A Year of Date Nights: March Anniversary

The hubby and I celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary last March. It took me awhile to think of what to get him, but after much research online I found the perfect gift for him!

I found two websites with ideas that I morphed into one idea:

A year of monthly, themed date nights & outings!

I first got the idea for the year of date nights from this website.

Then, I got help for date ideas from here. I used some ideas from the website, but made up other dates myself.

So, I put my head together and made date invites with my computer—each complete with a specific themed background with fun fonts!

It was a lot of work, but turned out amazing. Hubby was so surprised and loved it!

Here are the themed scrolls, for each month:

Another view...

For the first date night (the month of March), I ended up making a homemade four-course dinner! Appropriately themed, of course, given that it was our “fourth” anniversary. :) I had it all planned out before he walked in from work. I even had the Dean Martin station set on Pandora radio, which set the mood perfectly!

Baked bread: check!

The first course—homemade italian bread & dipping sauce:

Contented hubby: check!

After salad (didn't take a picture!), we had filet mignon with green beans:

Finger-lickin' good! Er, lick-the-plate-good. We like to keep things civilized around here.

Don't forget dessert...yummy chocolate-covered strawberries that my mother sent us!

The night was not only romantic...

But a whole 'lotta fun!

My love even gave me roses, perfume, and made this sweet, framed work of art for me:

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I dried the roses later on. Look at how beautiful they turned out!

Sticking with the “fourth anniversary” theme, we then played Connect 4 and watched Pirates of the Carribean 4. 

It was truly perfect.

Stay tuned for April's date night. I have to catch up!

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The Socialization Argument~

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I have often discussed my future plans of homeschooling my children—once God blesses my husband and I with them—with mothers, and what inevitably comes up is the issue of socialization.

“I want my children to be socialized.” Have you ever thought about what that word, in reality, means?

Below are two articles that might leave you pondering my question a bit further.

Click here—> “The Socialization Question” 

Or here—> “Homeschooling and Socialization” 

The film IndoctriNation is also worth looking into.

From their website: “IndoctriNation is a feature length documentary film that takes the audience on a panoramic exploration of one of the most important and controversial issues in the history of mankind, the issue of education.

Traveling all over America with his family in a big yellow school bus and conducting a series of candid conversational interviews, Colin Gunn, a Scottish filmmaker, actor, and homeschool father of seven children living in Texas, is on a quest to discover the origins of our modern educational system.

What he discovers is a masterful design that sought to replace God’s recipe for training up the next generation with a humanistic, man-centered program that fragmented the family and undermined the influence of the Church and its Great Commission.

Part documentary, part testimonial -- a confessional and a rebuke, this film is above all a challenge and an encouragement to millions of Christians who need to know what history, experience, and the Scriptures have to say about what is perhaps the pivotal issue of our time: the discipleship and training of the next generation.”

Here is the trailer:

So... How can I be so sure that my children will turn out “sociable and friendly” if I school them at home? 

Because my husband is living proof. He was homeschooled for most of his childhood and everyone that knows him would say that he is outgoing, intelligent, and can speak his own mind. Oh, I'm not worried one bit. ;)

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Pro-Life?

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 “I am pro-life.”

You hear these words from Christians everywhere, and rightly so.

Most Christians associate the phrase with the opposition of abortion.

But I challenge you to take it a step further...

What does it mean to truly be pro-life? Are we strictly fighting a cause against the liberal agenda or is all life unquestionably valuable before the sight of our God?  Our society (including the Church) at large thinks of children as an inconvenience, something that is entirely optional—which fits our consumer mentality perfectly.

Sterilization, birth control, and “family planning” has become the norm in our churches. It is no longer questioned or challenged. We are no longer allowing God to be in complete control of our family size, as we did before The Pill and other contraceptions were invented. Previous generations would be shocked to see how much we have changed.

Don't see what the big deal is?

Just click here to read more about the woman who was one of the pioneers of the birth control movement.

The Enemy of our faith started planting these seeds early on. Sadly, it appears we have become oblivious to his effects on us.

I implore and encourage you to do a bible study solely on the word “children.” You may be surprised to find what God has to say about them. In no way is He silent on the matter.

This is not merely a political issue...it's a spiritual one.

Click here for a powerful, thought-provoking film.

{Only available online--for free--until April 30^th.}

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{A great Scripture truth!}

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