lent

Today is Good Friday and I am thinking back on the last almost-40 days. It has been a very different Lent for me. I challenged myself to spend one hour in God's Word every day. This hour was to be separate from my morning daily-devotion time. It proved to be quite a challenge. Harder than anything I have ever given up for Lent.

Joe put together a read-through-the-book-of-Luke calendar for our church and that is where my focus has been. He gave me a great leather-bound study Bible on our 3rd anniversary (the year of the leather-themed gift) and so not only have I been reading the selected passage, but also all the accompanying notes. It ends up taking quite a bit of time.

I have learned so much more reading the Bible this way - in small doses but with heavy concentration on the words, characters, and context. After studying scripture, I reflect and pray. This has been fun actually. Oftentimes I found myself walking around the backyard (and getting sun in the process!) talking to God. I tried to do this routine before picking up the kids from school, but many days I sat in the backyard or on the playroom sofa while Hannah and Joseph played outside. Occasionally, I did have to try to ignore the little guy driving circles around me on his motorcycle or tractor. Such is life with little ones!

But this was a hard commitment and I was not 100%. There were many days when I found it time to get the kids and, telling myself I would do it later, never found the time (or made the time) until bedtime. And, yep, there were a few days when it didn't happen at all. Sometimes I thought it would have been much easier to give up something I ate or drank, but I'm glad I made that decision on Ash Wednesday. I certainly learned a lot - about my Lord and about myself.

I am thankful for this time of learning and growing in my faith. Challenging myself now to continue this practice year-round.

So, since I'm here and I haven't blogged in a while, I'll post some photos from the last couple months.

Date with Dad, February 5th:

Delivering Girl Scout cookies and selling at Walmart:

Valentine's school parties, making hearts for Daddy, and after-church special Valentine lunch:

Hannah's World of Coca Cola field trip with the Oratorical Club. I got to go, too!

Celebrating Cousin Stella's 1st birthday party in Savannah, February 20th!

Back home...being cuties:

(In Uncle Ben's sweater, he thinks he's pretty cool.)

Welcome March! Joe and Hannah, looking very liturgical in their purple:

My scripture-reading distraction, Officer Buck patrolling the backyard:

Pocahontas encouraging "Sharkie" with his shark-hotel building skills and then saying she's got to go kill a deer to eat for dinner. (Not making this up!)

Hannah's very favorite Sunday tradition, "helping Daddy" close up the church and walking from worship back to the office (currently relocated during construction). 

Soccer. Lots of soccer! Hannah has loved it and looks forward to every practice and game. She has come a long way and is playing great. Joseph is Ferdinand the Bull (if you've read the children's book, you know exactly what this means). While he loves to kick the ball and play at home, he has no interest in playing with the team and prefers to piddle on the sidelines, playing in the dirt or with the water cooler. He does get excited when he can play goalie.

St. Patrick's Day...in Sandersville for the third year in a row. Hannah had pink eye and couldn't go to school so we watched the parade in Savannah online. That night I co-hosted girls supper club, so I wasn't home, but Joe made the kids a fun green feast!

Palm Sunday, March 20th. Hannah walking with Joe again. Joseph is excited about Reese's cups given to them during the children's message. It was about it being Palm Sunday but also Passion Sunday and therefore a day of mixed emotion. Rev. Sidney gave them the illustration of funny things that go together (like sweet and salt) and gave them chocolate and peanut butter. They loved it, of course and Joe did too (Reese's is his favorite candy).

Joe has had a few appointments in Athens for physical therapy. What started as a running evaluation given to him by my mom became treatment for injuries and pain relief for his back. The therapist is great and we are hopeful that he will eventually find total pain relief from all accident-related injuries. On two occasions, we made it a day-date and I went with him.

And today. I have a hard time with Easter parties and egg hunts on Good Friday, but I understand how it has to work with school. My cute Monkey before heading into school. She has a super fun field trip lasting most of the day:

Well, that update didn't take too long. Maybe I'll be back with more after Easter. :)

my little valentines

Last week the children had their school Valentine parties. As we did the past three years (you can see them here, here, and here), I used photos to make Valentines for Hannah and Joseph to hand out. With scissors, a hole punch, and ribbon I got to work.

This year we attached gummies, their absolute favorite things. We've done M&Ms and lollipops in the past.

When I showed Hannah the two photos I picked out for her so she could choose…well, she couldn't decide. So we went with both.

I took two pictures of Joseph playing in the backyard and one was perfect for this purpose.

When Hannah got home from school, she wrote the names of her classmates on the back of each photo (and added a heart sticker).

Thursday was a busy day. It was show-and-tell day for the letter of the week: X. I can think of two things that begin with X. It was either printing out a picture of an X-ray of Daddy's leg or taking the xylophone from the playroom. We went with the latter.

As previously mentioned, it was Valentine parties. I didn't get a picture of Joseph at the preschool, but he went with us to the "big school" in the afternoon for Hannah's party and I got a picture of both of them there:

Thursday was also the start of soccer. Hannah was very excited…

…and very disappointed when they didn't get to practice because of the cold/wind and it just ended up being a parents meeting.

Better that way, too, because Monkey has been sick. She had an ear infection and was put on antibiotics a couple of weeks ago, but then Friday started complaining of pain in her other ear. Turns out there were infections in both ears and she is on her second round of antibiotics. She was in a lot of pain this weekend and I was thankful for a long weekend being lazy at home.

Joseph and I did get out on Saturday for a birthday party. This little friend lives on a farm and between the awesome sand box and getting up close and personal with the cows, Joseph had a big time.

Joe and I had a lovely night out on Friday with friends of ours. We drove to Augusta for a delicious meal at Edgar's Grille, a place we first went for our anniversary in October.

The rest of our "stay-home" days we watched movies, did some small house projects and ate Valentines candy:

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to you!

valentines

Before the ice storm, we played in the backyard and I took pictures of H+J, hoping to come up with one for their valentines. I've done this the last two years (you can see 2012 here and 2013 here), adding text to a picture and printing them out at CVS. I attach candy and then we're good to go.

The kids are always excited to go outside, but at these ages, getting them to be still and smile is often a challenge. Hannah was overjoyed to get to put on her new t-shirt and leggings from Meme, so she was more than happy to oblige. 

Joseph on the other hand…well, I have about 30 seconds with him.

His t-shirt is also from Meme. Heartbreak department…look at him.

And that was that. I chose two different ones for Hannah, because I couldn't decide. 

She added the hearts and helped me punch holes.

My little boy looks so big in that picture. 

Their preschool parties were today, due to school cancellation last week. So this has been an extended Valentine celebration, and with cards and goodies coming in the mail, the kids are happy in the sugar department. Joseph was a ham today...

{He is actually singing Deep and Wide in the picture on the right.}

Hannah played musical chairs in her class.

She won, and was pretty happy about that. Joseph handed out his valentines:

I picked them up at the playground as usual, and, after all the junk they ate, was happy that they were somewhat interested in lunch.

{Joseph had to go to Daddy's office and show him his sticks first.} 

We had a fun time celebrating Valentine's Day, and while we don't need an over-commercialized holiday to celebrate love, we sure like the excuse for fun clothes, decorations, chocolate, and preschool parties!