Friday, November 14, 2008

Haven: Inviting & Giving

Hi ladies, I'm sorry I didn't make the rounds to all of your blogs the last couple of days - simply ran out of time!

I've been so excited to hear all the great feedback from everyone this week and hope we can do this again sometime!! Thanks so much for your great encouragement and the motivation of working on this together!

This morning, I read Proverbs 14 and the first verse stood out at me, "A wise woman builds her home..." Enough said, right?

After our morning routine including baths today - it was time for Samuel to go down for his morning nap (took us a while!) so while he rested, we colored our pages for the shoebox gifts!

We sorted a box of toys Daddy found at the dump and found a big bin of chunky lego pieces and some neat interlocking train track pieces for Samuel someday. I started them soaking in the kitchen sink.

When Samuel woke, we loaded the brownies into our car and started the deliveries! I had originally planned a wagon trip and walk, but it was wet and looking like more rain plus the mosquitos were bad - so we opted for Plan B. We got all our brownies delivered and spur of the moment, I asked David if he was available for some lunch company. We had brownies to take him anyway - he said yes and we brought Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed a "picnic" in Daddy's office! It was fun!

The brownies were left for him to share at work. Feeding Samuel and varying rest times all commenced when we got home. I planned my shopping list for tomorrow.

Next, I cooked ground beef for tacos tomorrow night and made a pan of enchiladas while talking to my sister. Oh, and I scrubbed off all those lego pieces with a toothbrush!

We went shopping for our shoeboxes and then came home to fix dinner. After dinner, we watched a DVD on shoeboxes and the Follow the Box episodes. (I ordered this DVD from their site last year.)

Finally, we were ready to pack our boxes! The girls had a ball with this - it was fun to see them getting into it! They just went to bed and I'm thinking I need to get a few more things done before heading to bed myself.

I didn't quite get the counter cleaned off again - but did make progress.

Thanks again for all of the wonderful encouragement and motivation this week! I appreciate you all so much!

Side note ~ I have a great giveaway planned on Monday! And, Christy is hosting a book giveaway now through next Thursday!

9 comments:

angie said...

For future reference--In the past, when I have happened upon second-hand Legos (or any other toy with a million pieces) I ran them through a small cycle in the washing machine with bleach. They come out fine and so does the washing machine. It saves a lot of time.
We also packed our shoeboxes tonight. We gather things all through the year--from Happy Meals, birthday goody bags, CVS deals, etc., and put them into shoeboxes on a closet shelf. Thank you for the link to the coloring pages. My kids enjoyed completing them and my heart was warmed by their responses to "I love Jesus because..."
Have a great weekend!
Angie

Anonymous said...

Great job! What a great week it seems you have had!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a great day, Monica! I have so enjoyed your challenge this week...just what I needed coming out of the 1st trimester tiredness...PERFECT!!!!!
God bless your sweet family and I look forward to all the future fun and encouragement coming out of The Homespun Heart!!!! (((HUGS!)))
Amy

Catherine said...

Monica,
thanks so much for hosting this event. You did a great job - I haven't even had time to finish telling all that we got up to, so you have done well to get around to any blogs at all apart from your own! It was great to have a few days of specific focus, and it was encouraging, too, to meet some new people and have a small look into their daily lives.
I would love to hear other people's thoughts in summary of their weeks - eg. what worked, what didn't, what the "haven" focus particularly caused them to wish to change or work more on as a result of the week. I certainly have some thoughts - I hope to get them all together to post them sometime.
Thanks again for your hard work, Monica!

fixedonHIM said...

Monica,

Thank you for such a wonderful week! I know it must have been a sacrifice for you & your family with all the time you invested in this. I have been so blessed and look forward to completing many of the tasks I have begun this week.

I appreciate all the comments you & the ladies left this week. I don't know how you managed to visit so many of the blogs. I tried the first night and I was up until after 1 a.m.! My plan is to re- visit your posts as I continue with these challenges. It will still be a blessing to receive inspiration & ideas as I plug along until my work is complete.

Thank you for leading us to the Lord first each day. You have been a great example of how we can share our God-given gifts to reach others for His name. Your creativity is such a blessing!

Have a wonderful weekend with your family :)
Denise

Lilyofthevalley - Tanya said...

Thanks for doing this!! I did really enjoy the week ! I have been blessed by your blog and will visit it more often!

Kathy said...

You are such an inspiration to me on how to mother little ones!!

Samuel will LOVE those train tracks some day! I bought some at a thrift store when our 3rd son was born. They have been his favorite toy--I wish I had purchased them for his two older brothers. Legos too..and toy cars..those are what I would invest in and scrub with a toothbrush...will stand the test of time. My 12 and 10 year olds will still play with them.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Monica for hosting this week! I loved it and can't wait to approach the new week with the same mentality. Blessings to you and your family!

-Rachel

Tracey said...

Come by my blog around 9 am (MOUNTAIN TIME) tomorrow (MON), I've got a surprise for you! Your getting an award!!!