Valentines Day

Valentines Day fell on a Monday this year which means Josh is at work. The boys and I had a great day together however. (Josh also spoiled me the Friday before with a great date night). I was happy to be able to spend some time with my three little men. I was trying to teach them how to treat a lady but I am pretty sure all the sugar they had during the day made those things fly through their brain pretty fast.

Anyway, we had a heart shaped pancake candlelight dinner for four to try and increase our sugar intake a bit. It was a great date and I wouldn't trade a second of it.



Jacob had to decorate a treat bag for his party on Tuesday. I tried to figure out something he could do but would still look cute. I gave him a bunch of pieces of red, white and pink paper to cut as he wished. I cut out the letters in his name as well as the hearts to make the elephant. Jake glued on the papers he cute, glued the elephant together and stuck the letters of his name on the bag. I think it turned out super cute.



In other notes, I asked the boys who there valentines were:

Ben: Hannah
Mom: why Hannah Ben?
Ben: Because she is cute and people pick on her sometimes so I wanted to be nice to her.
Mom: oh that is nice of you Ben, Jacob who is your valentine?
Jacob: you are mom
Mom: that's so nice Jake
Ben: I thought of that but then I remembered you were already married
Jake: mom you are the cutest.

Oh, how I love my boys!!

Another Party

As always we had a million birthday parties for Jacob. His last one featured Chocolate cake which he loves. He sang happy birthday to himself and then somehow got more cake/frosting on himself rather than in his mouth I think.

Sparks verses 2011

Ben has completed another sparks book. He has said all of the verses in this years book already. This means he is onto the review. Just in case you were wondering the following are all the verses that Ben learned this year.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

S is for Savior

1 John 4:14

The Father has sent his son to be the Savior of the world.

P is for Power

Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord and mighty in power

A is for According to the Scriptures

1 Corinthians 15:3

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures

R is for Raised

1 Corinthians 15:4

That He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

K is for Keep

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

S is for Saved

Acts 16:31

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

John 20:31

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.

Psalm 118:1

Give thanks to the LORD for He is good.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

New Testament Books

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

James

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

Jude

Revelation

Deuteronomy 6:5

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Psalm 96:2

Sing to the LORD, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day.

Jeremiah 32:27

I am the LORD, the God of all mankind is anything too hard for Me?

Leviticus 19:2

Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Proverbs 20:11

Even a child is known by his actions; by weather his conduct is pure and right.

Psalm 23:1-6

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quite waters.

He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

Mark 16:15

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

1 Peter 1:25

But the word of the Lord stands forever

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

Pray continually

Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Old Testament Books

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Philippians 2:14

Do everything without complaining or arguing.

Jacob is 4

Sweet Jacob turned 4 yesterday. He is a sweet, loving, funny, affectionate, cuddly, sensitive, loving, adorable 4 year old boy. I am so thankful that God gave him to us. He bring such joy to our days and a complete new perspective on life for me. I am not sure how he is already 4. I would love to stop time right now and have him stay just the way he is but I know God has big things in store for him so Ii guess I will have to let him grow up.

His day was filled with excitement and lots of sugar! Pretty sure he is still coming off the sugar high today.

We have a tradition to decorate the door of the birthday kids room. Here is a (sideways) picture of Jacob's door when he woke up. I decided to get really creative and sew circles and elephants together to make streamers. They looked pretty cute. Ben made a sign for the door.

After he woke up (way too early) Josh took him out for Donuts for an early morning breakfast. Josh also saved a present for him to open in the morning that he was pretty excited about.

It was then off to school, Since it was his birthday Jake brought in elephant shaped rice krispy treats. (I made a ton and sent some with Ben to celebrate his 1/2 birthday as well). Jake was pretty excited that he got to spend his day with lots of friends.

While Jake was at school I got a little birthday cake for him to have on his real birthday as well as decorated downstairs.

He requested Wendy's for lunch and I am pretty sure all he ate was the frosty.

After all the sugar we spent the afternoon playing games and working on his sticker book.

I had to work in the evening and obviously Josh was busy so Karen took the boys to Chuckie Cheese where they had lots of fun and pizza and more cake. If I was four I think that I would gladly have a Day like Jacob had yesterday.

Prayer Journals

So, I am never really one who is big on New Years resolutions (sorry Dad). I just feel like I am setting myself up for failure. (I did achieve last years resolution however). Anyway, I would like to be much more intentional about my prayer life this year. I was inspired/copied this blog to create prayer journals this year. She/I got the motivation for the cute/cheap journals from this blog. And here they are :)There is a journal for Josh/our marriage, Ben, Jake and Caleb

I divided them into categories (well plan to I just made them tonight)

Here are the categories I think that I will use (still praying over that part). A lot of the sections are directly from Stormy Omartian's books the power of a praying wife and the power of a praying parent.

So here are the sections I will use for the you and me journal

About 1/3 will be devoted to specific areas of our marriage the could use improvement (we are pretty much perfect but there is always room right?)

Another 1/3 will be devoted to God sized prayers (the stuff that seems impossible to change)

The final 1/3 will be devoted to each of the following categories, a few pages for each area, I can then write notes, verses, specific things for each category as they arise throughout the year. The areas are: Work, Finances, Affection, Sexuality, Temptations, Mind, Fears, Purpose, Choices, Health, Protection, Trials, Integrity, Reputation, Priorities, Relationships, Fatherhood, Attitude, Marriage, Walk, Talk, Repentance, Deliverance, Obedience, Self-Image, Faith, Future,

Each of the kids will also have a journal

1/3 of their journals will be devoted to a spiritual inventory, goals for Child each month.

1/3 Character qualities my kids have and those I would like to see grow in them with scripture to back them up

The final 1/3 will be devoted to each of the following categories: Releasing (Ben,Jake,Caleb) in God’s hands, Securing protection from harm, Feeling Loved and Accepted, Establishing and eternal future, Honoring parents and resisting rebellion, Maintaining Good family relationship, Attractive Godly friends and role models, Developing a hunger for the things of God, Being the person God created, Following truth, rejecting lies, Instilling a desire to learn, Identifying God, given gifts and talents, Leaning to speak truth, Staying attracted to holiness and purity, Enjoying freedom from fear, Living free of un-forgiveness, (Ben, Jacob, Caleb) future wife, Walking in repentance, Seeking wisdom and discernment, Growing in faith (establishing a true relationship with Jesus Christ),

So, that is what I have for now. I think that these will help me be more purposefully in my prayer life. I am also thinking about creating another journal to fill with just specific praises/adoration towards God

Basketball 1-22-11

Ben had his first Upwards basketball game on Saturday. He had a great time playing although he had no idea what he was doing. Hopefully he will understand what he should do by the next game. Ben is #11.

Change of Name

The Band has decided to change their name. They will now, from this point forward, be called the Nasteritos! (is that better Todd, we could also go with nasteronies)

Also in my 2010 review I realized that in September I stated that Jacob was starting Kindergarten. I realize he is incredibly smart but, the reality of it is, he started preschool. Sorry for the misunderstanding :)