Kids cook on Tuesday

Each Tuesday, Emma, Jonah, or Samuel make dinner. I use the term "make" loosely.  Emma does a lot of the cooking.  Samuel and Jonah do lots of helping on the days they cook.  They each get to pick their meal.  Sometimes I make suggestions and sometimes they pick from a children's cookbook. 

This week it was Emma's turn to cook.  She picked Spinach Salad and Pasta with Shrimp.  For this week's dinner Emma made a menu, which was awesome.  She set the table so beautifully.  Because of this, she did a little less cooking than usual, but she was still a huge helper.  Check out how yummy our dinner was!!

Just so cute!

Spinach with bacon, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, and a homemade dressing!

Angel hair pasta with shrimp, roasted red peppers, peas, and mushrooms.  The sauce was Ranch dressing and Parmesan cheese.

Jonah called it Emma's yummy dinner and he had seconds...rarely happens!

Ahhh...it's Valentine's Day!

Drew and I don't make a big deal about Valentine's Day at our house.  We never have and I guess it is because my birthday is in four days and Samuel's birthday is in five days.  I am much more of a birthday person!!!

Emma and Jonah are, however, big into Valentine's Day.  So, I decided to make it a day of fun surprises for them.  Their first surprise was a heart shaped PB & J sandwich with a homemade heart shaped Rice Krispy treat for dessert.  Emma told me that her lunch was full of love, which I just loved hearing!  Samuel and Drew had this for lunch too.  It was a big hit so I will have to have think of some variation for next year.

Emma, Jonah, and Samuel has fun parties at school.  Emma was a little jealous of all the candy the boys received, but Jonah was sweet enough to share with her.  Drew and I were super proud of Emma for thinking so much about a special needs boy in her class.  She made him an extra big Valentine and had a plan to give it to him if for some reason he was unable to attend her class party.  Well, he was there and she said he had a good time and received lots of Valentine's.

After our lovely dinner, I gave the kiddos their present.  Each one received a new water bottle filled with Hershey kisses (Elena's bottle only had a few kisses in them).  The boys bottles have dinosaurs on them and the girls have butterfly designs.  They were so excited for a special treat.

Today when I was thinking about love, I decided to read 1 Corinthians 13 from three different versions.  When I prayed with Emma, Jonah, and Samuel before school today I reminded them of God's awesome love for us....so awesome that God gave us Jesus.  I pray that each of my wonderful children enjoy the fun of Valentine's Day because it is fun.  But, I also pray that they know that true love is from God and that they give their all to love like it is stated in 1 Corinthians 13....

....So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end. 

...Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 

I loved the Message version of this...how simple it is and easy for four little blessings and gifts from God to understand!

Happy Valentine's Day Emma, Jonah, Samuel, and Elena

Love Mommy and Daddy

The return of normal Texas weather

Wow!  It has been cold.  We have lived here for 13 years and I don't ever remember it being this cold for this many days in a row.  Spring, TX winters are supposed to be nice and gentle.  The past few weeks have been more like rip roaring mad kind of winters.

Well, the warm weather has finally returned and not a day too soon.  I was ready for everyone to play outside and so was everyone else.  It is no fun to play outside in cold weather with no snow so we have just been holed up for days.  That all changed on Friday!  We all went outside to play and I have barely let Emma, Jonah, and Samuel in the house since then.

Everyone swinging.

She likes to sit, not bounce, on the trampoline.

Saturday Drew had choir so I took the kids to the park.  We played hard for over an hour.  Considering Elena, Jonah, and I have this yucky, horrible cough that was a long time.  Elena has the cough and congestion worse than the rest of us so she had to keep her coat on and hood up.  Either way, we had lots of fun!

Teeter totter

Elena loves to go down slides

Climbing around

Hugging!

Watching....

Please smile at me Samuel and this is the best I get!

She just finished flipping on the bars

Climbing...

Hanging by one hand

What should be my next move?

Still watching and still super cute!

And these two are my favorites...

Plotting their next move...

Sliding down train style!

Treasures on Earth

It occurred to me today that I have wonderful things in my kitchen that I rarely use.  I don't use them because I don't want to break them or make them look old.  Isn't that ridiculous?!

Last year for Christmas Drew with some "help" from the kids made me a beautiful cutting board.  It is simply wonderful and I have used it maybe ten times.  He gave it to me almost fourteen months ago...just dumb on my part!

This year for Christmas I was given such pretty wooden spoons of different varieties from my mom and Joe.  I use them some, but I still find myself reaching for the ugly, cheap plastic ones.  Really???

Jesus says in Matthew 6:19-20  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

What good are my wonderful wooden cutting board and utensils going to be to me in heaven.  The answer is a big fat nothing!  God has filled my life with wonderful people who have given me great gifts.  I am actually doing them, as well as me, a disservice by not using the things given to me.  I am not totally ready to give up my plastic spoons. When I finish a run, I always think "what are you saving it for".  So, from now on there will be no more "saving" in my kitchen!