Day 28: Family Valentine's Dinner

Last year, we started the tradition of having a family Valentine's Day dinner at home with our kids on Valentine's Day.  We never enjoyed going out because every place is so crowded and would much rather enjoy a date when everyone and their wife, girlfriend, or grandmother was out.  Also, this tradition is so fun!  Our kids have a blast and so do we.  It is a lot of preparation, but is so much better than going out!

I applied many pins this year.  The nice thing about Pinterest is there are people who pay close attention to detail.  Printable, free Valentines are available through Pinterest that can make those special details, like having homemade Valentines with your children's' favorite characters on them, so much easier to find and use!  (Click here for a bunch of free Valentine's Day Printables!)

For this card, I found the free chevron stripe printable HERE and the date to date calculator for date HERE.  The fact that you could have that calculated in seconds is amazing!

An idea I came across on Pinterest was to have heart themed pizzas.  How fun is that?  And how perfect for the kids!  I purchase the Bob's Red Mill gluten free pizza crust at Big Lots for a decent price.  The bag says to divide the batch into two balls, but I decided them into several balls, just big enough to roll out into a six inch circle so I could use a large cookie cutter to shape the dough.  Instead of baking the dough with the toppings on it for 15-18 minutes, as directed on the package, I baked it for 10.  The pizzas were smaller, so that was perfect.

To make the pepperoni (which is nitrate-free from Fresh & Easy) heart-shaped, fold the pepperoni in half, just like you would to make a paper heart, and cut out half of a heart from fold.  Unfold and you have a heart and a pepperoni with a heart-shaped hole.  Cute, huh?

Next, to make the salad special, I made the carrots heart shaped.  When I saw this on Pinterest, I HAD to do it  The hardest part was cutting the slit in the middle of the carrot.  After that, I just peeled the carrot to shape it.  Overall, it was pretty easy and added such a great detail!  Madelyn loved eating the carrot hearts!

And, of course, we ate by candlelight.  :)

After dinner, we played a few rounds of balloon volleyball, Valentine's Day Edition (the red balloon!).  Jackson said he wanted to play this every night.  I have to admit, it was so much fun!  (Again, this idea was from Pinterest.)

To set this balloon volleyball up, fold a twin sized sheet in half lengthwise, drape over  two chairs so it forms the "net."  Then tie the ends of the sheet to the leg of the each chair.  Be sure to blow up the balloon to a somewhat small size, so it is less likely to pop.

After volleyball, we finished the night off with brownies!

A bonus I didn't expect...my hubby gifted me Elyse Fitzpatrick's new devotion, a much needed and very pretty apron, and Thin Mints.  Yea!!!  

Pinterest was a nice addition to our family Valentine's Day tradition.  I'm happy I added those little details, and enjoyed the fact that the kids liked them too!

Day 9: At Home Paris Date Night

I love my husband.  I love dating him.  With three kids, sometimes it's hard to get out of the house on an official "date."  This is why I love the idea of at-home date nights.  Don't get me wrong, I like to be taken out on the town, just like any other girl, but this is a nice alternative if babysitting is lacking or it's raining and you just feel like being cozy with your hubby.

Troy's birthday gift:  A year of dates!

In August, my husband turned 40.  I wanted to do something unique and special for his birthday.  With the help of Pinterest, I came across the idea of giving him a year of dates.  The blogger (Find Joy in the Journey) who first posted about this did one date night a month.  I decided to do two---one at-home and one away from home date each month.  It was a lot of work to pre-plan and pull this together, but it was so much fun.  And, here we are, months later, still having fun with this gift!

Our candlelit dinner.

An extra dinner guest showed up.

January's at-home date night was Paris Movie Night.  The "date" really started with the kids awake.  I put my PJs on and when Troy came home from work I handed him his PJs to get comfortable.  I then took him into the kitchen and treated him to a candlelit dinner of tomato soup and cheese and bell pepper paninis while the kids watched Curious George in the living room.  Of course, we had Owen visiting us throughout dinner, but it still was romantic.  We then had a "PJ dance party" with the kids so we could wear them out and send them to bed.  Oh, yes, I had fun at the dance party, but it served many purposes!  We sent them to bed and the "date night" continued!   I made chocolate fondue and we watched Charade, which is one of my favorite movies that takes place in Paris.  We had so much fun and the fondue was a very special treat!  We went somewhat healthy with what we dipped---strawberries, marshmallows (only 2!), graham crackers (only 2---and natural ones at that!), and some clean eating cookie dough bites, which will be tomorrow's post.  We drank orange flavored mineral water out of a wine class, lit candles, and sat fireside to enjoy our fondue.  As I said, SO MUCH FUN!

Dance party---wearing the kids (and the parents) out!

The Paris-themed movie

Fireside Fondue

Us!

