I've been thinking, praying, and rethinking everything about it.  A long time ago (about 7 years ago), I started a blog as a scrapbook.  I don't do physical scrapbooks, and I knew that a digital form would be my only hope to document my family as we grow and change.  I was happy with that.  For a while, I saw what others were doing with blogs...making money, being crafty...and I thought, "Hey I can do that!"  So while we were living in town (and had high speed internet), I blogged daily about crafting and decorating, and having fun with Isaac.  This was a cool time for my blog.  Lots of growth in technology know-how and learning to get around the blogosphere.  I was doing a linky party every day.  My fellow bloggers will appreciate that.  Once our internet slowed down considerably (since we moved four miles away from our last residence...weird I know), I could no longer keep up with the daily blog posts.  Of course, two more kids threw another kink in the deal.  So I began to use it once again as a scrapbook.  And I'm really quite happy with that, except for the fact that I really do like to write.  And I like to write about what I'm passionate about.  And I enjoy having an outlet.  I think that I need to have an outlet.  Sometimes, that gets me into trouble.  (By the way, I am in no way saying that I am a good writer...I just said I enjoy writing.  Now that we are clear there....)

I had been thinking that my blog had shrunk down to just a handful of readers (namely, my mother-in-law-love you Becky! and maybe a friend or two), but I'm realizing that I have a few more readers than I thought, and it's possible, just possible, that maybe I can use this for more.  I'm still praying about it a lot, but I want to let you know that I haven't disappeared....something new is coming.  I'm not sure what yet....just something.  I do know that I have a few things on my heart that I'm not quite ready to share, but I will be.

In the meantime, thanks for letting me use an entire blog post to ramble about my blogging....or lack thereof.  :)

Happy Easter, Happy Spring (unless you live around me in Arkansas and it still feels like the middle of winter)

Snow Days!

Okay, I'm a little late on this post.  Our snow days were at least 2 weeks ago, maybe three!  But, better late than never, right?  This time, I was determined that we were going to play in it.  Since we missed playing in the huge once-in-a-lifetime Christmas snow (due to sick kids), I resolved that by golly, we were going to have a good ole time in this measly 1/2 inch snow, and we did!  It was very fun.  And, I'm exaggerating on the 1/2 inch part.  It was probably 2 inches.  Of course compared to our 13 inch Christmas snow, it was kind of measly.  But, I'm not complaining.  We still kind of failed.   Hannah was exhausted and napped too long to enjoy this snow, so my pictures are just Isaac and Lydia, but they had a blast.  So here's a few shots from our snow day fun.

 

I love this picture.  Her sweet face against the snow...masterpiece. 

 

Check out that handsome toothless grin. 

 

Our attempt at a mini-snowman.  It actually turned out pretty good.  We couldn't get any arms, legs, eyes, noses or buttons in though.  Too small.  Oh well..

 

Snow in the country is the best kind.

 

A little action shot for you...

 

So that was our 2013 snow day.  The funny part about this is that yesterday, January 29th, just a few weeks after this snow, we had 71 degree weather and severe storms.  I love living in Arkansas. 

To My Children, Part I

I recently stumbled upon a great Pinterest idea.  It was 30 Questions to Answer for your Children.  Since I've wanted to do something like this for a long time, I pounced on the idea, and made it a personal goal for this week to get started on it.  Because my blog is my journal and scrapbook to my children, I decided to post the questions and answers here. 

To My Children: Part I

 

20 Random Facts About Me.

I seriously doubt that I can think of 20 random facts about myself.  My mind just doesn’t work that way.

I really, really like cheesecake.  In fact, there’s a Pinterest recipe which includes cheesecake, cake, and frosting that I’m salivating over.

 I’ve never been out of the country before.  Honestly, I have no desire to be out of the country.  Horrible I know.  But true.  I've been to the Bahamas, but I don't think that really counts.

