Fun stuff to do with kids

• have an impromptu photo shoot
• invite another family over for dinner
• write letters
• go to the movies
• take something apart to see how it works
• look at things with a a magnifying glass
• write a survey of some kind and then call all your friends to ask the questions
• Learn pig latin and speak only pig latin for an hour
• alphabetize your movies, magazines, cd's, etc.
• learn to say the alphabet backwards, as fast as you can
• time how long it takes each person to say the alphabet, then try to beat the fastest time
• go GEOCACHING, this is incredibly fun!
  

Prayers for my family

2Co 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
2Co 2:15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,

I don't know exactly what these verses mean, but I intend to study them out. Isn't that a beautiful word picture?! Christ leading us in triumphal procession, and the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Lord, thank you that you are saving people, that you are rescuing them, and that you have rescued me from certain death. Thank you for using us to do your work in their lives, as we spread your fragrance Lord, I pray that we would be careful not to stink it up! As we go about our duties Lord, help us to see you leading, and the be overjoyed that we are a part of your triumphal procession! In Jesus name, Amen.

Giveaway

The Farm Chicks are having a giveaway! Go here to enter.

Family Friday

Ella Rose is gaining speed, and pretty soon she won't just be taking a few steps, she will be running just like the rest of them! She is finally getting some teeth, which is good because it means there is nothing wrong with her, but so sad at the same time. I will never have another toothless grin around. Big. Heavy. Sigh.

This is our version of a drum, an oatmeal box covered in paper. Aren't my kids lucky? Most moms wouldn't even cover it! Would you believe the educational opportunities you can have with an oatmeal drum? Without it how would I ever teach Jeremiah not to bang his little sister on the head with a wooden spoon? And how would Haley know that "rock stars" have to use their inside voices too? It is the simple things, isn't it?!

Hope your week was as wonderful as ours.

Prayers for my family

I say prayers A LOT lately, much more than I ever have before. Isn't that good and bad all at the same time?! I pray for our country, for President Obama, for the economy, for my husband, for my kids, for our "church search," for my attitude, for my friends, for the company my husband works for. There are so many things on my mind, swirling about all the time. It is enough to drive any woman insane. I picked up this thought filter a while back and it has been a huge help to me in sorting out the things that go through my brain. Maybe it will help you too, or maybe nobody else has this same trouble?

Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Php 4:5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
Php 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Php 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

True-Is it true? Is it true about God? Is it true about His Fatherly care for me?

Honorable-Does it honor God? Does it reflect His wonderful, kind, loving, wise and powerful character?

Just-Is it holy? Is it righteous? Is it just? Is it something the Lord Himself would think?

Pure-Does it cast doubt on God's goodness or the truth of His promises? Does it elevate my own importance or my own desires?

Lovely-Does it flow from a heart filled with tenderness and affection for the Lord? Would it bring pleasure to him?

Commendable-Is it grounded in faith? Does it exalt God's reputation?

Excellent-Does it cause me to be more fearful or does it fill my heart with courage and commitment to virtuous living?

Praiseworthy-Would the Lord commend the thoughts? Would they elevate His name or bring him glory?

Here is the kicker, you can't just go cold turkey with your thoughts, they don't just shut off by themselves simply because they don't meet the above criteria. You have to replace with them with thoughts that are true, honorable, praiseworthy...etc. For example, if you struggle with worries about the future, then memorize Proverbs 3:5, and when you have those uneasy thoughts say it over and over, until the other thoughts have gone. If you struggle with guilt, memorize 1 John 1:9, repeat it as often as necessary. Sounds easy right, HA! It isn't easy, but it is worth it.

My prayer is that we would rejoice, even in trials. That we would go to God, the Creator of the universe with our concerns. And that he would guard our hearts and fill our minds with thoughts worthy of Him.

Check out this post from Modobject at Home, as a matter of fact, just check out her whole blog. It is a very calming and peaceful place to visit.

I read just yesterday in "Let Me Be A Woman" by Elisabeth Elliot this quote:

"If you believe in a God who controls the big things,
you have to believe in a God who controls the little things.
It is we, of course, to whom things look "little" or "big"."

And she goes on to quote Amy Carmichael

"There is no great with Thee, there is no small,
For thou art all, and fillest all in all."

Either a day late, or a week late?

I heart blogging, it is one of my favorite past times right now. BUT I am struggling just to get my daily stuff done, cleaning, laundry, diapers, home school, etc. And since those other things are more important my little ol' blog has taken the backseat for a week. I'll get back on track someday...

That being said...right after my post about how I fell asleep in the chair and I showed you a picture of my EXTREMELY messy playroom, my sister-in-law knocked on my door unexpectedly and asked us to go to the children's museum with them. Why is it that when you don't get up and clean your house first thing, someone comes over and sees it?! Every time!!

The children's museum here in Houston is fabulous and the kids loved it. Their favorite by far was the water portion. We played in this part for a while and they were soaked by the end of it, Jeremiah was wet from head to toe and loved every second of it!



Mikey and Annie were working hard to fill up the big bucket and once it is full it tips over and dumps about a thousand gallons of water.

Aunt Nettie is telling Ella all about baby chicks.

That weekend we had some Spokane people come to visit us. Tim and Alice took a million pictures, and I only took a couple. Hopefully they will share! They were the leaders of our college/career group when we first moved to Spokane and their daughter, who is now a married mama, was in the high school youth group when we helped with that. Alice was also a spiritual mentor and taught me everything I know about studying the Word. This is hard to write about, we miss our Washington people so much!