I have really enjoyed dating my husband.  All the ideas on Pinterest are a great help to get creative and cheap ideas!  Please visit my "30 Days of Pinterest" board to see all the ideas!

24 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3

I'm thankful for my husband who let me sleep in this morning because Owen was up and down most of the night.  Usually I get up and make his breakfast and lunch and see him off with a kiss.  After last night, he suggested I stay in bed.  Sleepless nights are difficult, but its mornings like those, and that graciousness displayed, that makes those mornings a bit easier to swallow.

It's been 7 years since Troy first said "I love you" to me and since then, we have experienced what love truly means.  I am so thankful for our marriage in which I can honestly say I enjoy.  I am more in love with this man than I was 7 years ago.  He is hard working, patient, gracious, funny, creative, tenderhearted, and, on top of all that, an amazing father.  I am thankful for the man God has molded him into.  Thank you, God, for this precious gift of a husband you have given me!

Date Night

Last week, Troy and I got some much needed time alone. We left a sleeping baby girl and a fussy little boy (temporarily satisfied with a Happy Meal) at home with the in-laws and headed to Chick-fil-a and the movies. We sat in Chick-fil-a's outdoor seating. The mild fall night air was wonderful, and most importantly, it was peaceful. We had nice adult conversation over sandwiches, waffle fries and sweet tea (and a side salad, if you must know!).

Next, we went to see Julie & Julia. I haven't seen a movie in the theaters since "UP" at the end of May. Needless to say, I didn't want to waste my time on any bad movies. I was so glad we decided to see Julie & Julia! We really enjoyed ourselves, and I walked out of the theater feeling like cooking a really good roast and giving my husband big, long kiss. There was a lot of cooking and romance in the movie. It was a very pro-marriage movie. Julie & Julia showed the good, the not-so-good, and the simply realistic side of new and older marriages. And there wasn't any shortage of mouth-watering footage of good food!

Overall, Troy and I had a wonderful time to ourselves. I have seen the importance of alone time (aka without kid time) with my husband. I honestly can say that each time I go on a date with my hubby, I feel our love is a bit renewed and refreshed! I also discovered that going out without the kids renews my love for them as well. I come home from date nights feeling that I can handle the somewhat sleepless nights and extremely busy days with a little more sanity!

Oh, and by the way, does anybody have a good recipe for Beef Bourguignon?

I love him...

It has been exactly 5 years since Troy first told me that he loved me. I recently found an excerpt from my journal about how much I loved him, written a few weeks before we actually told each other, "I love you." It reads:

...There are so many things I love about him and I am going to attempt to list some of them. I love the way he holds me in his arms. I love the way he prays almost every time we say goodbye. He prays that above all, our relationship would glorify God. I love the way he calls me beautiful. I love the way he looks into my eyes as if nothing else exists at that moment. I love the way he desires to learn more about God. I love the way he puts his arm around me every chance he gets. I love the way we both can talk about our faults. I love him. I think I seriously do. And I think he loves me.

Reading this little bit out of my journal reminded me of how good it felt to be newly in love. The romance of it all is incredible, isn't it? It also was a challenge for me to cherish those same things about Troy---to not take them for granted. It may be five years and two kids later, but that love is still there, and it is stronger than the day we first said "I love you." I have to admit, though, I sometimes forget how nice it is to ALWAYS be able to hold Troy's hand in public, or for him to always be able to have his arms around me. That isn't possible, for the most part, with two kids in tow. I want to remember to take every opportunity I can to hold his hand or put my arm around him, even if it is just while sitting on the couch watching TV, or for a moment before we get the kids out of the car.

I will also admit that I think I can get into a rut of saying "I love you." I will say it, and I mean it, but I may not think about it because saying that to Troy now comes so naturally. So, tonight, when Troy gets home from work, I am going to look him in the eyes, like nothing else exists ---no kids, no chores, no to-do list, just him and I---just for a moment, and tell him wholeheartedly that I love him.

Matt & Tiff's Wedding...

Back in March, I was in a friend's wedding. I promised pictures, so here they are (finally!). Sorry it took so long!
It was a beautiful ceremony and it was such a wonderful blessing to see these two individuals grow together as a couple, and then be united in marriage!This was the first time Michael and I got to walk together in a wedding!
Beautiful Bride!
Most of the bridesmaids and the bride.
Tiffany and I! YEA! Congrats Matt and Tiff! :)

Happy, Happy, Happy Anniversary!

Troy and I celebrated 3 years of marital bliss a couple of days ago (July 2). I can't believe it has been 3 years!!! I guess time flies when you are having fun! To celebrate, we went down to Duke's at Huntington Beach and then we walked on the Pier. It was great fun being with my hubby! I love him so much! He is waaaay more than I could've asked for in a husband! Here are some pictures from our date!

