Deco

I let the girls take a bin of Easter decorations and decorate their room all by themselves. I made sure I had "work" to do in the room next to them so I could listen to them decide what they were going to do. They were so cute working together and making decisions, and I had decided no matter what it looked like, it would be "beautiful"! ;) And it was! They did a super job and have been enjoying their bunny display ever since!!

Reagan took a piece of card stock and stamped "Hoppy Easter" to go in their frame.

Little Girl.Long Way

Out of the Depths

-Sovereign Grace Music

Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to You
When I am tempted to despair
Though I might fail to trust Your promises
You never fail to hear my prayer
And if You judged my sin
I’d never stand again
But I see mercy in Your hands

So more than watchmen for the morning
I will wait for You, my God
When my fears come with no warning
In Your Word I’ll put my trust
When the harvest time is over and I still see no fruit
I will wait, I will wait for You

The secret mysteries belong to You
We only know what You reveal
And all my questions that are unresolved
Don’t change the wisdom of Your will
In every trial and loss
My hope is in the cross
Where Your compassions never fail

This song rang through our home, our car, our shower, my head, my heart many, many, many times for the first 3 years of our Jordyn's life.

Today I was sitting here at breakfast, watching her put down some Rice Crispies, and I was just overwhelmed with JOY.

Joy in what the Lord has done and is doing in this little girl - the little girl who used to scream, out of anger, for eight or nine hours straight. The little girl who used to sit on the floor and bury her fists in the ground when we asked her to do something. The little girl who would refuse to eat because she simply didn't want to pick up the food. The little girl who would scream every Sunday during worship.

This morning she's eating and listening and talking - thanking me for her cereal and asking to play beads, and as she clears her dishes and puts them in the sink she begins dancing around the kitchen saying "it's time to party"! The LORD indeed is good. And not only has He been changing her, He's been changing me. Again...big, grateful sigh! =) HIS steadfast love endures forever. HIS faithfulness never ends. HIS mercies ARE new e.v.e.r.y. day.

I read these verses this morning and began praying it for the girls...

"The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous." Psalm 118:14-15

May He be their strength and song. May He save them! May glad songs pour forth from their lips as they are overwhelmed by God's unending, never-stopping, always and forever love!

3234 Oak Tree Lane

Over the last couple of months, Steve has been building a playhouse for the girls.

It's about 6 feet off the ground, looks like our house =), has a great view, and is so.stinkin'.cute.

When I see the playhouse in all its adorableness (not sure that is really a word!), I think of the hours and hours of fun the girls are going to have playing house and school and restaurant, the hours of reading and eating and laughing, the hours of sister-talks and friend-talks, the times they'll run up there for a good cry or to just think for a while. But that's not what I think about most when I look out my window and see the house with the address 3234 Oak Tree Lane. (Reagan's address for their new place!) I think most about the man who put the house together and what a labor of love that house displays.

What a dad. What a man. He has so much to do and yet he takes the time and money to make something special for his girls. Regularly I think they don't realize how good they have it. And then I think in many ways I'm glad they don't. I tell them regularly, but they have nothing to compare too. That their dad enjoys playing with them and teaching them to throw baseballs and climb trees and weed the yard is normal for them. I am so thankful that they have a dad that will stop and listen to them and tickle them and pray over them. Who will take them out for breakfast dates on Fridays and Lowes dates on Saturdays and read the Bible to them over breakfast. Who will take them on walks and teach them to ride bikes and dare them to do things I wouldn't do!

When I look at that little yellow house with a tin roof, I see another expression of love from a dad who adores his girls. I hope that little house weathers a lot of storms (and any large falling tree branches!). More than that, I hope the Lord uses it and the many other ways their dad demonstrates love and care toward them to set their eyes and hearts on HIM, and that He uses the ways that Steve loves them as their earthly father to reveal to them that He, their Savior, loves them even more. My heart is full of gratefulness when I see my girls being cared for by their dad.

Dating Isn't Just for Before Marriage!

I love when we have a date night on the calendar!

I look forward to going out with my man and spending time just as his girl - titles of "mom", "teacher","house cleaner", "dinner maker", "laundry washer", etc. are put on the shelf and it's time for the boy and girl who fell in love with each over 11 years ago to enjoy some one-on-one time! With date nights out not being too frequent, and wanting to cultivate thinking about hubby more, I thought it was a good time to start thinking about date nights in! A while back I would try to plan regular date nights in. I have really been slacking over the past, say, couple of years!

So, here's what I'm doing for the year...

For Valentine's Day, two of my friends and I planned a fun scavenger hunt for our husbands. We had such a good time planning the hunt and dinner! One of my creative friends made our guys shirts that they had to wear (and the writing had to be visible!) in order to get all of their clues at the different stops along the way to finding us. Oh, what did the shirts say? "I Love My Hot Wife"! They went to QT for their favorite treats. (We had already paid for everything and their snacks were with their next clue!) Next they went to Dick's Sporting Goods and they had to go all the way to the back of the store to the fishing department where they found their next clue with a jar of gummy worms and a note saying "hooked on you"! From there, they went to La Parilla where they picked up chips and salsa (well, that's what it was supposed to be - it was actually someone else's meal!). Next they had to find their next clue "Where Shopping is a Pleasure" and then to Longhorn where my friend found out they carried her husband's favorite dessert! Their last clue led them back to one of our houses where we had a fiesta awaiting our guys - starting with a pinata, lots of yummy Mexican food, and we ended the night watching 3 Amigos. It was a blast - both the planning and actual date!

(I don't have the pictures from that evening, but he happens to be wearing the shirt right now!)

The next morning, for Steve's Valentine's gift, I made him a passport and let him know we were going to go around the world this year from the comfort of our own home. Each month I'm planning a date night in with a theme from a different country. I knew giving him this gift would help keep me from getting too distracted and actually follow through with planning a fun night in for us.

So, the beginning of the month we spent an evening in China!

He brought his passport...

He came to the restaurant "Love"...

Our meal began with egg rolls and spicy shrimp bao...

Next came our main dish of Mandarin Orange Chicken, Vegetable Fried Rice and Szechuan Style Green Beans...

With our main dish, we also had Sake for the first (and probably last) time! I used my grandmother's tea set from Okinawa. (I am aware, too, that Okinawa is in Japan, but it looked good with our set-up!)

Next came the Wonton soup...

And for dessert we enjoyed coconut ice cream and fortune cookies...

Another fun part about the meal was that it really took me no time at all to prepare. Trader Joe's did most of the work for me. The girls went shopping with me and helped me pick out everything for their daddy's and mine special evening. It was inexpensive and I was able to put it all together while he was putting the girls to bed...

I had borrowed a Mahjong game from a friend, but after spending way too long trying to figure out the rules, I had to come up with a Plan B. So, I went to The Dating Diva's website and found another idea. We played a silly game called "Wok Tok" (like Mad Gab). It was so fun just being goofy together and laughing! I already have April's date night idea and can't wait to make it happen - and I really love that Steve's already asked me what we are doing next!