Love Dare Challenge - Day 4

Well, yesterday didn't work out that well, due to the snow I couldn't actually get out and buy anything, so I'm going to try to do that today as well as today's challenge of calling sometime during the day to see if there's anything he needs.

Day 4

How precious also are Your thoughts to me. . . .How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.—Psalm 139:17–18

I found that the love dares are posted on the Offical Love Dare Journal website, so you can go over there to check out what Day 4's dare is (I still recomend the book though).

If you're blogging about the love dare, check out Mama to 3 Blessing's site and Join her Linky.

Love Dare Challenge - Day 3

They're calling for snow today in our area. So yesterday, I worked in the garage rearranging everything so that it would be done when he came home and he could put the plow and chains on the tractor easier. Then, I also helped him when he did it.

1/7/10 Day 3 (Love is not selfish)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preferance to one another in honor.

Romans 12:10

Due to the snow today, school was cancelled and we car pooled to work. So, I'm not sure how I'll be able to complete today's challenge, but I'm going to try. I read somewhere that suggested taking the "Love Language" of your spouse into consideration when doing these things too, so for example if their love language isn't gifts (and gifts aren't important to them), then instead of buying a gift as a dare might say, maybe do something that's more targeted towards their language (Quality time, etc). That might be what we end up doing today.

(Note: Since I'm not sure of the legality of publishing all the dares fully, I'm going to stop, I've only thus far posted ones that were in the movie anyway. I will say though if you haven't bought the book there's much more to it than the dare itself. Each day has discussion leading up to the dare. And in truth, you could Google the dares for each day, but I'll play it safe).

Love Dare Challenge - Day 2

Well, day 1 went pretty well, I think. There was one time where I did stop myself from commenting negatively on something he did, but I just let it go. Really I need to work on this a lot sometimes I let my temper get the better of me and not just with my husband, I especially need to work on it with the kids because I definitely was NOT patient with them yesterday!

Day 2's Dare: Love is Kind

Ephesians 4:32

Do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

We're also to continue with Day 1's dare of not saying anything negative.

You can check out how others are doing with the Love Dare (and join in!) over at Momma to 3 Blessings.

Love Dare Challenge - Day 1

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie Fireproof. If you haven't seen the movie, you should. I actually asked for it for Christmas, I didn't get it, so I'll probably buy it for my self. All of the films done by Sherwood Baptist Church are really good, I'm looking forward to their next movie Courageous.

Fireproof is about a couple (Caleb and Catherine) that has hit a rough spot in their marriage, neither partner is putting their "all" into their relationship and they've reached the point where they're considering a divorce. Caleb gets a package in the mail from his father which has a 40 day challenge in it. During the forty days, Caleb embarks on a journey to improve his marriage.

The 40 day love dare is available in book form you can get it at pretty much any book store, I bought mine at Walmart. It's called the Love Dare.

Over at Mama to 3 Blessings, Mama is doing the Love Dare and sharing it on her blog. I thought I'd join her. If you haven't done the love dare, or even if you're doing it again for a second time, join in. What a great way to start out the New Year!

Day 1 (Patience)

Be completely humble & gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Eph. 4:2

The Love Dare is to demonstrate patience & to say nothing negative to your spouse at all.

Check back tomorrow to see how I did and to see what tomorrow's challenge is!

Crafty Christmas Decor

Where did November go? If anyone's seen it, please let me know, I blinked and missed it! So, over at Blue Eyed Blessings, Heidi is doing the December craft challenge, and the theme is Christmas decor.



Since I missed November and I'm now trying to get everything ready for Christmas, I didn't have time to make anything new, but do have a number of older crafts to show you.

Gingerbread Boy Garland
This first one, I need to appologize for the quality of the picture, due to the lighting, I had some issues getting a good picture. It's a garland I made to hang on the wall.

To make it, I cut 6 Gingerbread boy shapes out of a brown paper bag, sewed 3 sets of two of them together with white thread and a little stuffing inside. Then, I used a black marker to draw on faces and buttons. Then, I took some brown paper twist (raffia would work too) and cut it into narrow strips. I tied the gingerbread boys on in the middle (I ran some thread through their backs) and added a bow at each end.

Nativity Scene

This next craft is a nativity scene. This particular one was made by my Mom, but I've made them too.

