1-4/52 & Valentine's Day [Bible Verse] Countdown

I'm finding it hard to believe that we are in the last week of January, let alone that it's 2016. I know we all fret over time and how fast it goes, but it makes more and more sense to me why our parents always warn us about it. Michael is four, and Levi is just about 8 months. I can't handle it.

I decided to try and do Practising Simplicity's 52 project this year (again...). The problem is, I decided it about a week ago. So although I'm sharing four pictures, I'm honestly not sure of their timeline. I intend to be more intentional with pulling out my "good" camera and not just my phone to snap some shots as time passes. After all, life is made up of small moments. And I definitely want to capture as many as I can.
#1

Goose Poses.

#2

Loving Chaos.

#3

Brotherly Fun.

#4

Levi's Curious.
These boys just make my heart burst. Michael has started just playing with Levi whenever I'm preoccupied. He'll crawl on the floor and hand Levi some cars or try to play patty-cake. And while Levi isn't always amused by his big brother, anyone can tell by the way he looks at Michael that he wants nothing more than to keep up and be like him.

Making a Valentine's Day banner wasn't the only craft we've done in preparation for this wonderful holiday. Some may say that it's crafted by Hallmark to make people buy cards and chocolates and flowers, but I say it's what we make of it. And I love this opportunity to teach Michael about the purist type of love-- God's love.

On good 'ole Pinterest I found this link for Bible verses centered around Love for a countdown to Valentine's Day. Michael has a hard time counting past twelve, so it was the perfect opportunity to start working on the next round of numbers with him. We spent time cutting out more hearts and learning numbers up to 14.

On the back of each heart, we taped a verse. Then we taped them on our fridge. Right now they are front and center, and every day Michael will point to the numbers and count. It's an easy way to help him with 13 & 14. Next week, once February begins ::gulp:: we will take the number down that matches the day, and tape the verse on this:

Not my finest work, but it serves the purpose. We've taped it up in Michael's lesson/art corner (a post to come about that soon!) and that way he'll be reminded each day about the true meaning of LOVE.

Have some Valentine's Day ideas? I'd love to hear them!