I’ve never been able to choose a favorite color, or a favorite movie, or food.  I just like too many colors and movies and foods to make a decision.

 I’m actually a really bad decision maker.  That’s probably the problem with #4.  I don’t like making decisions.  Not big decisions, just the small ones, like choosing a paint color.  It really stresses me out.

 I love to teach.

  I love Jesus.

I have a list a mile long of things I would like to one day do.  This list includes, but is not limited to, storm chasing, running a preschool, opening a piano studio, and opening and operating an orphanage.

I’m not a dreamer.  I have boring dreams.  I once dreamed that I went to Wal-Mart to buy a new sippy cup for Hannah.  NOT exciting.

I’m halfway through, and I’m already struggling to find random facts.

I once had a rabbit.  For a short while.  I didn’t really like it.  She was white with red eyes, which kind of made me feel weird.  And, rabbits aren’t really that fun.


 I had the best childhood.  I grew up on Petit Jean Mountain.  It was wonderful.


 Some of my best childhood memories are trips to Branson, MO with my grandparents.


 I like to decorate and I like to see decorating, but I don’t feel that I’m very good at it.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed.  Okay, it’s actually pretty common, but it’s real, man.  And it’s rough.  L


 I think that strange things are funny.  My weird sense of humor came from your Nana.


 I rub my fingers together, and always have.  It’s a nervous thing that has become a habit.  I have calluses because of it.


I like showers better than baths….most of the time. Baths take too much time and are unproductive.

I don’t really like being alone, but I do enjoy eating lunch by myself in the car with no one asking for another drink, a napkin, or dessert.  It’s kind of nice. 

I like to read.  I’m trying to read more.  I think it’s good for your mind to read.

Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

I honestly don’t know that there are legitimate fears.  The Bible tells us, to “Fear not, for God is with us” along with many other warnings against fear.  But, for the sake of this question, I’ll try to answer the best I can.

 

 I have a fear that the world is falling down around us.  Sometimes I fear that our economy is going to crash (very legitimate) and we will turn into a 3^rd world country because of the horrible choices we have made as a nation.

I have a fear of God. 

I have a fear of lots of creepy, crawly things like spiders, snakes, mice, bats, etc.  I can deal with them (being in the country, you have to), but I don’t like it.

Describe your relationship with your spouse.

Your dad and I are best friends.  That’s probably the best way to describe it.  I wake up every morning and I am thankful that he’s beside me.  He is the most kind, sweet, godly man I know.  We are also ministry partners and (at the risk of sounding cliche), soul mates.  I've never met anyone who makes my weaknesses stronger and my strengths shine more than Dad.  Though we get mad at each other sometimes, we truly enjoy being around one another.  I have enjoyed every stage of marriage to him.  Even the hard times have been easier because of him.  When we lived in a seriously bad house at the beginning of our marriage, your daddy made me feel like it was a mansion.  When my first boss said something unprofessional about me, your dad came to my defense.  When I had just come home from the hospital after having you guys, and I was overwhelmed, your daddy made me realize that everything would be okay and return to normal before I knew it.  I love your daddy to the moon and back, and I can’t think of a better man to spend my life with and to raise my children with.

 

List 10 things you would tell your 16-year-old self, if you could.

1.  Trust God.

2.  Spend as much time as possible learning about God because there will come a point when your time is way more limited.

3.  Be less stressed. 

4.  Enjoy life.

5.  Don’t fear.

6.  High school will end.

7.  Don’t date anyone you wouldn’t marry.  In fact, don’t date. 

8.  Learn to budget your time and money now.  Old habits die hard.  If you don’t practice these principles early, you’ll never get them.

9.  Don’t take for granted good, godly friends.  They are few and far between.

10.  Speak positively about people, always.  Don’t gossip.  Be known for being an encourager.

 

What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

My sweet family (dad and you kiddos), living close to family, my relationship with God, good friends, and laughing about the funny things you do everyday.

If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?

