Happy Valentine's Day

As soon as I turned the page of the calendar from January to February my five-year-old was on me to decorate for Valentine's Day.

What is funny is his tall (all over six feet) older brothers were all this way until they hit the age of male maturity????

 I am going to enjoy the last few years of excitement from my last male, before he packs up the excitement bag.  So I decided to decorate for him.

 He is still at the age of giggles, smiles and tons of Mommy kisses.

  The table was enjoyed by the whole family for his brother's 22nd birthday.  Fondue adorned the table.

We lit the candles, even if the older siblings think it is silly, Benjamin's eyes glowed  in excitement.

I have to add my female touch to the male-dominated attendance to our party.

These paper hearts have hung from different light fixtures through the years...maybe the older siblings noticed and remembered.  Commenting wouldn't be cool. 

Since my older ones aren't into mommy kisses like Benjamin, I reminded them by tying a ribbon around their glasses.  Even if they feel they are too old, their Mommy still loves them.
Now I can go spend the evening with the Love of My Life..He is still my Valentine after 33 years.

I Wish You and Yours a Very Happy Valentines Day!

The Ultimate Gift

As we enter the season of the true "Ultimate Gift", my mind  rehearses the materialistic view that can captivate me and pull me under, while missing the daily gifts God gives us.  My last seasonal movie review brings me back, once more, into the reality that gifts lay unopened all around us....if we could just have a chance to see them through the eyes of lessons learned in this movie and book. Each of these lessons can be found in His Word.

The lessons from the book were so well illustrated and valuable that I read the book out-loud and will read it again to my sons. One of my friends bought a copy of the book for all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She was so convicted by the teachings that she wanted them all to read this fictional story.

During the holiday season, I love to pull out inspirational movies, curl up with some popcorn, and share time with my family.  So here is one of my favorites... "The Ultimate Gift".

Here is a web site that has discussion questions to be used with this movie.
http://www.theultimategift.com/public/docs/TheUltimateGift-FaithDiscussionGuide.pdf

The book expands further than what can be covered during the movie.
1) The Gift of Work
2)  The Gift of Friends
3)  The Gift of Money
4)  The Gift of a Day
5)  The Gift of Dreams
6)  The Gift of Learning
7)  The Gift of Problems
8)  The Gift of Family
9)  The Gift of Laughter
10) The Gift of Giving
11) The Gift of Gratitude
12)  The Gift of Love
13) The Ultimate Gift

I look forward to viewing this movie again this year and seeing what my fourteen-year-old gleans from it. I think I will curl up with the book again. This movie is at the top of my "Top Ten" list of movies and the upcoming holidays are a great time to enjoy watching it. If I am going to take time to stop and watch something, I want to come away either inspired or laughing...this one leaves me inspired!

Do you have an inspirational movie to share?

2010 Thanksgiving Notes

As we enter this wonderful season of Thanksgiving, I am so enjoying seeing how everyone celebrates.  Each tradition is different, each individual's likes and dislikes and each family building their own.  Before my son got married, I was talking with his wife-to-be about how they will find their own way of celebrating the holidays.  I would hope some of what we have done will sneek in and be a part of their traditions, but if not, that is okay also.  I just hope they enjoy building new ones for their family.

As our first one became engaged, I started looking for new traditions for our transitional family.  We began "blessings" cards.  During the month of November, everyone takes home enough cards for each person in the family.  On the individual cards they put a blessing to that person.  Sometimes it is a Bible verse or quote and sometimes it is a very personal word of encouragement for the year.  We put them in individually-marked envelopes to be given at Thanksgiving.  Even our youngest dictates his "blessings" to the older siblings.  I have been encouraged by the words that I have received, while watching one child carry her cards around throughout the year in her athletic bag.  This has allowed the younger ones to stay connected to the older ones.  I hope through the years, the cards are kept and looked back on with cherished memories.  This year I hope to find small boxes for each person to store their cards in.  

Another of our traditions is writing our thanks out on a black scrapbook page.  One year, I posted a large white piece of paper on a door so everyone would write on it as they came in the house.  It was wonderful to enjoy, but hard to keep.  So now the page sets on the table for all who enter our house to add their thanks for the year.

Happy November to you and yours!  I enjoyed sharing just part of our home and our traditions with you.