Sunday Devotional for Kids - St. Valentine

Who was St. Valentine? Why do we celebrate February 14th by sending cards to those we love?

No one is quite sure who St. Valentine was or if there was only one. However, there are a few popular legends about St. Valentine and the beginning of St. Valentine's day. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. According to another legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.
Some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D. (www.history.com)

Whether the stories of St. Valentine be truth or legend one can be sure the spirit of Valentine's Day is reflective of God's love. God loves you SO much! God loves you more than anyone else loves you. God loves you even more than your Mom and Dad love you. Wow!! That is a LOT of LOVE! God shows you his love everyday in the blessings he gives you in friends, family, nature...his gifts of love are everywhere! But the best gift of LOVE God ever gave us was Jesus Christ.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Psalm 3:16

Doesn't it make you feel good to know that God loves you SO much? God wants us to share his love with others. How can you show someone you love them today? More importantly, how can you show someone how much GOD loves them today?

Dear God, Thank you for loving me so much. Thank you for this day to celebrate love and most importantly thank you for giving us the gift of your Son, Jesus. Amen

For Miles in Every Direction......No Trees

I bet when you read my profile on this blog you came across the words, "plains of Illinois" and scratched your head. Before I moved here two years ago I didn't believe Illinois was part of the plains either...isn't that Kansas and Iowa? Nope...Illinois has plains...and here are the pictures to prove it.

EAST - Those are wind turbines you see over the state border into Indiana, about four miles away. One of these days I'll post about those. Very eerie at night but very cool. The red barn is only two miles away. See that? No trees.


SOUTH - This old barn is about a half a mile away and is fun for the boys and me to explore in the spring before the corn gets to high in the fields to walk through. Just past the pine trees is our nearest neighbor about three quarters a mile away from here. Those pine trees don't count; they're just a windbreak.


NORTH - If you look carefully you will see a barn and a silo on the left in this photo which is about three miles away. That's not a tree on the right just my lilac bush.


WEST - Here is my poor clothesline that gets battered by the spring winds. This barn is only mile away. And once again...no trees.


I grew up in Indiana, just a hop skip and a jump away. Every time I make the three hour trip back home I am always surprised by how much the landscape and topography changes in, what I view, such a short distance. I love trees...I miss trees. I grew up cutting down trees every winter weekend for our wood burning furnace. Despite how much I complained back then I'd volunteer to cut wood today if it meant I could spend time with trees! Trees were a major part of my life...but I never realized it until I didn't have any. Illinois doesn't have trees. Yeah, we have four trees in our yard but it isn't the same as that cozy feeling you get walking in a woods surrounded by trees. Giving hugs, the trees do, keeping you warm by blocking the wind.

Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, we don't see too many people out here. The mailman and maybe a couple farmers drive down our road during the day and that's about it. Since there are no trees I can usually see them coming miles away. Of course being so far out in the country means I feel comfortable letting my kids go outside to play without me. On the flip side, it also means they feel comfortable running around as naked as a jaybird during the summer with no trees to hide behind! Like they would hide...little exhibitionists! I'm just hoping that's a phase they'll outgrow or I'll have a lot of explaining to do when they're teenagers!

The wind...somedays I wonder if the wind will ever stop. My first spring on the prairie I wondered if I wouldn't lose my mind from the sound, the feel, the constant battling against the wind. Battling to keep my hair out of my face. Battling to keep lawn furniture from blowing away. Battling to keep clothes on the clothesline. Battling the giant snow drifts built by the wind. Battling the constant roar in your ears....oh wait, that's the sound of the kids. That's a different battle for a different post.

This is the plains of Illinois and I'm learning to deal with it and to love it. (Send saplings!!)

Beautiful Morning

I woke up to a heavy frost outside that had formed on the trees. Just when winter gets me cold and grumpy and impatient for spring she does something as beautiful as this! The beauty of nature never ceases to amaze me. Enjoy the pictures!

Zuchinni Pie

When I was growing up my grandfather raised zuchinni....ACRES of zuchinni. Now if you know anything about zuchinni you know that it grows fast. In a backyard garden you pick zuchinni about every other day. In a FIELD of zuchinni it has to be picked EVERY DAY..sometimes twice a day! What better work force at my grandfather's disposal but his grandchildren. I remember two or three summers where we picked zuchinni everyday and then packed them in boxes to get hauled off to who knows where. The final destination of the zuchinni wasn't on the mind of a eleven year old.

What did all the grandkids think about the mountains of zuchinni we picked and washed and packed everyday? WE HATED IT!!! There was always zuchinni around and of course Mom and Grandma thought we should eat zuchinni too. How DARE they entertain such a thought? By the end of the hot summer day picking zuchinni there was only two things we even thought about doing with one of those vegetables of death.

We carved boats. I wished I had a picture to share with you of our zuchinni boats. When a zuchinni was really large it lost a lot of its flavor (zuchinni has flavor?) and couldn't be sold. So the grandkids would carve them up and float them in the cattle's water tank. It was quite gratifying to carve those big green veggies up!!

