Valentine's Day Continued

I wanted to share one more activity that Reagan and I did together in honor of Valentine's Day. She really wanted to make cookies, so I bought all the stuff, and was looking forward to spending time with her one on one. We were going to make the cookies on Saturday afternoon, which was the day we celebrated Valentine's, but we decided to go see my parents instead. By the time we got back home it was just about dinnertime and and then bath time and then bedtime. If you are a mom, you know how quickly the night goes. Anyway, long story short, when she got home from school on Monday, she had not forgotten about this little project. As soon as I got Gracen down for her afternoon nap, we got started.

Here is Reagan rolling out the dough. Can I just say that while Reagan was at preschool that morning, I cleaned my house. My kitchen was clean top to bottom and it was very difficult for me to scatter this flour out on my counter tops. I told her to be careful with the flour and with the first roll, she knocked a big pile on the floor. I just smiled. I know kids make messes, and I know messes can be cleaned up. I am just confessing that it hurt to destroy my kitchen....again.


Here is Reagan cutting our her heart shaped cookies. Every time she did this, we had to take the left over dough, ball it up, put more flour on the counter (cringe), and roll it out all over again.


Here she is decorating her cookies. She LOVED the whole decorating part. She covered one pan of cookies with sprinkles. I didn't take a picture, but when I say covered, that is what I mean. You couldn't see the cookies anymore. When I told her to go easy with the sprinkles, she said, "Oh, Mom, you know sprinkles make everything better. Sprinkles are the spice to like." She meant to say " of life"....sprinkles are the spice of life....but, how cute was that? I got a good chuckle over that commentary. She must have picked up that phrase from TV because I am pretty sure that I don't use that saying around here much.

Here she is adding frosting to the cookies that weren't covered up with sprinkles. She is making "Daddy" on this cookie.And here is the finished "Daddy" cookie. She gave it to him when he walked in the door from work and asked him to be her Valentine. My heart just melted.

I am so glad that I messed up my kitchen. We spent an hour and a half just talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. It was definitely worth it.

Changing subjects...

I am leading my monthly momMEtime group this coming Thursday morning and the topic is marriage. I have read many great resources preparing for this topic, and I have been convicted in many areas. It is so easy during the parenting years to let your marriage fall to the wayside. I know personally, having two young children at home is exhausting and many days there isn't much energy left for my husband. I know he gets the leftovers, and I am really trying to make the necessary changes to ensure that he doesn't feel that way.

Speaking of getting the leftovers, I think this is true in my relationship with God some days too. The needs of my children seem to take over every minute of the day, from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. Some times it is hard to make myself sit still before the Lord and focus myself on what He may want to say to me.

As a Christian, a wife, and a mother I need to make sure that I prioritize things in that order. My relationship with God is my top priority. I know that being a mom is difficult, and I do have to be creative about the time that I spend with God. My Bible study and prayer time is not as in depth right now as it used to be and that's OK. It is not OK if I just blow off my relationship with my heavenly Father for this "season" of raising babies. If that were true, I could easily go 5 years or more without growing in my faith. I don't think that is biblical. I need his guidance and his strength to do this great job that he has called me to. I still strive to get up a good hour or more before my girls do so I can spend some time in my Bible and prayer. Yes, I would rather sleep, but God always blesses my efforts.

My role as Gene's wife comes next. I was his wife before the children arrived, and I will be his wife after the children leave this house. I need to actively nourish this relationship, making time for daily communication, quality time, and romance. I am guilty of thinking that I have to pour every ounce of energy and attention into my children. I am also guilty of not wanting to go on date nights because Gracen is fussy at night and wants her Mommy. After Gracen's arrival, we went a good 4 or 5 months without going anywhere by ourselves. Quite frankly, I didn't want to leave her. I have asked Gene's forgiveness for this and now we are scheduling date nights every other week. These times have been really good for us, and I am already looking forward to next week's date. I know that the very best gift that I can give my children is an amazing marriage....as the marriage goes, so goes the family.

For the Love Dare experiment, we are thinking about thoughtfulness. Love is thoughtful, isn't it? Not just doing thoughtful things for the other person, but actively thinking about your spouse throughout the day. Thoughtfulness meets the needs of the other person and keeps the mouth in check. Thoughtlessness, which leads to selfishness, is the silent enemy to a loving, thriving marriage.

Today, I am suppose to contact Gene and let him know that he is on my mind and ask him what I can do for him today.

If you are married, I want to encourage you to do this for your spouse today. This is an easy one....but so easy, it doesn't necessarily happen on a daily basis. This could be in the form of a phone call, a text, a Facebook status, or an email.

Until next time....