love is in the air...

With a mild January over let's see what February has to bring.

February is bringing some valentine joy to our house. I am reading the Duggar's book ( from 19 kids & counting.) They are a unique family and write that they love little surprises that keep their kids guessing. I totally agree. Surprises do not always mean toys, or treats but can also be family time, small outings or even playing a game. Kase has even caught on to this idea & I hear him telling Knox all the time, "I have a surprise for you!"

A February surprise for our boys has been these cute little mailboxes. I borrowed this idea from Emily Andersons blog.

I bought the mini mailboxes at the dollar spot @ Target, then glued them onto old candlestick holders with epoxy glue. So for a total of $2 the boys now have mailboxes for their table.

Since this is the month of love Scotty and I are focusing on the greatest love of all. Christs love for us. We are also reading Shepherding A Child's Heart recomended by Emily Jennings. We have learned from this book and Luke 6:45 that our mouth and actions are an overflow of our heart.

Kase and I sat down and made an illustration he could relate to and talked about a Godly heart & a Lonely Heart. He listed things that fill and overflow from a Godly heart and a lonely heart.

We are working hard for our family to have an overflow of a Godly heart. Kase has decided to add servantship to his Godly heart. He loves washing dishes. I have tried to explain the purpose of our dishwasher but his mind is made up this is a way to contribute to our household.


To encourage him everyday in February he & knox will find a different scripture message, and or a note of encouragement or praise in thier mailbox. They might also find other treats in their mailbox along the way like Chuck E Cheese tokens, a coupon for Swirls their favorite ice cream place. I am even going to include a family game night coupon, a movie night coupon, and other things that our family loves doing together.
To get into the spirit of the month of Love I also decorated our table and little parts of our house.

I can't wait to hear their little footsteps run into the kitchen each morning to check their mail. Then be able to read their scripture and share with them each day about God's love. I do this to teach my children of God's love but in the end I learn as much as them.

2nd Glance Saturday: a yummy treat

One of our new weekly rituals has been heading to the pool to exercise with Lane, Aunt Suz and Grandmother & then to Panera for a good lunch. I have tried many menu items @ Panera all in which are good,but I just haven't been able to find that one thing that I love.

Last week Lane introduced me to the item that took me back to eat there 3 times in one week. Creamy Tomato Soup! It is worth a 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th taste in my opinion. Even Knox loves dipping his bread in it. I do not like tomatos and I do not like tomato soup. But for some reason this is an exception to the rule.
Another great thing about Panera is when you get a meal you can purchase a 99 cent bakery item. My boys thought the shortbread Valentine cookies deserved a 2nd Glance.

I have to say they were right! These cookies got an A+ in my book festive and delicious!

What have you been giving a 2nd Glance Lately. It is your turn to Link Up and share with others!

Grab the html code for my button below and add it to your blog.

Link up your blog where you are showing what made you take a 2nd Glance by clicking on the blue button below.

Check out other blogs that have linked up and leave a fun comment & follow some new blogs!

xoxo

Love is in the air and also can be found @ my house. We are busy getting ready for Valentine's Day.

After searching for valentine decor for my front door and finding nothing that was a right fit, I decided to make my own. $4 later I was glad I did!

I started with 1/2 a yard of red burlap ($1.50)

recycled wal-mart sack (free)

hot glue gun (already had)

roll of ribbon & ( $1.50)

A little bit of black paint ($1)

I cut my red burlap into a heart shape just like I would a piece of construction paper. I used the red burlap for the front of my heart and I used left over brown for the back of my heart.

I glued my 2 heart pieces together with the hot glue gun leaving a section open to put in my stuffing.

In the past I have used a thick paper (that you would wrap breakables in) for my stuffing but I was out so I used recycled Wal-Mart sacks.

I stuffed the heart and fluffed and shook it to get it to take on the shape I wanted. I then glued my opening shut.

I then went back and painted the edges with paint to look like stitches.

I glued on fun ribbon as a hanger and then stuck it on my door.

I even had a little material left over so while my mess was out I made a little one as well.

Overall for both hearts it took no more than 20 minutes to make.

My favorite things about this craft was that it was cheap, quick, easy and it really stands out on my door!

making the most of it

Scotty has tons of great things about him, his knees however are not 2 of them. 5 surgeries down & he is still hanging in there!

He was referred to a Dr. in Owensboro & we hated leaving the boys for 2 nights so we came up with a plan and decided to make the most of it. Scotty is such a good sport even in PAIN! He even had theme music getting him pumped up before he went to surgery.

We wrangled in NeNe (leandra) to watch the boys at the hotel while we were @ the hospital and you would have thought we were going on the greatest vacation ever! Kase was beyond excited about NeNe going with him to a hotel to swim.

of course we fit in a trip to Target

We came back to the the hotel with Scotty's bed decorated with get well cards from the boys (with NeNe's help of course.)

Their hugs made him feel so much better!

a birthday to bowl for

We couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my Grandmothers birthday than dinner & bowling.

One of our favorite Grandmother stories is of her taking us bowling when we were little and it ended up being memorable for all the wrong reasons. I would love to share the memory but she would kill me! But if you know her then you know that is of course funny!

So we put on our stylish shoes and got down to business.
(knox was so cute in his tiny little shoes)

Boys on one side & girls on the other

Let the games begin

Kase waited so patiently for his turn, which was really hard for an excited 4 yr. old

Dad shared his techniques with Knox. But Knox is as independent as my Dad so it was an interesting interaction all night.

After a determined little Knox packed his ball up there, rolled it & then chased after it into the slick lane and took a big fall Dad decided to hold on to him. Of course this cramped Knox's style but they came to an agreement.

Sometimes bowling can be more about the snacks

We had a wonderful time celebrating an amazing woman that we all look up to respect, and love! Happy Birthday Grandmother!