To make this, you need:

three small clay pots (one is a little smaller than the other two)
paint
scraps of fabric
yarn scraps
two large wooden balls (these particular ones have a flat side, which makes it easier to fasten to the pot but a regular one works if you're using hot glue)
one smaller wooden ball
glue (hot glue is easiest)
straw
a pipe cleaner

Paint the pots the colors you'd like them, paint the wooden balls a flesh color and then add a face (either with paint or markers). Glue the two big balls to the bottoms of the larger flower pots, add a little yarn for hair, and then the scraps of fabric for the head coverings (I think these were squares folded in half diagonally). Joseph's has a little scrap of yarn in a circle as the band to hold his head covering on. Mom glued the sides of the head covering to the pots to help them stay in place. Take the pipe cleaner and bend it for the shepard's hook and glue it to the side of the pot. Then, for Jesus, put some hay in the smaller pot, filling it to the top. Then, glue the little wooden bead to the hay. If you want, you can add a little circle of yarn or pipe cleaner for a halo.

Lighted Snowman Jar
This is a lighted jar that I made a few years ago.

For it, I used:
1 glass jar (quart size, I used an old mayo jar) white, black and orange paint ( I can't remember but I think I used paint that's designed to go on glass like Perm Enamel)
Two large black buttons
An old sock with a cuff
Small amt of thread
glue
a light bulb on a cord (like you would use for a Christmas village house) - I think I got mine at the dollar store or Walmart, with the holiday houses.

Paint the jar white and paint the nose and mouth of hte snow man. Glue the buttons on or eyes. Then, take the sock, cut off the end (you might need to experiment with this a bit, I think I used from the heel up) and use the thread to tie or sew it shut about 3 inches from where you cut. Then take scissors and cut the three inches into fringe. Put the light in the jar, leaving the cord hanging out and then put the sock "hat" over the openning of the jar. I had to use some tape initially to get the sock to stay on and the light to stay in, but now that it's been that way a few years it's not needed anymore.


Santa Candle Cup

This next one is an idea I saw somewhere on the internet a long time ago.

For it you need:

1 wooden candle cup
a red candle (this works best if the candle fits snugly in the cup)
paint
a cotton ball
glue

Paint a Santa face on the candle cup, the back is all white. unwind the cotton ball, trim it and glue around the top edge of the candle cup. Put the candle in. I wouldn't recommend actually burning the candle (especially mine since the candle doesn't fit tight, so it's prone to tipping over), but they're pretty cute to look at.

For more great craft ideas, go check out Heidi's site!

WFMW - Cleaning coffee Stains

Over at We Are THAT Family, there's a themed Works for Me Wednesday this week. We're to share a cleaning tip. The one I'm going to share is one my mom taught me when I was really little (she gave me the task of going through all the mugs and cleaning the coffee and tea stains out of them, probably to keep me occupied), so I thought it was something that everyone knew. After looking around last week on the web, trying to figure out how to get the sour milk smell out of my daughter's lunch box thermos, I discovered that a lot of people were asking about getting the coffee stains out of their thermoses.



My suggestion: Baking Soda!

Make a paste of baking soda and water and rub the coffee stains with it, they'll disappear almost immediately and then rinse. It works on mugs, sinks, coffee pots, etc. The nice thing is that baking soda is safe to ingest if you happen to not get it rinsed completely.



For more great cleaning tips, check out the WFMW post over at We Are THAT family!

Craft Challenge

Over at Blue Eyed Blessings, Heidi does a monthly craft challenge. This is my first entry in the challenge. Unfortunately, I was a little late reading her post about it, so I didn't have much time to do something.




This first one is one I did yesterday. I took some of my washable paints, mixed them with a little dish soap and then painted on the sliding patio door. I don't remember where I saw it, but the soap is to make it easier to come off when we're done.


This one I did a few years ago, I took a regular clay flower pot and painted it with acrylic paints and then sealed it with a clear spray paint. I think I used a Sharpie for the face. I usually use it as a candy dish on my desk, this year I sat a yogurt cup in it and put cut flowers in it. I've done a pumpkin like this too, only I used the saucer that goes under the pot as the top of the pumpkin and I painted a jack-o-lantern face on it. I haven't gotten it out yet this year.

That's it for now! I'm hoping to do more crafts for Halloween, but haven't gotten to it yet. I'm also hoping to do more Monthly Craft Challenges when Heidi posts them.