Amazing!

It is amazing how a day without internet shows you what you have been missing!

The kitchen was thoroughly cleaned in the time I found hidden at the computer, the kids were thrilled to have mom's attention without my back to them. I finished a great novel by Ted Dekker that I started the other day. Then we had a fun night with 3 additional kids over so their mom and dad could have a night out. So we made pizza, and had some ice cream and watched the Sound of Music - an all-time great movie! my little princess loved it and hummed along for much of it!

So the "turn the computer off" idea is a great one that I plan to use again this week and I look forward to the stolen moments with the kids, with cleaning (even though I hate it, I love the results) and reading again!

Who knows what this new move will do to our family! I think it will have a great effect on all of us!

Here is a list a friend sent me of 101 ways to love your husband. Since I just finished the study on Loving Your Husband in our Apple of Gold bible study, I thought I would share.
It is a long list but a good one, some of the ideas may not work for your family - life #8 the "Art Attack" - but a great list none the less!

1~ I love to make "dates" with him, even if it is just splitting a mini yogurt in town and chatting with him across the table.
2~ I love to text him little love notes while he's at work - he doesn't text - so I usually get back the letter "k" which always makes me smile.
3~ I love to tell him in the winter when it's dark that all he needs to do is get in the shower, put on his pyjamas, and dinner is all ready for him - he's just going to relax now.
4~ I love to hold his hand when we are out and about and sneak a kiss when no one is looking.
5~ I love to tell him how handsome he is and how that blue color work shirt with his name "Art" on the front looks so nice on him.
6~ I love to tell him how much I missed him while he was gone all day at work.
7~ I love to buy some of his favorite foods as a surprise - such as sardines, chocolate covered cherries with the clear centers, or beef jerky - then watch his eyes light up.
8~ I love to yell "Art... Art... ART!" And then tell him I've having an "Art Attack".
9~ I love to run into his arms from the long pathway in our yard and have him catch me just like he's always done since we were first married.
10~ I love to make him fried chicken, spanish rice, refried beans, fresh salsa, and tortillas and watch his face light up when he sees the dinner table.
11~ I love to get an old, romantic Cary Grant movie and watch it in our bedroom with him with a big bowl of popcorn and two cups of tea between us on a tray.
12~ I love to answer my cell phone when he calls and say something romantic to him in French that only he understands.
13~ I love to tell him how good he smells.
14~ I love to thank him for all his hard work for us, and how glad I am for it.
15~ I love to hug him while he's cooking something special for me or the kids.
16~ I love to make his bedroom the most serene room in the house with sweet smelling candles glowing in the winter.
17~ I love to ask him about his day and listen to all his details about it.
18~ I love going places with him and sitting beside him with my hand on his knee.
19~ I love calling him at lunch time to see how his day is going so far.
20~ I love planning fun things for him on the weekend like going to the zoo, which we did last weekend.
21~ I love planning surprises for him like going to his favorite Japanese restaurant or walking the street fair.
22~ I love hiding sometimes when he comes in the house from work calling my name, and then jump into his arms.
23~ I love telling him how clever he is and how he can fix anything - like the toilet problem last night.
24~ I love tidying up the house before he comes home so everything is all comforting to him when he walks in the door.
25~ I love having supper in our "dining room", which is in a corner of our living room, with candles and soft music when we are alone - which was last Saturday night.
26~ I love dressing as nice as I can for him and smelling as nice as I can for him - and hearing him call me his Lavender Laine.
27~ I love having tea with him when he first comes home from work to help him relax.
28~ I love having the kids do some of his chores outside so that he is free on the weekends to hang out with me.
29~ I love getting together with friends and family and hanging out with him while we all talk and enjoy each other's company.
30~ I love helping other people with him, who might be going through a hard time - like a friend of ours who showed up at our door unexpectedly at seven one Saturday morning.
31~ I love waking up next to him every morning and telling him so.
32~ I love going to the library with him while he reads the paper, and I read magazines in these big soft chairs there.
33~ I love planning a night away with him at a very spontaneous notice.
34~ I love reading Reminisce magazines with him and swapping some of the stories.
35~ I love reading the Sunday paper with him at Starbucks early in the morning before church while we split a cafe latte.
36~ I love helping him be healthy and trying my best to be healthy for him with all sorts of good things like homemade soups from meaty bones in the winter and fruity smoothies in the summer.
37~ I love calling him, "Honey", "Love" and "Babe".
38~ I love to play soft, romantic music in the car while we drive somewhere together.
39~ I love to pray for him and with him about any of his concerns.
40~ I love sharing a slice of watermelon with him while he feeds it to me, and then the opposite happens when we share an orange together and I feed it to him.
41~ I love telling the kids how good looking their dad is while he's in the room.
42~ I love helping him make the Marines who visit us feel comfortable in our home.
43~ I love holding his hand during church while listening to the pastor's message.
44~ I love praying for him while he is sharing God's Word with someone.