1.  That I could be superwoman, never need sleep, and never get overwhelmed or find anything that I can’t do, so that I can still be mama to you and help lots of other children.

2.  More time.  Time is fleeting.  It goes by faster every week. 

3.  For all people to know Jesus, and believe in what he did for us on the cross.

What is your dream job, and why?

This answer changes with every season of my life.  I have wanted to be a meteorologist, a storm chaser, a make up artist…the list goes on and on.  I am actually doing my dream job right now.  I’m teaching my favorite kids (you!) about God and about life.  I only wish sometimes that I was able to reach out and include a few more kids who need some love in that too.  But, I know that will come again in time.  J

What are 5 passions you have?

God

My Husband

My Children

Hurting Children

Teaching

 

List  people who have influenced you and describe how.

1.  My Parents-They have molded me into who I am today.  They taught me at my most impressionable years how to work, play, and love. 

2.  My Grandparents-They spoiled me rotten because they could, and I’ll never forget it.

3.  My Sister-For many years, she was my second mother.  I could always depend on her to talk for me when I was too shy or to take care of me when I was scared or worried.  Now, I’m also blessed to have her as a friend, and I’m enjoying sharing our experiences raising our children together.

4.  My husband-He is literally one of the most wonderful people I know.  He has taught me to be more laid back, to “roll with the punches” that life so often brings, and to enjoy it.  He has been there for me anytime I needed support. 

5.  My Sunday School Teacher from 6^th grade-I will never be able to put my finger on exactly what she did, but she influenced me greatly.  A quiet, sweet spirit, Mrs. Smith showed me with her actions how to be a godly woman.

6.   Bro. Dave-He was the minister at the Wesley Foundation Student Ministry at Arkansas Tech.  He ministered to me during college, and he sat with us through 6 months of pre-marital counseling that was absolutely priceless and saved Tim and I from quite a deal of grief that we would have surely experienced without his wisdom that he shared with us.

7.  Mark & Leslie Dollar-They are amazing, godly people.  They taught us more about God and ministry than we have ever known before.  They spent hours upon hours sitting across from us until the wee hours of the morning imparting wisdom and sharing laughs.  We are forever grateful to them for all that they have done.

8.  Cheryl Harris-She was my co-teacher during my first (and only) three years of teaching public school.  She taught me to be creative with learning and teaching.  A master of many trades, she also taught me to be a life-long learner.  I am so grateful for my time spent next door to her classroom.

 

I know that I have missed someone.  There have been so many people that God has brought into my life who have shaped me.  There’s no way that I could ever list each person.  But, this gives you at least a good idea.

 

What was your most embarrassing moment?

Do I even have to answer this? Most of my embarrassing moments revolve around high school, although I’ve had my share in adulthood too.  Unlike your dad, I tend to be embarrassed easily.  Once I was cast as Rapunzel in a high school play.  I had to wear a hideous wig, and sit in a tall tower and sing a truly repulsive line of “Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh”.  It was really embarrassing, and I hated every minute of it.  I also remember a speech that I did in 10^th grade that was awful.  The night before, I was writing it with my mother, and I intended for it to be comical, but I can’t exactly pull off comical, and it ended up just being weird.  It was a horrible moment, and to this day, I cringe to think about it.  But, it was a good experience, and I am happy with myself just for doing it.  It was a huge step for me, as I hated being in front of people, especially talking in front of people.  So while it was a horrible, awful experience, I’m still glad that I can also count it as an accomplishment just for doing it.

To Our Church Family...

Sunday night, we resigned from our positions at our church in the Children's Ministry, and announced that we are being called elsewhere.  This decision was not made lightly and has been the culmination of several months of prayer seeking God's will.  It's been a difficult decision, to say the least.

