Hearts, Flowers and Sugar-overload!

Happy Valentine's Day a day later. Actually, our Valentines "day" was more like a Valentines week! It all started when we purchased our Valentines. It was Annie's first set of cards to give away and she was simply ecstatic! (even though she has no friends)









And, apparently, Mitt Romney is getting a Valentine this year. :o)



Emma and Annie were sitting at the table just gabbing away like a couple of old ladies and addressing their Valentines. Then I turned and looked at Mikey. This is the difference between boys and girls. Quite obviously, he wasn't feeling the love.


He was working on a sword. :o)


He was a bit disappointed with his sword when he started waving it around like nutty. He looked at me with an awfully, sad look and said, "Awww man! my sword stinks!" I looked at it, and said, "No, it doesn't. It looks awesome!" He said, "Look at it, Mommy. It's all bendy. See?.............."



I had to agree. That sword certainly would not do in battle. :o)

I thought it would be fun for the kids to wake up to heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine morning. -cute at first, but after making enough to feed 5 children, I myself was no longer "feeling the love." Notice I took a picture of the cutest hearts that came from the bunch, but the heart shaped pancakes that Annie got looked more like...well....like a real human heart. :o)

In the afternoon, Trish and I decided to have a little Valentine party for the kids. It was great fun judging the "Who could make the best mailbox" contest. Of course, nobody walked away empty handed. They each received a "certificate of recognition" with a frosty coupon attached. (thanks to Aunty Tricia!) Joshy's mailbox made me laugh. Here is his:


And he received his "certificate of recognition" for "funniest and least amount of time spend." :o) Here are the rest of the entrants for the contest.

Next we have Kaitie's who won "most colorful and lovey-dovey."


Annie's - most sparkly

Emma's - most princessy

Matt - most original (and most time spent!)

Mary - fastest because her's was the only one on wheels :o)

Mikey - fiercest


I'm so sorry, but I forgot to take a picture of Allie's. She received an award for "most Springlike" because her's was covered in hearts, butterflies and flowers. It was very happy looking.



Of course, we couldn't get through Valentine's Day without decorating cookies. Annie and Emma ate more frosting than I even care to know about, but hey! Valentine's Day only comes around once a year.




At the end of the day, I was thinking about the love that I have in my heart for the husband that God has given me. Yesterday, as I was thanking the Lord for Joel, I began to think about the greatest love gift that I have ever received. -Jesus Christ. If God never sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross, I would have no chance of getting to heaven. We are all sinners. No one has ever lived a perfect life, and earned their way to heaven.
The Bible is clear in Romans 3:10 - "There is none righteous, no not one."
Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I love that verse! The phrase that just blows my mind is "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." You will never do good enough to get to heaven, but even in your sinful state, Christ died for you. Even though you may have rejected him, and have been ignoring him, he still loves you.
Romans 10:9 - "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Pray and thank God for his gift of Jesus. By putting your faith in Jesus' death on the cross, God's word says that "you will be saved." There will be a spot reserved in Heaven, just for you.
Romans 10: 13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." -Salvation is available to anyone who puts their trust in Jesus' death on the cross. The Bible says, "WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not persish, but have everlasting life." That! right there is the ultimate love gift! We are so undeserving, but because God loves us with an everlasting love, (a love that we can't even fully understand), He sent Jesus to die for our sins.
You are loved beyond belief!