valentine's day

at dinner last night i spoke to the boys about valentine's day and how Jesus loved us the most by giving his life for us.
but mom, i love Jesus more than you do because i love, love, love, love, love him.

this morning i pulled out the Jesus storybook bible and read about Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the dead.
childish observations are both hilarious and poignant.

he has no shirt on, mommy. {repeated at least three times by jude}
why are there three crosses, mommy?
are there more soldiers?
i see a crack above the stone. maybe that's how Jesus could get out.


as i read to them about mary in the garden, searching frantically for her Lord, i struggle {very unsuccessfully} to hold back the tears. the boys don't question the drops of water running down my face or my voice that tremors with emotion.

"'Mary!'
Only one person said her name like that. She could hear her heart thumping. She turned around. She could just make out a figure. She shaded her eyes to see...and thought she was dreaming.
But she wasn't dreaming. She was seeing.
'Jesus!'
Mary fell to the ground. Sudden tears filled her eyes and great sobs shook her whole body, and all she wanted in that moment was to cling to Jesus and never let him go."


o love that wilt not let me go,
i rest my weary soul in thee;
i give thee back the life i owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

o joy that seekest me through pain,
i cannot close my heart to thee;
i trace the rainbow through the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.


happy valentine's day.

let's talk...

with valentine's day being just 2 days away and being in uganda, i am mourning the lack of conversation hearts to be found here.
back in the day of my blogging life, i used to post "the treat of the month" and no doubt at some point, these were one of the treats i blogged about.
i love candy.

photo credit: flickr

while we were in spain, one of the main session speakers spoke on john 21, but mainly verses 15-23. she talked about how john {the author of john} never refers to himself by name, but by "the disciple Jesus loved". she thought it was probably because he was so consumed by the fact that

Jesus.

loved.

him.

his entire identity was wrapped up in the fact that he was loved by Jesus. amazing.

next we came to the familiar passage where Jesus asks simon peter if he loves him. he asks him this three times.  one commentator reflected that Jesus asked simon three times to get the point across to simon. but john records it three times because there's a point that we need to get.

first Jesus asks simon if he loves him more than these. regardless of what "these" is referring to, the question that jumped out was do I love him MORE? more than candy or comforts or sidewalks or donuts or friends or family or life itself; do i love him more?

it was a fantastic session and i was blown away by the fact that Jesus doesn't call us to love His sheep. he calls us to love Him. when we respond yes, he tells us to feed and take care of his sheep.

Jesus, may i be fully consumed by the fact that YOU love me. may my love for you be all-encompassing, the first love in my life. may i love you more than anything else in this world because all that YOU are, is so much more than enough for me.

valentimes

last night i made marshmallows. homemade marshmallows! i feel like i got a years worth of use out of my kitchenaid just from last night! it was whipping those bad boys up on high speed for 15 minutes! oh yes, i put my tangerine beauty to work.

but anyway.

they needed to sit overnight so i set my alarm so that i'd wake up before the boys. now usually they aren't up until sometime after 7:30. but who did i hear shortly after 6:30? jude. and then noah around 7. they were happy enough in their room so i let them be so i could quickly set up the table, cut out heart and star shaped marshmallows and put in the first batch of their favourite muffins - banana chocolate chip.

then i went upstairs and we did the whole routine (diaper changes, getting dressed, etc.) and i gave them their little baggy with a heart-shaped marshmallow.
noah was thrilled and quickly gobbled it up proclaiming, "they're sweet, mommy!"
oh yes. yes they are. in fact, they are pure sugar. and you are eating this gigantic heart-shaped marshmallow at 7:20 in the morning. right.

i brought them downstairs and noah quickly gobbled up the other heart and star marshmallows, ate all the little heart sprinkles out of his cereal, slurped down his smoothie (thank God for the nutrition he got from that smoothie) and declared that he was full and done his breakfast. okay then.

jude was pretty happy with the muffin but wouldn't touch the gooey marshmallow.

it was a good morning. we avoided tv. i packed an overnight bag and then we dropped jamie off at work. we quickly played "valentine elf" and dropped off some goodies at a few peoples homes

and then zipped off to toronto where i left the boys with my parents until tomorrow evening (so i can get some uninterrupted packing/sorting and also have a little date tonight!).

later on in the afternoon i set to work on our at-home dinner:
twice-baked potatoes
steak marinated in chipotle sauce
spinach salad with pecans and strawberries
with (as you know already)
white russian cupcakes for dessert. yum!

then we had a delicious, wonderful, cozy dinner together and talked (uninterrupted) and ate (uninterrupted) and enjoyed ourselves.

we had free coupons to the movies (thank you cereal boxes!) so we went to see the green hornet (not what i was expecting, but i definitely laughed out loud. so we were both happy).

it was a lovely day.
oh and here's my mantel. i decided not to add a bunting or anything. mainly because i was lazy and had a billion other projects i wanted to do.
so i added jude.

hope your day was filled with smiles. and love. and sweets.

1000!

i love sweets. jamie is more of a savoury man. but when i came across this recipe, i just knew i had to try it out. who can say no to a white russian? in cupcake form? not i. and apparently not jamie, either. 

hope your day was lovely.

white russian cupcake. 
recipe adapted from Baked Perfection
for adults only.

1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 large egg and 1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup Vodka
1/4 cup Kahlua, divided

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your cupcake pan with pretty paper liners.
Beat together the sugar and butter until combined. Add your egg and egg white. Then add the vanilla, Vodka and 1/8 cup of Kahlua. Gradually add the dry ingredients {i just alternated between flour, baking powder and salt) alternating with the milk.

Bake 17-20 minutes {depending on how hot your oven is}. While the cupcakes are still warm, brush the tops with the remaining 1/8 cup Kahlua. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Kahlua Buttercream
recipe from Baked Perfection

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp of Kahlua

Beat the butter until creamy. Add salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add Kahlua 1 tbsp at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

And then enjoy!

*PS this was my 1000th post!

whipped

tonight i put my kitchenaid to work whipping up some special treats for tomorrow morning for the boys.

i like how you can see my apron and legs in the bottom of the bowl.

v-day

i'm not usually one to decorate for valentine's day - much less "celebrate" it or make a big deal out of it {or spend piles of money on it}.
but i think i've always wanted to {well, maybe not spending the piles of money, but definitely decorate for it}.
this year i've been getting my fill of sweetie-pie, cutesy, romantic crafts in preparation for valentine's day.
because of this, noah doesn't get that it's a 'day' because we've been making valentine's for the past month.
oh well.
that's a good thing, right?

in my head, my mantel is not quite finished so i won't post a picture of it yet, but i'm pretty pleased with it as is. {so pleased, in fact that i have had it set up as it is for weeks now without adding the finishing touches}.

Crafty

We were feeling especially crafty and non-tv/non-computer (except for right now) today:

the beginnings of Valentine's Day decorations:

DIY paper candies {with an old Quality Street tin, wrapping paper and tin foil}

and Frosty! {Noah was a bit disappointed that he didn't come to life after we put his hat on and sang "Frosty the Snowman". It kinda made me sad, too.}

I also started training for my 1/2 marathon in May. 

And worked a little bit at Starbucks.

I love *productive* days.