Valentine Cheese

There is something that happens to my brain at this same time every year.  Every time I enter a store, I have these goofy sayings running through my head that would make a great idea for one of my cheesy valentine gifts.  Such was the case when I went grocery shopping the other day and had to pick up the last few items for our activities.  I just had to share, you know, just in case you didn't already have enough ideas of your own! ;) ahem...

It happened first when I was walking down the aisle, and a cute little pack of sushi erasers caught my eye.  I immediately thought of my little girl.  She loves sushi as much as I do.  As I looked closer, I noticed the erasers were also puzzles.  And it happened...one of those goofy phrases ran through my head!  Agh!!!

Then, I headed over to the video aisle to pick up a movie I needed.  The first movie my eyes rested upon wasn't the one I needed, and it happened again!  I never did find the original movie I went after, so guess what came home with me along with another goofy phrase?

I decided to head directly to the groceries, and keep my eyes straight ahead to avoid any random cheesiness running through my head.  Alas, I was halfway through and feeling quite accomplished when I fell into random cheesiness over squeezable applesauce.  Sigh...Surely I will recover soon.

Here ya go!  Enjoy this moment of cheesy bliss brought to you by yours truly...

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

14 Days of Valentines 2014

Okay!  I finally found a minute to share the individual valentines for this year.  For the last couple of years, I have left a small gift and note for each of my children to discover in the mornings.  You can read about that here, here, here, here, and....well, I am sure you get the idea!  :D  There are others that can be searched for on the blog using the search box.  I'll spare you the repetition!

This year, though, I added a little to it.  I have been doing Valentines From God each day, as I wrote about in my last post, but I have also been writing specific notes to each of my children on a heart to tell her/him one specific thing I love about him/her.  This was an idea I found on Pinterest.  I have it pinned on my Valentine's Day board.  This was a project I also did ahead of time to make the activity run a lot more smoothly.  Each morning I tape a new heart to their bedroom doors.  They have caught on and now get up and go find the heart.  I also did this for my husband.  In years past, I would do the little gifts for him, but this year he is in Texas.  I will give him the hearts he has missed when we see him next week.  I can't wait!

These are most of the other small gifts and notes I will be using for the children.  I still have a couple little things to pick up (crayons, small sodas, and a movie), but this gives you an idea of the different types of things you can use.  I tried to stay away from candy and unhealthy treats, but a couple slipped in.  ;)

I plan to serve muffins on the Frisbee's turned over and lined with wax
paper one morning for breakfast.  :) 

I hope you can use some of the ideas here!  I had a lot of fun creating our activities this year.  I hope you find special ways to show your loved ones just how much you love them all through the year!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

Valentines From God

Hi friends!  It is that time of year again!  I will be doing my usual Fourteen Days of Valentines with my children.  What a wonderful excuse to fill up those little love pots even more!  This year, though, I wanted to make it even a little more special.

Last year the idea occurred to me to add Bible verses to our activities, but I had already started.  I just kept the idea tucked away for this year.

One day this past week, my little one woke me up really early, and I couldn't go back to sleep.  I then took the opportunity to prepare all my hearts and verses for our Valentine activities.  I have found it is much easier to do everything ahead of time so that at the end of a tiring day I don't suddenly remember I don't have valentines ready for the following day!  I have two children, so I cut out 28 small hearts for their individual small valentines, 28 larger hearts for their individual, daily love messages, and 14 hearts for our Valentines from God.  I will be sharing about the individual valentines later, but today, I wanted to focus on the Valentines From God aspect of our activities for February.

Have you ever noticed the Bible is full of messages of love from God?  ;) I want to instill in my children that He is the author of love, He is love.  For each of the the 14 Days of Valentines, I have a verse of love written on a heart for my children to discover when they wake up.  I will list our verses at the end of this post.  This is today's verse.

My goal is for us to practice and memorize throughout the day the verses we don't know.  Younger children may need a shortened form of the verses.  I want my children to know I love them, but even more, I want my children to know God loves them with an everlasting love!

I had a hard time picking just fourteen verses, but I finally narrowed my list down to these verses:
Jeremiah 31:3
John 3:16
John 15:12
John 15:9
1 John 3:1
Psalm 145:20
Proverbs 8:17
Proverbs 10:12
Zeph. 3:17
Matthew 22:39
Mark 12:30
John 15:10
Romans 5:8
Romans 8:35-39

Update:  These are a few others that I have read since I wrote this post and thought I might add to the list:
Exodus 15:13
1 Chronicles 16:34
Psalm 13:5
Romans 5:5


Don't forget, it is a great idea to look these verses up with your children and read the whole chapter with them.  It is a great way to discuss and learn about the Bible, history, and God's love with them.

Are you doing anything special to celebrate Valentine's Day?  I would love to hear your ideas!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!