The only other thing we enjoyed about zuchinni was Grandma's zuchinni pie! Wonderful! As much as we hated zuchinni, my sisters and I would actually fight over this pie. Normally you would throw away the peel but we always talked Mom and Grandma into leaving it on. If it's left on the pie turns out green and relatives at family reunions aren't too keen on trying a green pie...which meant more for us!! This pie tastes just like a sugar cream pie with a bit of texture. Try it out! It will be a bigger hit than you can imagine!

ZUCHINNI PIE

1 cup Grated Zucchini (about 2 small zuchinni)
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Evaporated Milk
1 whole Egg
2 Tablespoons Flour
1-½ Tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 whole Pie Crust
Preparation Instructions
Blend all ingredients together and pour into unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Pie is done when a knife inserted comes out clean. Time may need to be adjusted if you are using a deep dish pie crust. How easy is that?

Hillbilly Teeth, a Preschool Snack

I found this cute little snack idea here. My boys love to make these hillbilly teeth to take to preschool. Yip even helps make them and he NEVER helps me cook/bake anything! Who can resist such a funny little snack? I think these would be a great snack to serve at a Halloween party.

Slice up a couple of apples and toss them in lemon juice to prevent browning. Spread peanut butter or cream cheese on each slice then place four or five mini marshmallows between the spread then close the "lips" to glue it all together!

A great activity to do with your kids and a healthy snack. Enjoy!

Yoga vs. Tylenol

Disclaimer - I am not the women in the posted pictures...geez, I wish I looked that good!

I've been pretty athletic my whole life. Basketball, volleyball, tennis, hiking, canoeing, baling hay, working on a farm....I've been pretty active in my 33 years around here! But my addiction, the activity I can't do without is running. I run an average of six days a week. When I don't run my body aches from inactivity. You're thinking I'm crazy aren't cha? My dad can't figure out why I run this much either. "That's why cars were invented." he says. He's secretly embarrassed by me but don't tell him I know.

As all athletes know, eventually your body will get aches and pains and I was no exception. When I was younger Tylenol, a little stretching, maybe some Icy Hot was all I needed to get over minor discomforts. After the birth of my twins, about 4 or 5 years ago, my body seemed to be telling me that it was getting overworked. I was having pains in my shoulders and hips but the worst were the shooting pains I was getting in my feet. I tried changing running shoes and changing where I ran. I even had my feet x-rayed looking for a problem but nothing worked. Tylenol wasn't even making a dent in the pain. The pains got so bad I was limping all the time and could barely walk around the house. I was very, very grumpy. It drives me crazy when I can't run and here I was unable to run for weeks and stuck in a house with two babies. Grumpy doesn't even begin to describe it.

I went to the library one day looking for some alternative; an exercise video or something. Searching through the exercise books I found this book, Real Men Do Yoga, at the library. Seemed kind of interesting so I took it home to read...I didn't have much else to do. What I learned is repetitive motions through sports creates tension and muscle knots and causes our bodies to get out of alignment. Yoga helps athletes to combat all that wear and tear we do on our bodies by stretching things out and realigning our body to its natural position.

The first time I did yoga it was just doing poses from this book. I'm sure I was doing plenty of things wrong but even after that first time my body felt better, looser, more relaxed. Through the past few years I have tried to practice yoga a couple times a week. I have never lived close enough to any yoga studio to practice with a real instructor but I have been lucky enough to find some great resources online.

YogaToday is a great website that has a new live streaming yoga class everyday taught by three very different instructors. With its variety in levels of classes and types of yoga it is a great place for anyone who wants to practice yoga at home.

Recently I have also been downloading some yoga podcasts from iTunes to my MP3 player when my internet isn't available. Dave Farmar, Philip Urso, Elsie's Yoga Class, and Hillary's Yoga Practice. All four of these podcasts come in different lengths and levels, plus the instructors all have something different to offer in their practice.

By no means am I an expert on yoga or running...or much of anything for that matter! I'm just sharing my experience with you. When in pain we will do just about anything to get rid of it and yoga has helped me. Yoga has helped to relieve my pain, taught me to relax and even helped me through the birth of my daughter. Hopefully I'll get the chance to go to a real yoga studio someday to take a class but for now while living on the plains of Illinois this is my yoga...and it sure beats Tylenol!

Snow Paintings with Yip and Yap

Sometimes, even though we have lots of snow out on the prairie the conditions just aren't right to play outside. It may be too cold or windy and the snow gets blown away, (Oh, but if I could I'd kick the Hobbits outside everyday to play!)

Last night we got about two inches of soft pretty snow. We didn't have time to play outside this morning before our busy day so we brought the snow inside. At first we tried building mini snowmen but the snow was still too cold and dry. Instead we packed the snow in pie tins and painted! Awesome! I really wanted to paint too but those greedy boys wouldn't share.

We started out with plain watercolor paints but later switched to the thicker tempera paint with a little water added to it. The boys loved it! I was surprised how busy it kept them and how intent they were in their creations. We will definitely be doing this again, probably tomorrow since we are forecasted to get a couple more inches tonight! Their artwork is sitting in the garage right now so they won't melt. I may have just lost all my pie tins till spring and that's fine by me.