Happy Valentine's Day

Gonna keep this short - don't I always say that?! We had our homeschool valentine's party today and it was such a blast. I had kind of spear headed it, but without the help of all the trustworthy mamas in our group, it would have flopped for sure! And my incredible hubby is just as incredible as ever. Baby A stayed with him almost the entire time and he was one of the group leaders herding a pack of children from one station to the next. He is simply incredible! Everyone had a part and played it well. The children all had a fantastic time and I can't wait to upload the pics that I tried to snap in between all that was happening. We are home and about to enjoy the lasagna I had put into the crockpot before we left.

Sleep Experts delivered our new bed today. Woohoo!! Can't wait to sleep on it tonight. I'm so excited! About going to sleep?! Can you believe it?

And I got a Valentine's present early!!! Some beautiful new earings from James Avery!!! I'll try to get Big P to take a pic of those in the morning. They are beautiful and so me!! He also gave P.9.G. a pair of little heart studs from JA. They are so sweet and dainty!

I shared a story at our party about St. Valentine and I wanted to share it with you all. I then made a little valentine for each of the children with John 15:13 on it for them to remember what Valentines is really about.

Here's the story:

Many years ago I read a story about St. Valentine that really caught my attention. And I want to pass it on. In the Bible John 15: 13 reads "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" And that is just what St. Valentine did.
St. Valentine was a priest near in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor was imprisoning Christians for not worshipping the Roman gods. During this persecution Valentine was arrested. Some write that he was arrested because he was performing Christian marriages, but others say it was for helping Christians escape prison.
During the trial they asked Valentine what he thought of the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury. Valentine said they were false gods and that the God that Jesus called Father was the only true God. So the Romans threw him in prison for insulting the gods.
While in prison Valentine continued to minister. He witnessed to the guards. One of the guards was a good man who had adopted a blind girl. He asked Valentine if his God could help his daughter. Valentine prayed and the girl was given her sight. The guard and his whole family, 46 people, believed in Jesus and were baptized. Because these people had come to know Jesus, Valentine praised God right there in his prison cell. When the emperor heard about this he was furious that Valentine was still making converts even in prison, so he had Valentine beheaded. Valentine knew that he might get caught in his Christian activities. He knew that if he told the court the truth about the Roman gods that he would be thrown in prison. And he knew that if he continued to witness to Christ in the prison he would make his captors angry. But he continued, because he loved the Lord and his fellow humans. He was willing to risk his life to free the prisoners and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who needed to hear it. The Bible Says: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."(John 15:13) God showed us this love by coming in Christ to die for our sins. And St. Valentine demonstrated this love when he died for his friends. This is the kind of love that Valentine's Day is really about.

And here's the Valentine I made using Simply Susan Godfrey's Love Letter kit: