WARNING:  THIS POST INCLUDES SAPPINESS RELATED TO VALENTINES DAY.

This Valentines Day, I was spending time with the Lord in our room when I heard Kinsley come out of her room.  Ed had gotten up early to go to the gym and I had heard him come back in the house.  He met Kinsley outside her room and in they both walked, her carrying a single red rose saying “Happy Vow-an-tines Day” (so sweet!).  He then said that there were 11 other real roses scattered throughout the house as well as a fake one for Kinsley and breakfast.  Kinsley and I hunted the house over and found all the roses, which were strategically placed in places where he was thanking me for things I did (ex. one in the pantry to say thanks for keeping us feed and the pantry stocked, one on the washer to say thanks for doing the laundry, one on the toy storage bin to say thanks for keeping the toys cleaned up, etc.).  He then had Bojangles BoBerry biscuits that were shaped like a heart on a plate ready for us to eat.  Needless to say, he did good.

Some other fun highlights for this week:

—A friend had recently shared that they took their daughter on a date to get hot chocolate at Starbucks because they had kid-sized hot chocolates that they ice down so they aren’t too hot for them.  Because I have made it my goal to do some new fun memory/activity with Kinsley each month and because I had printed a coupon to use at Starbucks on Buy One Get One hot chocolates, I decided to take her there!  Ed’s mom was in town so she helped me load up the girls and we drank our hot chocolates in Starbucks (thanks to their kid section with toys this wasn’t a nightmare!) – Ed even got to join us there when he came back from campus.  She loved being in an adult place and getting to drink “coffee”.

—It snowed!!  Yes, you read that right.  I told Ed the Lord is wanting me to like NC more and more.  First, he helps me find a Japanese restaurant that I really like.  Then, it snows.  Yes, God cares about even the little things :).  Because it was on a Saturday, we got to sit around and be lazy watching the snow as a family, and then go play in it!!  Kinsley loved making a snowman (we won’t judge the fact that she insisted he have 4 balls instead of the normal 3).  These pictures tell the story way better than I can (including the one that shows just how cold she was on her face).

—I attempted the Crockpot Orange Chicken last night.  On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being inedible and 5 being I could eat this every night), I give it a 3.  I usually love crock pot meals because they are so easy.  This was easy once you got in the crock pot, but first you have to cut the chicken into small pieces, coat in flour, cook it, mix the sauce, etc.  Needless to say, it was way more work that I am used to with crock pot meals.  We ate it over rice with some green beans and while it was good and filling, I don’t think I will ever make this again (actually, Ed said he didn’t want to eat it again – no it wasn’t THAT bad, but I have better recipes – he probably would have rated it a 2).  I tried something new, it feed our family, and we ate something different.  What more can you ask for?

Part of my PDP (Personal Development Plan aka goal plan for 6 months) is that I want to do a fun, crafty project/new recipe/DIY project once a month.  January was the homemade hair detangler I posted about here.  I also made Crockpot Barbeque Chicken Drumsticks which turned out really well.

So this month, I wanted to make a safety pin bead bracelet I saw on pinterest as well as try the Crockpot Orange Chicken recipe.  The recipe is on the menu plan for this week, but the bracelet I started on last week.  Here is the picture I saw on Pinterest that made me want to attempt this project:

So, I bought my beads, safety pins, and elastic and set to work.  While this project is not complicated, it takes a little while to thread all the beads and then put the pins on the elastic.  It takes even more time when you use the big beads rather than the really small ones and the bracelet can’t tighten enough to fit on your wrist without the pins buckling.  So, after threading beads twice, it is finished!!  Here is my final product:

It looks much, much better on my wrist – it doesn’t buckle like it shows in this picture and the pink beads stand out more.  Overall, for a project that cost around $6 or so, I think it turned out well and I am definitely planning on wearing it (versus some projects just aren’t wearable/usable and are stuffed in a closet).  This would be a great idea for a gift too!

So, every month we have team social time where one team member gets to pick something fun for us to do together as a team and it is usually something that they really enjoy doing or have been wanting to do.  It is a great chance for us to bond and learn what the other people on our team enjoy doing in their free time.  Some team socials we have had in the past (here and in Kentucky) are playing games, geocaching (Becky, do you remember Rich’s head getting stuck between the seats?!?), watching a black and white old school movie, bowling, state fair, etc.  This month, it was our team mate Samantha’s turn to pick.  She decided she wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant named Kanki here in Raleigh.  Since Ed and I love Japanese, we were definitely game, but a little hesitant, because we have tried Japanese style restaurants from Kentucky all the way to NC and have yet to find one that we enjoy as much as Miyabi in Myrtle Beach.  The verdict?  It was really good!  The upside is that I would say that the food quality was as good as Miyabi.  The downside is that you get a little less food and they don’t give you the option of getting shrimp.  But overall, it goes a long way in helping me to feel like Raleigh is home.  Here is a picture of our sweet family at Kanki (sorry its a little blurry – it was taken on a cell).

Emotions – yep, you know them.  Up one minute and down the next.  Life is good, then life is hard, then life is fun, then life is rough.  Don’t make me pretend like I am the only one who fights to keep my emotions on an even plane.

But today, I was reading in James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  This is written after James says that God does not tempt us, but we are tempted by our evil desires that drag us away and entice us.  I had an ah-ha moment!  After meditating on seasons of my life, things that have happened to me, etc. I see that some of those “bad” things were actually really good and perfect gifts.  Yes, I have seen before how the Lord has used those things to bring me where I am today.  But my ah-ha moment came when I realized that out of God’s astounding grace, a very imperfect person can still receive a delightfully perfect gift precisely because it’s perfect for her.  God’s gifts are given with goals.  They’re perfect because they’re perfecting, not because they seem perfect to my overly emotional self.  They don’t just give today.  They give toward every tomorrow.  So thankful today for all the “bad” and good things I have been blessed with.  Such a fun revelation!!

In other news, let me share some of the highlight of our week:

My girls.  I love them to pieces.  Kinsley still struggles with being gentle with Emerson (we have to remember she is only 2) but overall, she loves her sister and loves taking care of her.  We need to start recording all the funny things Kinsley says these days – she is constantly cracking us up.

View from the front of our house this week.  There were 4 deer…can you spot them all??  I love this about our house and this time of year…we have seen deer every few days or so and it makes looking out the windows so fun!

We have had lots of fun play dates this week with our friends.  I LOVE the fellowship the Lord has blessed us with here.  He has provided women and men of all walks of life for us to learn from and live life with.  And lots of fun friends for Kinsley and Emerson.

And, of course, as you know, it was super bowl Sunday.  We had a party at our house with Cru friends.  I got too caught up with having fun to take pictures…sorry.  I will say though, with our kids growing older and understanding more and more, we have started having to take a good look at what we are watching and allowing their little eyes to see.  Its not good for ours either, so maybe its a good thing all the way around.  Either way, while the Super Bowl is entertaining, the commercials and half-time show get worse every year.  This is a blog that I read here that paints a really good picture of what I am talking about.  Definitely gives us something to think and pray about for next year.

Sorry this blog post was full of so many random things.  I had fun pictures and thoughts I wanted to post and couldn’t figure out a creative way to tie it together.  I mean – super bowl party, deer, Kinsley and Emerson, and thoughts on James – how would you link these together?  Sheesh.