Last week the kids and I spent a few days talking about our first “fruit” of the Spirit: love.  This was a relatively easy one to cover, I think.  Kids LOVE to talk about what they love!  On the first day, I had them repeat the whole verse after me.  This is the version we’re using: “But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is LOVE, JOY, & PEACE. It is being PATIENT, KIND, & GOOD. It is being FAITHFUL & GENTLE & having SELF-CONTROL.  There is no law against such things.”  I’ll confess, it’s kind of a mish-mash of a couple different official Biblical versions.  I wanted to use it exactly how it’s written in Abby’s Bible (NIrV) but as I was writing it on the poster board, I started to run out of room, and I wanted to use the phrase “self-control” rather than “control of oneself.”  So, you may condemn me for not using an official version, but oh well. 😉

After we read the verse a few times, I handed Abby and Noah each a red heart I had cut out of construction paper and told them to draw things they love on the heart.  Noah drew Randy and I.  Abby drew her bunk beds, Noah, Emmalyn, her friend, and a few other things.  Then we talked about why we love these things which led to the questions “what is love” and “how do we show love.”

It was time to see what God has to say about love in the Bible.  We read John 3:16, 1 John 4:16-19, Matthew 22: 37-39, and finally 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  When we read those last verses in 1 Corinthians, I almost had a hard time getting through them when I thought about whether or not my kids see those things in me, even though I claim to love them.  “Love is patient.”  Do they think I’m patient with them?  “Love does not easily become angry.”  Hmm…  This was a good time for me to talk about how NOT-perfect I am and how much I need Jesus because sometimes I have trouble with patience and other things that God wants me to be.  (Of course, neither my kids had ANYTHING that they thought was hard for them to do or be from the 1 Corinthians list. But  I had to repeat to myself all week, “love is patient, love is patient”; not a bad mantra.) 😉  We made a list of ways to show people love and then prayed that we’d be able to be loving to everyone.

Later that week, I made cherry cards for the kids since cherries are what we used to represent love.  (Straight from Amanda’s blog, the one I get so many fabulous ideas from!) Noah and Abby each painted their cherries by using fingerprints kind of in the shape of hearts.  The first few looked great, but then as the kids kept painting the cherries, the shape of the hearts disappeared as they overlapped.  We then wrote “Jesus loves ____” their own name on one card, and the name of a friend on another.  Of course they chose their “best friends” Lily & Landon to give their cards.  Since my “love language” is giving, I also decided to give a little something to both kids, something I’ll continue to do throughout our unit.  Abby got a cherry flavored chapstick (what else?) and to Noah I gave a cherry scented marker.  Risky, I know.  He already tried licking it.  But he’s starting to like coloring more and thought it was a really cool gift.  And I want to give them stuff that reminds them of the fruit from the week. 🙂

We read the book, “The Apple Pie Tree” and made our own craft apple pies!

A sprinkle of cinnamon to get the scent of real pie in there!

On Friday of that week, I told the kids that one way I show people love is by cooking or baking for them.  And since I love Daddy, we made him an apple pie, one of his favorite desserts!  We cut hearts out of the top crust, too, to emphasize the LOVE. haha!  This apple pie recipe is the best, guys!  The. Best.  I started using Alton Brown’s recipe years ago, and have since adapted it.  And after years of making several apple pies every fall, I 100% stand by this recipe.  Here’s the printable if you want it! apple-pie

Rolling out the dough.

It’s fun to play with leftover dough!

She’s a beauty, ain’t she?

Speaking of things to love, Ina Garten has a new apple pie bar recipe which is to die for!  When I saw it on her Facebook page, I knew it would be a winner with Randy–it incorporates apple pie and his other favorite: short bread.  It is seriously amazing.  You can find the recipe here, I’ll probably make more today!  My mouth is drooling just thinking about it.

Other things I love (besides my family, friends, church–you know, the obvious answers)…

Let’s see, my food processor–which I use all the time!

Randy and I have an app called “Good Budget” which allows us to keep better track of our money each month and it syncs to both of our phones which is super convenient.

I love my homemade laundry detergent and the fact that I save so much by not buying detergent all the time (hello, 3 kids=lots of laundry).

I LOVE my cast iron pans (a gift from my MIL)–cooking with them makes me feel like I’m living at a farmhouse or something.  Do you know what I mean? haha

A good bowl of ooey, gooey homemade mac & cheese!  (Which I happened to make during our “love” week for lunch since I knew my kids would drool over it and since we made Daddy a pie, it’s only fair that they got a special lunch, too!

Chocolate. Duh! (Who doesn’t!?) And coffee. 😉

And I also love Real Simple, my one and only magazine subscription.  I’m months behind, but that just means I’ll have to have a few bubble bath nights soon so I can catch up (I also happen to love bubble baths)!