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| Delivering Roses on Valentine’s Day |
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| Breakfast on our Snow Day from School! |
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| Sweet Baby Ruth- We are so excited she is here! |
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| Chocolate covered strawberries for our teachers and staff |
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| Roger’s Valentine’s gift to Emma |
Last week we had a snow day on Thursday. Originally, Roger and I had planned to go on a lunch date on Thursday as Emma was going to be going on a play date with a friend from school. However, then we had a snow day! There is a local diner that was hosting their “Founders Week” specials and that included 30% off the menu prices. So we decided to take the family out for brunch on our snow day. The kids were excited as we don’t often go to sit-down restaurants, and we were all able to go. Probably due to the snow, but the restaurant was not crowded at all! There were only a few booths being used and mostly by other folks. We took our family picture and posted it to social media in hopes of winning a $50.00 gift certificate. I figured our chances might be better at winning on Thursday as not very many people were at the restaurant. Guess what!? The restaurant contacted me on Saturday afternoon to inform us that we had won the $50.00 gift certificate! Hooray! It was a fun morning as a family, and even though it was not a date with Roger, it was a fun date with our family.
The snow day on Thursday also provided us with an opportunity to have the kids finish their valentines for their classmates, make valentines for their teachers, and of course have a lot of outside time! With having our kids in every classroom in the elementary school, its a lot of Valentine’s parties and things to remember! Sometimes I try to bring the same thing for all the classroom parties as it’s less to remember. But this time, we had Chex mix for one class, chips and salsa for another, jello jigglers, and donuts to remember! Travis specifically asked me to make jello jigglers for his classroom party. Not because he is especially fond of jello, but because he knew there was a student in his class that would enjoy jello jigglers. I was happy to make jello jigglers, but I was even more touched by the fact that Travis was looking out for this student. Some times, I am amazed by his thought process!
On Friday after school, I took the boys (and Emma) to deliver roses to some of the shut-ins in our church family. We have quite a few older ladys and widows, so I had purchased a dozen roses and some greenery for the boys to had out. We went to nine different places, and the boys hopped out of the car to give the shut-ins a rose, a hug and a “Happy Valentine’s Day” greeting. The kids had such good attitudes about it, and I was quite touched by their willingness to try to help brighten these ladies day. Of course, at each stop, we were invited in for a visit and each one wanted us to stay. However, Chandler was getting a migraine (probably from all the sugar from the party) so I knew we needed to make each stop a short one. I think it is so important that we teach our boys (and Emma) to take care of the older generation. It is one thing to tell our children that they need to love and appreciate the older generation, but its another thing entirely to TEACH them that. Is it important that our children see me write notes and interact with older folks? Absolutely! But its also important that we teach them to do it on their own. Roger has been teaching the boys on Sunday mornings to open the door for the older folks and to walk them to and from their cars. I wish I had taken pictures on Sunday morning of the boys walking the older ladies to and from their cars. Our hearts desire is to raise our children to love and serve the Lord, and seeing our boys serve on Sunday brought tears to my eyes. They are far from perfect, and I get annoyed and irritated with them far more often than I should, and they can drive each other crazy, but I truly hope and pray that they can see Christ in me.
It would’ve been lovely to go on a date with Roger for Valentine’s Day, but we just aren’t quite there yet. Garett is getting older, but we aren’t quite the stage where they can be left alone for an entire evening. Too bad my sister, Jenn, doesn’t live out here! I know that she would love to take them, and our kids would enjoy the time with her also. But the time for evening dates will come again, and then I’ll be crying because all the kids are all grown up! I’m just working at enjoying the season of life that we are in.
On Saturday Roger had to work, so the kids and I spent the day at home. The boys worked on the ice skating rink, and then spend time ice skating for much of the day. I worked on many projects, but unfortunately drawers and closets aren’t things that make it look like I was working on something! But the drawers are cleaned out, and another bag of stuff to be donated is ready to go.
Sunday was a busy day with church, youth group, and then a special youth gathering with youth from area churches. Our pastor had arranged for the speaker from the Maine Christian Civic League to speak to the youth, and it was a good challenge for our young people. As Christians we can not sit by idly on the sidelines and complain about the situation in our nation without being active and doing our part. While most of the youth is too young to vote, the time to prepare them to vote is not when they are 18. Teens do not turn 18 years old and magically become mature, responsible adults! We can not be slack concerning our children and youth. Roger and I were able to have a little bit of a discussion with the director and that was encouraging for both of us. While it made for a bit of a late evening for us, I’m glad that our children had the opportunity to attend this local youth gathering.
Roger has not been feeling well lately, so that has made for some long work days for him. The rest of us have currently been able to escape the winter colds, coughs, and flues that seem to be affecting many people. Lord willing, it will stay that way...but often times the sickness slowly makes its way through our family...one person at a time! As a whole, we are a fairly healthy family, and I’m sure that has to do in part with the large amounts of time that the kids spend outside every day. And while I’m not outside as much, the constant revolving of the door exchanges the air often! Winter blues and blahs are pretty common in a lot of people this time of year, so I’m hoping that we can get away as a family for a day to do something out of the ordinary! The boys would like to use their Christmas present from Mr. Kevin and Mrs. Terri this week which includes a snow tubing adventure and a one night hotel stay. I’ve been trying to coordinate a date for this week, but its a challenge with all the rest of the east Coast also on Winter break!
God is good, and He blesses us with far more than we deserve. Our love to you,
Sarah
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