What happened to the month of February? Seriously. Even with the extra day tacked on for leap year, this February whizzed by for our family.
I'm sure that's largely due to the busyness of our February calendar. And also due to the fact that most of my February was spent wiping runny noses, delivering cough drops and popping in dvds for whoever happened to be sick at the moment. But thankfully, our February ailments did NOT include any stomach flu bouts. THANK YOU JESUS!
Here's a photo highlight reel of our February. And here's to a slower-moving March!
Lots of reading, playing and indoor shenanigans happened in February. Chloe helped me out by reading to Solomon after he woke up from his nap. So sweet to see them snuggling together and enjoying a book! (Believe me, this kind of sight doesn't happen often in my house.)
Making a band out of pots and pans. Who needs toys, right?
I instituted a new chore chart for the minions this month including dish duty for the two oldest. I can't tell you how much happier my heart is now that the kids can share the load of cleaning a tiny bit more! More on the new chore system to come. It's working famously for our crew so far!
Like most holidays, I feel compelled to celebrate using themed food. This was V-day breakfast.
My Clive devouring his Valentine's Day pancakes with strawberry syrup.
Chloe (notice the red sniffly nose) posing with her Valentine's Day lunch of heart shaped toast, heart shaped cheese and pink smoothies.
February makes us all a bit stir-crazy. In an effort to make our indoor days more fun I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards and let the kids go wild with dishes. That's super fun, right? :)
To celebrate Chloe's completion of her January reading chart we ate cheap pizza and subjected ourselves to the insanity of Chuck E. Cheese. This horse ride was Chloe's favorite.
The boys preferred riding anything resembling a vehicle or that required pounding.
Chloe was the only Horn child brave enough to hug and pose with Chuck E.
Thank you, Pinterest for so many fun valentine ideas! There were Chloe's homemade butterfly valentines for the girls in her class.
Not to be outdone, Clive and I decorated these car valentines for his buddies.
And because the boys could NOT receive butterfly valentines, Chloe and I made these cute swedish fish cards for her male classmates.
My heart is full to bursting with love for Chloe, Clive and Solomon. But, obviously my dear Matt is my #1 sweetheart. I say *obviously* but with the way I write on this blog, sometimes it isn't very obvious. What's obvious is that my kids are a huge part of my life and I love them tremendously. And oh yeah, I love my husband too.
That last comment was tongue-in-cheek but it's largely true. Now that we've added three littles to our family, it's increasingly difficult to make my hubby the primary earthly object of my affection. I often find that in giving, loving, and serving my children I have almost nothing left to give to my sweet husband at the day's end.
When I said "I do" to Matt eight years ago, I was giddy and full of magical lovey-dovey butterflies flitting frantically in me. Neither of us had any clue that this marriage journey would be difficult in the slightest. Difficult? Are you kidding me? The thought never entered my mind. Sure, other people's marriages might be rough but not ours.
But I'm learning that keeping a marriage unified is a serious battle. SERIOUS. It's hard. Harder than anything I've ever known. Harder even than parenting I think. Hard because we are being pulled away from each other from every side. The world's ideas of marriage come bombarding, other people and activities threaten to suck our time and energies, our own tendencies to settle into our separate roles without crossing paths, and our overarching selfishness threatens to destroy us.
Andrew Peterson says the same lyrically in the song below, "Dancing in the Minefields". (Warning: This video is seriously touching. If you're one to shed tears at hallmark commercials you will probably need a tissue.)
I thought it'd be fun to share how Matt and I met. After being introduced by mutual friends, Matt kept thinking and wondering about me. Since he taught at my alma mater, he'd visit the alumni lounge and look up my photo in the old college yearbooks to remember me. Later that year we were both at a friend's house for a small dinner party. I was floored by Matt's depth -- both of faith and intellect. I remember so clearly as someone posed the question to the group, "What is true beauty?" Matt eloquently, sincerely and humbly spoke about true beauty being aligned with God's likeness. I was moved and my heart was aflutter! We continued to meet weekly with our friends for dinner and then afterwards we all went to swing dancing lessons. Yes, MY HUSBAND went swing dancing. Crazy what one will do when in love, isn't it? Soon Matt was attending my church, taking me to dinner and calling me. But I still wasn't sure about this guy. It wasn't until a certain Sunday morning that I knew he was the guy for me. His folks were in town so he brought them to my church. I was already seated at the organ to play for the service and I saw him walk in and almost did a double-take. He had shaved (prior to this he had a full beard) and I was struck by his handsomeness. And the rest is history! :)
I'm so thankful that on this Valentine's Day, I don't have to worry about Matt's love floating away to land on another. We are dancing this life together and striving to keep unified with the help of God. There's just no possible way we could keep together without God's grace! And this love is so much more than fluttery feelings. It's active, persevering, purposeful, and committed.
Now it's your turn . . . How'd you meet your Valentine?