Last summer, I began to feel like God was leading us to homeschool Isaac.  I talked to Tim about it, and we prayed.  We felt that it was the right decision.  Homeschooling has been a HUGE blessing, HUGE!  But, it's been a big job as well.  Along with doing the books for our family's plumbing & electrical business and church responsibilities, I was overwhelmed and drowning.  When August rolled around, I was busily working to start our homeschool year.  I found myself having no desire to work on getting our Just One (our children's ministry at church) program ready.  I knew something was wrong.  I told Tim how I felt, and we began to pray.  Several months later, we both came to the conclusion that God wants us to focus on our young family right now.  We have a heart for children, there's no doubt, but our own children are our first ministry.  God is calling us to a season of rest, learning, and soaking Him up.  We don't know the next step for us just yet.  We are still praying, but we are stepping out in faith and obedience to His divine leading, and waiting on Him. 

I have been working in Children's Ministry since I was 14.  I love children.  God has given me that love, so when his direction for me was to stop my work with reaching out to children who are unloved or need more love for a time, I was lost, confused, and angry.  However, a few days ago, I was doing my Bible study, and I felt the Lord telling me, "Deana, if all I ever ask you to do is raise your three kids, then that will be enough."  While I don't believe that's all He will ever ask of me again, I needed that at that moment.  I needed to be told that my three babies are my priority, and if I all I can do right now is raise them in accordance with God's word, then that's doing His will, and it's enough.

The great thing about being a part of a church is that really, you're part of a family.  You get to know and love the people you see every Sunday and Wednesday and the many opportunities in between.  This is such a blessing, but it makes it especially tough to leave a church.  We love everyone at Morrilton First Assembly, and we believe that God is going to do great things through them.  He already is.  It's just not God's plan for us to be there anymore. 

We announced this to the church Sunday night, and it was difficult.  I thought it would be easier, because I had plenty of time to think about it and prepare myself, but there's no preparing yourself for leaving family. 

The main thing that we want to leave with you is...we love you, we believe in what you're doing, and we are praying that God will continue to open doors to ministry for you.  Please keep us in your prayers as we make this transition too.  Thank you so much for accepting us into your family so graciously. 

Family in January 2013

It's another one of my family blitzes!  Don't you just love these?  No theme, no rhyme or reason, just a bunch of pictures and random comments about what we did?  Yeah, did you sense my sarcasm?  It's there...trust me.  One of these days, I'll take more pictures and actually plan and prepare for my blog posts, but until one of these days, this "blitz" will have to satisfy you and me.  :)  Here we go....

Sweet Hannah got a haircut...her first.  Thankfully, she didn't loose too many of those precious golden curls.  :)

 

Oh, and I should probably tell you not to worry about the gun.  It's not real...see the orange cap?  See, Hannah loves whatever Isaac loves.  Right now, Isaac loves guns, sheriffs, deputies, and outlaws, therefore, Hannah also loves these things.  We like to call her little Annie Oakley.  Let me just tell ya, she's got a mighty fine aim, cowboy.

 

My handsome Isaac lost two more teeth.  Yes TWO more.  They're dropping like flies!  The tooth fairy told me that she's going broke on his mouth!  Just check out this straw holder!

 

My darling Lydia has found the best hiding place of all...the dryer.  And yes, this is alarming to me.  It's one of the few times that I've been thankful that I haven't taught Isaac to do laundry yet.

 

And I'm sure you all know about my budding artist, Isaac "Michaelangelo" Wood.  We did an artist study last week, and this is his version of Mona Lisa.  Before you comment on how good the hands look, you should know that the hands were my only contribution to his masterpiece.  He asked me to help him, and since I'm also a famous hand artist, I obliged. 

 

Just look at the intricate detail on those dainty fingers! 

 

Oh how I hope my children have more artistic talent than me!

 

 

We played in the mud...again.

 

And, I figured out that watercolor paint tools are much better contained in a cookie sheet than just sitting on the table.

 

So that's our January so far.  It's been pretty good.  Next time, I'll have some snow pictures and a post on our Toy Rotation system.  Check back soon.  :)