Happy Valnetine's Daddy!!

Me and Landon had a bright idea that we would make Daddy a Valentine's day card this year instead of buying one. It is much more fun and less expensive to make our own card so we whipped out some paper, markers, stamps, and some stickers and went to town. Landon had a ball creating his Daddy a card and when he was finished he was such a proud little boy. He couldn't wait to give it to him on Valentines Day morning! Daddy reading his card from Me and Landon
Landon showing off his Valentine's Day card that he made

Daddy is gonna love this!!

Snow #2 for the Year

Snow # 2 for the year and one happy little boy! When we went to sleep last night the snow had just begun to fall. Landon wanted his blinds open so he could look out to monitor the snow's progress. While he was opening his blinds he said to me, "Jesus is making it snow because he knows that I loved it!" Well I'm not quite sure if we got all this snow because Landon loves it, but for Landon's sake we will leave that way. We did wake up to a beautiful fallen snow that covered everything this morning. This round of snow was a REAL snow: light, fluffy and perfect for snowmen & snow cream! I made snow cream first thing this morning and between Me, Landon, and Bobby we have eaten at least 20 bowls. Landon convinced Me and Bobby to go outside and build a snowman and make snow angels. I participated in building the snowman but was a little scared that I wouldn't be able to get up after making a snow angel, so I skipped on that one. Hope you enjoy the pictures of our day! Landon posing for his Mama
Our snowman made of snow, tootsie pops eyes, cinnamon disc mouth, and beef jerky nose.

Bobby making his Snow Angel

Landon's Snow Angel

Press Play to see Landon making a Snow Angel

Valentines Day Bags with Grandma Sue Sue

Wednesday night Grandma Sue Sue came over to help Landon (and Mommy) make his Valentine day bags for school. If you know my Mom she always comes up with the brightest and cutest ideas for everything! Grandma Sue Sue gave Landon a choice of dog or frog bags and he chose the doggy ones. Me and Momma started the process by tracing and cutting out all the shapes so Landon could glue everything together. First we cut out the head, body, spot for the eye, cheeks, ears, and the legs. The heart nose was a felt sticker so thank goodness we didn't have cut out those small hearts! While we were cutting out the doggy parts Landon had a ball cutting his own scrap paper. His little imagination was running wild as he cut different shapes. I think he felt like big boy because he was using big scissors and was sitting at the table with his Mama and Grandma Sue Sue. Once all the pieces were cut it was time for gluing. I think Landon made it through about two before he was ready to play basketball with his Daddy. That was OK with me and Grandma Sue Sue. We probably enjoyed making the bags more than Landon did. It brought us back to the good old days when me, mama, and my sisters use to make crafts for every holiday. We would always have the most unique little gifts or surprises for everyone! My Mom is definitely the one that blessed us all with her creativity skills! Landon and Grandma Sue Sue after finishing the bags
The finished product!

Landon concentrating hard on cutting his scrap paper into what every his little mind can imagine

Grandma Sue Sue on the assembly line with the dog heads

After all the cutting, step two was gluing the the dogs eye spot, eyes, and nose on

Next we glued the ears and cheeks and drew a mouth for the dog.

Life's Simple Pleasures

I follow a blog called Kelly's Korner. Every once in awhile she will post a topic that you can respond to that will link to her blog. It is really cool because you can read other blogger's blogs. Today's blog response is about the "simple pleasures" in life. I was reading through her simple pleasures and started thinking of my own. Here is my list. I know after I post this I will think of hundreds more!! I'll just have to keep adding!

Going to bed with a clean house.

When my little boy runs to my car because he forgot to give me a hug bye.

Landon's cute little thoughts and sayings

Vanilla ice cream with chopped up oreos and milk poured over it

Spending time with my sisters, family, and friends

Receiving an encouraging letter, email, text, or call

Hearing from God

Taking an awesome picture and sharing it with everyone

Giving

Volunteering

Vacations with family

Bare feet in the summer time

Prayers that are answered

Finding a deal at a yard sale

Marking off things on your checklist

Cuddling up under the covers on the couch

Writing and reading blogs

Everything about Christmas

Cold Watermelon in the summer time

Sweatshirts

I'm sure I will think of many more simple pleasures to add to my list. This is a great starter list for me that I hope I can add to. Do you have any simple pleasures?

No Regrets

At Covenant Pastor Branson is covering a sermon series titled "No Regrets." Something in this series has stirred up something in my heart that has inspired me to want to share some of the things that he touched on this past Sunday. Let me begin with this verse...

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath." Psalm 39:4-5

Wow!! Each week he starts with this verse. Have you ever thought that our lives are merely a blink, a breath, or a moment compared to eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ? Psalms 39:4-5 clearly defines how short our lives really are in comparison to life with the Almighty God. There is no time here on earth to confine ourselves to those past regrets that may be defining our lives. I can think of so many things right now that I regret not doing like telling my parents how much they mean to me more often, writing that thank you note, calling a friend, telling my husband how proud I am of him, playing another game with Landon, praying for those lost souls, talking about how Jesus has made a difference in my life, etc. I can let these things slow me down and let my pride take over or I can do something about it. Most of these things that I wrote down can be changed simply by making the decision to just do them but on the opposite side of this there are many decisions in my life that I cannot change or take back. Only Jesus Christ can restore me and free me to a life of good intentions and no regrets!! All you have to do is ask...seems so simple doesn't it!!

This past Sunday was about Building a Legacy by the words you say and the way that you live. When we talk about the words that we say we often first think about the negative impacts of words. Branson introduced this in a positive way, "the words I say can make an eternal difference in someone life." His two examples included that we should speak words of wisdom & encouragement as well as words of affirmation? He gave a few examples of how we could speak these words to those people in our lives. Thinking about the examples, my wheels started turning upstairs. I began to think of examples of when someone took the time to speak or write words of wisdom, encouragement, and/or affirmation to me. Just how impactful were these words from someone who felt it necessary to let me know? There's no way to describe it. I just know that those who have shared with me those words have left a Legacy of love in my heart. They are building the Legacy that God has intended them to. Branson said it best, "our goal should be to never let good thoughts go unspoken." Its hard to imagine how different this world would be if everyone just spoke those good thoughts and intentions instead of holding back. I hope this encourages you to speak those unspoken words of encouragement and affirmation to someone who is in desperate need of them! By the way.............I love you!!

You can hear the sermon at http://www.connect2covenant.com