Valentine's Day Weekend

So far, we have had a very eventful weekend.  After almost 3 weeks of being home bound, it feels like a breath of fresh air just to be in the car and going...ANYWHERE!  I had a Pampered Chef Party and had products to distribute and I was going to give them out at church tomorrow, but I just decided to deliver them today.  It gave me a good excuse to be out and it allowed me to mark another thing off my "To Do" list.  I feel an urgency to get errands run while I can, because it seems like my confinement may resume at any time.
Josh and I went out for Valentine's Day last night and I bowled in the "Souper Bowl" for the Union Mission this morning.  Elias is having his second sleep over at a friend's house tonight.  The first one was on the last day of school in June 2009.  I was so nervous then to let him be somewhere overnight with people with whom I was only slightly acquainted.  Not that I was worried about them, but I was more worried for him - Would they know what he needed?  Would he be able to sleep in a strange place?  What if he needed help getting dressed?...And on and on.  Now, he is so self sufficient and communicates so well, I am definitely not as anxious as I was last year and I am not even really as anxious as I thought I would be now.  We had 2 girls (sisters) come over and play with Bella tonight, since Elias was going to be with a friend and Bella felt left out. She had a great time.  And now, she is having some one-on-one play time with Daddy, which she doesn't get often, and then it is bed time!  The house seems so quiet without Elias here, but I am wondering if we will get a phone call later tonight.  Last year, when he stayed with his friend, he wanted to come home around 9:30.  He ended up staying after I talked to him on the phone.  I remember when I first began staying at friend's houses and the lights went out and it was time to go to sleep, suddenly I realized how foreign the person's house seemed - the sounds, the smells, the feeling like my parents were SO far away.  Elias asked me on the way to drop him off if his friend's parents knew how to get to our house, so I know that he was a little concerned.
This will officially be Josh and I's 17th Valentine's day together.  It is the 18th, if you count the one that passed 2 weeks before we started officially dating, when we were just "talking".  Here are 18 things I love about my husband, in honor of the 18 Valentine's Days we have spent together.
1. He loved me before I really knew how to love myself.
2. He has loved me at every size, shape, and hair style.
3. He never tells me "I told you so" - never - and he participates in my crazy schemes, even against his better judgment.
4. He likes watching chick flicks with me.
5. He doesn't think that dishes, cooking, laundry, or house cleaning is MY job.  Just a job that needs to be done by the person who has the time to do it, which just happens to be me a lot of the time, since I am here more. When he's here, he is always my help mate.
6. He plays unselfishly with the kids.  He gets into their games of make believe far better than I ever can.
7. He often doesn't give me advice when I talk to him.  He often tells me that he knows I am wise enough to know what to do and he knows that the only thing I really need is a listening ear.
8. He is sentimental.  He keeps cards, tickets, gifts & trinkets and they really mean a lot to him.
9. He doesn't mind when I call him at work, even if I don't really have any reason other than just to hear his voice or to vent.
10. He gets up at night with the kids, even though he's the one who has to go to work during the day.  He has told me ever since the kids were born that I have to get up for work in the morning too, I just don't leave the house to get to my job.
11. He never spends money (at least more than $20) without consulting me first.  He never thinks he is "entitled" to getting stuff because he earns the paycheck.
12. He always supports my discipline of the children in front of the kids, even if he doesn't always agree with it.
13. He likes to talk to me, about anything.
14. He always tells me that I am smarter than I give myself credit for and always challenges me to push past my comfort zones.  (If it wouldn't have been for him, I would have never gotten a bachelor's degree.)
15. He doesn't think it is a burden to work on our marriage, even when there is nothing particularly wrong with it.
16. He is just as willing to paint Bella' fingernails, as he is to play sports with Elias.
17. He is good to his mom - he always shows her love and respect and always has, even when we were dating as teenagers.
And...(drum roll please)
18. He is the Spiritual head of our family.  He not only tells the kids about God and why He is necessary and important in our lives, he serves as a constant example of Christ's love and grace.

Since I so often attach song lyrics to my blog, I decided to include the words to "our song".  And, SURPRISE, it is not Sara Groves.  I don't think Sara Groves was even singing professionally when Josh and I started dating, since she isn't much older than we are, but if she was, we had never heard of her at that point!

To Be With You by Mr. Big

Hold on little girl
Show me what he's done to you
Stand up little girl
A broken heart can't be that bad
When it's through, it's through
Fate will twist the both of you
So come on baby come on over
Let me be the one to show you

I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you

Build up your confidence
So you can be on top for once
Wake up who cares about
Little boys that talk too much
I've seen it all go down
Your game of love was all rained out
So come on baby, come on over
Let me be the one to hold you

Chorus
Why be alone when we can be together, baby
You can make my life worthwhile
And I can make you start to smile

When it's through, it's through
Fate will twist the both of you
So come on, baby, come on over
Let me be the one to show you