Macchio Family: February 2010

2.28.2010

Goodbye February...

Where does the time go? Come on Spring...

2.27.2010

(I love finding odd placements of my kiddos imagination in the house...)

It seems that every room in my home needs some TLC. I'm overwhelmed. So I'm beginning with the smallest room in the house.

The dreaded laundry room.

Before and after pictures to come eventually. I painted all day yesterday... so that's done. (It's amazing how the old paint sucked the happiness and life out of this narrow space... a fresh coat of a happy color has made ALL the difference in the world.) But now it's time to make it lovely. A few baskets, a few plates hung on the wall, perhaps a little lamp... I'm learning that it does not take much to make a space better. Although it's not a room that many people see... I'd like to not worry about keeping the door closed when friends are over.

We've been watching a lot of this the past two weeks....

We've been glued to the TV... USA! USA! USA! I'm going to be SO sad when it's over...
I LOVE it.

2.22.2010

100th Birthday...

This is our first year in Cub Scouts... at the Blue and Gold Banquet we celebrate the Boy Scout birthday which happens to be their 100th year! H has truly enjoyed being part of this pack...

H and his entire Den earned their Tiger Cub badge Saturday night. They also earned the "United States Heritage Award".

Danny pinning H's Tiger Cub badge to his uniform.

He's a good boy... it was an enjoyable night celebrating Cub Scouts and celebrating this boy's hard work.

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." Colossians 3:17 NAS

2.17.2010

Nurturing creativity...

I've been a fan of Becky Higgins WAY before Becky Higgins was cool... (I'm just sayin'). But today she has a post that made me delightfully giddy... I love what she has to say about nurturing creativity in our children... take a look for yourself...

Nurturing Creativity in Our Children - Becky Higgins's blog

On that same note... a sweet friend recommends the book The Creative Family... I may have to just get that...

2.15.2010

Pray.

A week ago we had our Woman's Renewal at our church... it was a lovely time. The ladies did such a wonderful job putting it all together and the speaker was Kerri Scheer. Some of you who I went to college with might remember her... well, now she is the mother of three boys and just as funny and godly as ever... Truly enjoyed everything she had to say.

The whole theme centered around how we can trust in the Lord during the hard circumstances of life. How we "Sing in the Rain." Kerri spoke a lot about how we need to know Scripture. Memorize it. God's Word should be hidden in our heart so we can pull those verses out when we need them at any given moment... she said so much - and I wish you had been there... but here was something that I thought was such an incredible idea... I must share it with you.

In the Old Testament the LORD had the Israelites build altars to help them remember Him and His laws... and even in Deuteronomy 6 we're told to "Love the LORD you God..." and write it "on the door frames of your houses and on your gates..." He wants us to teach His Word to our children and talk about Him when we "sit at home and when we walk along the road"... One creative way Kerri showed us (and I LOVE this because it goes hand-in-hand with my ONE WORD for 2010) is to write how God has answered prayer on river rocks (craft stores have these) and keep them in a container to help you remember how He has been faithful as you have prayed as a family for specific requests.

I pray with the kids a lot. For Hudson every morning before school we pray in the car for self-control. For Emma we pray for control of her emotions and for both we pray they will honor God with their words. We pray before bed, before meals... but I want them to be part of bigger things that God is doing in our lives and in the lives of others. I think this will be a great way to show them and remember God's faithfulness.

Recently we have been praying for a sweet couple in our Small Group... their baby was born last week. We have our first rock to show the kids... "Sadie" where God has answered our prayer for a healthy baby and mom. This is the most recent "big" prayer request and a significant one... We pray with GREAT expectations many more rocks will be placed in our glass container.

2.14.2010

{love day}

"Love the LORD your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul and

with all your strength."

Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV

Off to spend the day with our church family... have a few little valentines for the kids. Books! One of my favorite loves! And a love note for each... have a great day!

2.13.2010

Valentine's Day Eve

Our preschool had their v-day parties before the snow hit... so Emma got to have her party. Hudson will have his next Friday... I'm a little behind on posting Valentine ideas. I usually do a Valentine photo shoot with the kiddos... you can see those here and here. This year my inspiration is an outdoor photo session so I'll postpone it for next week. More on that then... but here are some fun ideas that have inspired me...

I made something similar to Shannon's frame for the preschool teachers v-day gift... scroll down her blog and you can see the adorable frame sitting in a tray - she's so good at putting things together! I used Deuteronomy 6:5 as the verse...

I discovered these little measuring cups from a magazine... and will give these to Hudson's teacher next week. I think they make a great gift. In the bottom of the cup it say 1 cup, 1/2 cup, etc. They are so cute... "We can't measure how grateful we are for your love of teaching!" You could give these as a hostess gift, birthday, etc.

So today we clean... I still have so much to share on my blog. Lots of material for next week. So many fun ideas in blog land. But now I'm off to organize pet shops, little people and star wars characters...

2.12.2010

It's a winter wonderland...

They say we have not seen snow like this in North Texas in 30 years... which makes a lot of sense to me... I remember when I was little - like early elementary school - playing in snow and my brother making a huge snow ball as tall as me... That was over 30 years ago!

The snow goes over the kiddos boots... much good those boots are doing to keep their feet dry!

Lovely back drop for my Valentine plant stake...

The only way we could get the big brave police dog to go out in the snow for a photo was to take a snow ball and throw it out in the yard. Then he was SO confused about where his "ball" went... it made us giggle but then we felt bad... poor Hero! Needless to say... he did not stay out in this for very long. He's a bit of a diva dog.

So now... as our clothes dry out... we'll be doing a lot of this... hanging out, making pancakes, doing laundry and maybe a few board games... I love snow days.

2.08.2010

Love Week... Daddy Daughter Dance

It's been one full weekend and I have so much to share with you I'm not EVEN going to bore you today with my menu for this week. I went to our Woman's Renewal Friday night and Saturday... we had such a great time of fellowship and encouragement. I have some fun things to share from the weekend. Also... I was without a kitchen sink from last Thursday until last night. My dear but not-so-handy husband was THE MAN and replaced our old leaky broken kitchen faucet. I feel as if I have a brand new kitchen... (it's the little things in life that thrill me.) Pictures to come...

Danny and E had their annual Daddy Daughter date... E and a few of her friends and their awesome daddies went to a Daddy Daughter Dance with a western theme. E said and I quote, "It was the BEST day of my life!" (Yes, she tends to be a little dramatic but I do believe she enjoyed time with Daddy and dancing... two of her favorite things hands down.)

So more later this week... I'm off to clean my kitchen. You don't realize how much you need your kitchen sink until you do not have it any more!

(Daddy Daughter Date from last year click here.)