Couple's Retreat, 2013

The couple's retreat this year was different for us this year. Still really special, but in a different way. In years past, we've kept to ourselves, desperate for a little alone time together without kids. We didn't plan on doing any differently this year, but it just worked out that we ended up hanging out with other couples after the evening sessions and around meal times. There was a really great feeling of unity amongst everyone, and we all had such a fun time. I actually have not laughed and had that much fun in a very long time. We sat around the fire, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores, ordering a ridiculous amount of pizza, chicken wings, nachos and burgers and all sharing amongst ourselves while laughing our heads off over who knows what. :) It reminded me of camp as a kid, where everyone just lets loose and has a grand old time. The sessions were great and very helpful for marriages and really helped me in other areas as well. He spoke on topics you don't hear about a lot, including a wounded spirit (really great for me right now) and allowing demonic presence into our homes.

  Our Pastor does a great job of picking the perfect speaker each year and we are really, really greatful.

 

 

The marriage bliss bar: 50% hers, 50% his





 

 

2 nights of memories around the fire

 

 

Games during the sessions

 

 

Even though we enjoyed our friends, there was lots of alone time with my man as well

 



I think I needed the retreat this year more than ever, and I didn't even realize it. The past few months have brought a lot of needed changes for me and I've lost some close friends in the process. It hasn't been easy, but I'm closer to the Lord than ever before and my standards and convictions are stronger than ever. To spend time with people that are headed the same direction as us strengthed my spirit. Of course, I'm sure the time alone with my husband had nothing to do with it. ;)



Love Day

I'm really bad about decorating for Valentines Day, or doing anything for it for that matter. I see all these cute ideas on pinterest for the wittiest Valentines, heart shaped desserts and pink heart banners, but for some reason it sneaks up on me every year and we never end up doing much. We do, however, make sugar cookies together and this is the second year that I've made pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. I love tradition--sometimes to a fault--and I'm hoping we can keep up with at least these small attempts to make love day special for my kids.

Valentine's morning. To keep things slightly on the healthy side, I used whole wheat pancake mix and honey instead of syrup. I didn't skimp on chocolate chips, though. :)

After their pancakes, I gave the 2 older kids a peanut butter heart as a special treat that they could eat right then or save for later. You'll never guess who ate right away and who saved...

Later that day, we left for our yearly couple's retreat which was incredible, but more on that later. Hope you all had a fantastic love day, whether with your lover, friends or family!

The Story of a One-Armed Duck

The kids were talking, but I was pretty zoned out, focused more on breakfast. A bite for me, a bite for Nathan. Thinking of the little tasks I needed to complete before school--empty the dishwasher, make my bed, wash the dishes.
 Suddenly I tuned in, realizing Brooklynne was talking about her duck. The arm had fallen off and she was going to give it to Grandma to sew back on.

 Panic surged through me. I've been throwing things away constantly around here and the memory of a small fuzzy thing which very well could have been a ducks arm being tossed into the trash came to mind.
 "Is it green?" I asked casually.

 "Yes," she answered and more panic ensued.

 "I threw it away," I blurted out. "I'm so sorry, Brookie. I didn't realize..."

Her face. Oh my gosh, her face. The horror. I gulped and tried to talk my way out of it.
 "Brookie, so many people don't have an arm or leg, and they make it through their lives just fine." (seriously? this was my defense? It was a 50 cent duck from one of those lame machines. REALLY?!)
 The tears continued, despite my best efforts to reassure her that a one-armed-green-duck was just as good as a 2 armed duck. And while we're on the subject, who ever knew that ducks had ARMS?! Not me, or I wouldn't have thrown it away.

 A few minutes later it dawned on me that the missing arm had been thrown out late in the day the day before, so there couldn't have been much trash on top of it. When she wasn't looking, I opened the trash, fished through cracked egg shells, a dirty diaper and coffee grounds to find the small fuzzy green thing. There sat the beloved arm, untouched by the gross trash and still looking alive and well. Well, as much as a severed arm can look. I plucked it out as relief washed over me and called her back into the kitchen. You would have thought I just rescued out dog out of the trash. I was smiling, she was smiling, she was hugging me and I promised to safety pin the arm back on as soon as I could.

Thankfully, the rest of the week has been quite uneventful and we've long forgotten about the almost permanently one-armed green duck.

The weather here has been awesome, which means the first picnic of the year happened and it always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Going for sissie's food

There is something about the kids being outside that helps them play so well together. Yesterday while both of them were swinging, Brooke's flip-flop kept falling off. Joe would get off the swing, kneel down, slide it back on her foot and then hop back on his swing. Several times, until finally, (huge sigh) "Brookie, this is my last time doing this, OK?" It was the sweetest thing to watch and made me so proud to be their Mom.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Daily Happenings

You guys, I have been a horrible blogger over the past few weeks. We were seriously enjoying Aunt Deborah being here, so sister time came first. I will blog some pictures with her later, but for now, some daily happenings over the last few weeks.

Looking out the window at Mommy

Finding anything non-edible and making it edible

Morning cuddles

With big sister reading a lot these days, I often find him with a book making up a story.

Toys and Toes

Filling a bottle with change to donate to the pregnancy center. I am very excited about the burden the Lord has put on my heart to volunteer there, and I have a meeting with the director this week.

Praying over the bottle for the Mommies who are having a baby and feeling very scared and alone.

A jump rope tied between the 2 swings means they yank each other around as the swings move. Hilarious!

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited it's February--love month! I wish I had it together enough to decorate my house all cute, but I don't. Maybe one of these years. ;)