45~ I love catching his eye across a crowded room and winking.
46~ I love going food shopping with him and helping him pick out a special piece of fish for our next meal.
47~ I love cooking together with him while we listen to romantic piano music.
48~ I love walking the mall with him and window shopping without a dime in our pockets.
49~ I love slipping him extra money that I've saved up special for him.
50~ I love splitting a Mexican coffee popsicle with him while we drive home.
51~ I love building a fire for him in the winter, and cooling off our home with fans for him in the summer.
52~ I love making his bed the softest and most comfortable with the highest thread count sheets and a high quality mattress pad so that he gets such a good sleep each night.
52~ I love paying all our bills in a timely manner without debt so that he has such peace about his finances.
53~ I love having dinner ready for him the moment he walks through the door after working hard for us all day.
54~ I love baking bread for him so that he smells it coming up the walkway to the kitchen, and then serving it with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl just the way he likes it.
55~ I love reading the supermarket ads with him and planning our next purchases there like we were chefs.
56~ I love hearing his dreams and helping him to achieve them.
57~ I love reading the Travel section of the newspaper and planning a trip with him on the tightest of budgets.
58~ I love telling his kids in front of him what a great dad they have and how fortunate they are to have him.
59~ I love whispering sweet nothings to him in crowded places.
60~ I love kissing his hands, because they work so hard for us.
61~ I love meeting him for an appointment so that afterward we can go on one of our little "dates".
62~ I love kissing the top of his head while he's reading the paper or eating supper.
63~ I love telling him to "drive safe" each morning when he heads off for work.
64~ I love telling him how thankful I am to live this life with him.
65~ I love working at the church with him in the library or mentoring other folks in their struggling finances.
66~ I love playing with our cat and dog in the kitchen with him.
67~ I love buying special books for him that I know he would like.
68~ I love saving special articles for him to read that I know he would like.
69~ I love encouraging him to go fishing with his buddies when he needs a "sea break".
70~ I love meeting him after his work at a coffee shop all dressed up and watching him walk in the room looking for me.
71~ I love reading the mail with him in our matching chairs in the kitchen with our feet propped up.
72~ I love reminiscing with him about the first years of our marriage in Germany.
73~ I love talking about our kids with him and hearing his prayers for them.
74~ I love making him laugh when he is frustrated about something or someone.
75~ I love comforting him when he is sick with a tea tray in bed.
76~ I love playing Scrabble with him, just like in the early years of our marriage.
77~ I love doing something special for him on Valentines Day, his birthday, and our anniversary.
78~ I love laying my head on his shoulder during prayer.
79~ I love telling him how beautiful the yard looks because of his work on it.
80~ I love telling him how much I love our home and living there with him.
81~ I love telling him how I love my floors with holes, my marked walls, my old carpets and couches, my stained windows, my faded cabinets and all the other things he wants to repair or replace for me, so that he will not be burdened mentally, physically, or financially and can do it when he is truly able.
82~ I love decorating those floors, walls, carpets, couches, windows, and cabinets with pretty things for him to help make everything pretty during the interim before repairs.
83~ I love praying for him that I might be such a help to him, and not a hindrance, in order to bring our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ honor with him.
84~ I love Sundays with him and helping him to rest, rest, rest after church.
85~ I love Mondays with him and telling him he is just going to come home from work and relax all evening.
86~ I love Tuesdays with him and having a date in a nearby town while Abbie is at her harp lesson for an hour.
87~ I love Wednesdays with him and going to the local library because it's open late that night.
88~ I love Thursdays with him because it's payday, and he likes to bring home something special like avocados for guacamole with chips.
89~ I love Fridays with him because the weekend is at hand, and there is a feeling of festivity in the air no matter what we are doing.
90~ I love Saturdays with him and hearing him say, "What are we doing together today, Laine?"
91~ I love walking around outside with him on a sunny day anywhere.
92~ I love getting my work done as fast as possible on Saturday so that I can hang out with him, even if it is just going to Home Depot.
93~ I love going to the Bluestar Mothers Ball with him all dressed up fancy each year and having our photo taken to remember what fun we had.
94~ I love going to the zoo with him on a rainy Saturday morning, which is his favorite time to go because all the animals are moving about more freely, and sharing a cafe latte afterward.
95~ I love going to the antique stores and then over to the thrift shops afterward comparing prices with him.
96~ I love going to swap meet with him to buy his work boots about three times a year.
97~ I love hearing him say he loves coming home each day and can't wait to get there, for that has been my prayer and practice for him.
98~ I love buying him clothes in colors that I know he will like and seeing him wear them to work or to church.
99~ I love wrapping my life around his to make it so cozy and comfortable.
100~ I love my early morning coffee chats with him and having him sit down to a hot cup of coffee with me each morning with an egg, toast, or a yogurt.
101~ I love telling him that the last twenty eight years have been the best years of my life.