This is the GIANT Hula Pie that Duke's gave us for free being it was our Anniversary! It was sooo good!

Jackson is 5 Months old!

Jackson turned 5 months old yesterday! He has such a great personality already! When Troy and I go to get him out of the crib in the morning (yea...he is sleeping in his crib), he lets out a loud squeal of joy. Its soooo cute! He also is saying "mama," although, I've read that it isn't really referring to me yet. He is just practicing a sound. Well, that is still progress! He is starting to respond to waves goodbye with waves of his own. Man...I think this kid picks things up pretty quickly!

He hasn't got the whole crawling thing down yet, but he will get there. I can tell he is moving in that direction. He is getting stronger and stronger when he is on this tummy.

Jackson definitely knows what food and drink is now. His diet consists of feedings from me, rice cereal, and apple sauce. However, he would prefer it if he could eat everything Troy and I eat...even down to the communion juice and bread. On Sunday Troy and I took communion with the church, but Jackson fussed when the plate passed him. He even reached out to grab a cup of juice, with no avail. This upset him, and of course, Troy and I couldn't concentrate as much on taking communion. We will have to work that situation out a bit better next time!

Jackson is also getting a bit of separation anxiety from me now. In a way, I love it because he reaches out for me and nestles his head into my shoulder and neck when he gets back into my arms. He shows so much love and need for me. However, in a way, it is hard to leave him. The last two times Troy and I have tried to go out and leave him with the grandparents (who Jackson is used to being with), Jackson cried for long periods of time. Poor guy. Troy and I are going to try to leave him for short periods of time on a regular basis, and gradually increase the time he is without us. Eventually, we may work back up to a whole evening away!

Well, after these 5 months of laughter, joys, love, hugs, kisses, tears, challenges, and accomplishments, I can whole-heartedly say that I absolutely love being Jackson's mom! It is such a wonderful blessing!If you look at the picture of Troy above and the picture of Jackson below, you can definitely see some similarities. I think they have the same brow structure, and as a result, have the same expressions. Its great to see my wonderful husband in our son!"Your son is aesthetically pleasing!" -Mike C.
(I may be a bit bias, but I happen to agree!)

Did you know...

Did you know that on this day in the year 1288 "Scotland established this day as one when a woman could propose marriage to a man. In the event that he refused the proposal he was required to pay a fine"?*

There is a random fact for you. You're welcome.

*Source: on-this-day.com

Three Months!

Jackson turned three months old a few days ago! I can't believe it! That was the fastest three months of my life! He becomes more and more precious to Troy and I everyday. He has started to laugh at more things and he smiles all the time. He also loves to coo. It is such a joy to watch him grow. In the picture below (another bad cell phone pic...we need to get our camera fixed!), he is exploring the jumper we bought him. Everyday he discovers something new on it to be intrigued with! It is just too cute! We love him soooo much!

September 1, 2007....already?!?

I changed the calendar today. Its already September 2007. Life is truly a vapor. It comes and goes. I remember thinking that age 18 was so far away. Here I am, fives years past 18! Unlike some girls, I didn't imagine what life would be like in twenty years, or who my ideal husband would be, what my house would be like, or what kind of wedding dress I would wear. I never imagined myself having children. It was too far away to think about. It wasn't that I didn't want these things. In hindsight, I think it was that these things seemed to far out of my reach. I had never had a boyfriend and all the boys I did attract were, to say the least, a little on the strange side. One huge problem is I never attracted Christian boys. Perhaps those strange guys liked me because I was a "good girl." Never the less, I steered clear of them anyway.

Then one day, a man caught my eye. He spoke so dearly concerning the things I held so close to my heart. He cared so much for God and God's people. I simply thought to myself, "Why isn't this man married?" My heart fluttered, I admit, at the thought of him, but why would he be attracted to me? I'd never attracted this type of man before. He started to approach me more often. Then, he called me out of the blue...just to "chat." After a little over two hours, we hung up the phone. It had be the best conversation I'd ever had. A month later, he asked my dad if he could get to know me more...perhaps take me on some dates. Ten and a half months after that, we were married. Over two years after that blessed day, we are two months away from having our first child. Life has come quickly, and it keeps on coming! Oh, but how wonderful it has been! I wonder sometimes how I ended up with such a wonderful and caring husband. I wonder how we were blessed to have an opportunity to bring a child into the world. God is so merciful. I deserve nothing....absolutely nothing. Yet, He has given me all this. I marvel at that! I won't ever be able to grasp the vastness of God's mercy! But, oh, I am so very thankful!

I feel I have rambled on. I think it may be because I am home alone and I just watched a sappy chick-flick that made me very thankful for my husband. Or, it could be the simple fact that I've got an extra surge of those pregnancy hormones! Never mind the reason, though. I praise and thank God for the life he has given Troy and I. One thing is certain...I don't need a reason for that!