Ella and Jeremiah are starting to play together a little. And they remind me of Mikey and Haley at those same ages. They even look the same, it is like having de ja vu everyday!



Ella is taking steps on her own now, maybe I will try to post a video. Her record is seven in a row. I love the wobbly baby step stage.

Haley is starting to take off in her reading. She is ahead of Mikey was at this age and he is a great reader so it seems promising that she will do well also.


This is just a cute one of the boys right after they woke up, Michael found them sitting together at the top of the steps.


These were our Valentine's. We hung the cone on the back of each chair and then the kids each put their treats inside. We got our ideas from Family Fun Magazine. Mikey made the two of a kind ones and Haley made the bear hugs, but we used Jelly Belly's and Teddy Grahams instead of cinnamon bears.


And Michael took us all to lunch, and gave us all chocolates. Ella especially enjoyed hers.

Michael gave her a little box of princess chocolates and let her play with it on the ride home. Little Ms. Houdini got into the box and sucked all the chocolates out of their wrappers, this is what I found when I was getting her out of her seat to go into Target.

Enjoy the update! Hope your week was as wonderful as ours!

Fun stuff to do with kids

• snow paint with spray bottles filled with colored water
• build snow furniture
• go ice blocking, sled down a hill on a block of ice
• learn how to use a compass and then go practice
• break a world record, or set a world record
• make a paper chain (anyone wanna compete for world's longest paper chain?!)
  
• make life-sized dress up dolls
• glue family photos to popsicle sticks and put on a puppet show, or cut out pictures from magazines
• play cards
• write someone famous a letter
• kiss your elbow
• peel a banana with your feet

Prayers for my family

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.


1Ti 2:9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,


2Ti 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.


2Pe 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
2Pe 1:6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
2Pe 1:7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

We are having struggle right now with a particular little one and self-control. If you know us, you know which one! Self-control is the foundation for being able to do the right thing even when the wrong things are so appealing. While this is very concerning to me, by praying scripture I know that I am praying God's will, and when you pray in God's will you can rest assured that he will answer. So here is to being patient and watching God work!

Lord Jesus you personified self-control when you walked this Earth! I praise you for your perfect life and I thank you for your example, and for the salvation you give us because of that life. Father please, instill in me the self-control necessary to train and encourage and discipline my children in this area. And for my precious baby that struggles, Lord help us conquer this early in her life so that she doesn't have to deal with it always. In Jesus perfect name, Amen.

Word to your mother

Michael used the term "basket case" at dinner a few nights ago, and I couldn't resist knowing where it came from. Here is what phrases.com had to say:

Meaning

An infirm or failing person or thing - unable to properly function. Originally this referred to soldiers who had lost arms and legs and had to be carried by others. More recently it has been used to denounce any failing organisation or scheme and is rarely applied to people.

Origin

In its original meaning it comes from the US military immediately following WWI. Strangely, the term was never used to describe anyone - only in order to deny that any such servicemen existed. This bulletin was issued by the U.S. Command on Public Information in March 1919, on behalf of Major General M. W. Ireland, the U.S. Surgeon General:

"The Surgeon General of the Army ... denies ... that there is any foundation for the stories that have been circulated ... of the existence of 'basket cases' in our hospitals."

This bulletin was reported on in many U.S. newspapers at the time. Many of them also defined what was meant by 'basket case'. For example, this from the New York paper The Syracuse Herald, March 1919:

"By 'basket case' is meant a soldier who has lost both arms and legs and therefore must be carried in a basket.

Given that the term was originally reserved for incapacitated servicemen, there wasn't much call for it until the next major war of English-speaking peoples - WWII. Again, it comes from the U.S. military and again in the form of a denial from the Surgeon General. In May 1944, in 'Yank', the then Surgeon General, Major General Norman T. Kirk, said:

"... there is nothing to rumors of so-called 'basket cases' - cases of men with both legs and both arms amputated."

Clearly, given the scale of the casualties in both wars, there must have been cases of multiple amputation. It isn't recorded what term the U.S. Surgeon General used to describe these - clearly not 'basket case'.

Family Friday

We went to bed around midnight last night, we were up rockin' and rollin', partying like there was no tomorrow. All right, we were putting a puzzle together, but that sounds so boring doesn't it?!

Yesterday I made a pact with my friend. We would both get up by 6:00a this morning and get ourselves ready before our kids got out of bed, do you see where I am going with this? Went to bed at midnight...got up before the sun...what a bad combo! (Ella and Haley and Mikey were all up in the middle of the night last night too, so that adds to the problem.) I am a little behind the curve, a little slow on the uptake, dragging, lagging, sagging, TIRED! So when Haley asked if I wanted to play beauty shop instead of do our chores, I was all for it!

Here is her beautiful do...

And when it was my turn, I leaned back in the computer chair...


propped my feet up on the rocking horse, and fell asleep!


I woke up to Jeremiah bringing me some food. I have no idea how long I was asleep, but long enough for the kids to give me this "hair design."


And the whole time I was pretending that this...

did not exist. But it does exist, and so now, I will go get busy!


Here is one of Ella, just for good measure. The fog is a fingerprint on the lens of my camera...go figure.

Hope your week was as wonderful as ours!

Budget committee...

Yes, we live on a budget, and it isn't a dirty word around our household. We have some financial goals and the only way we will ever meet them is by living below our means and saving the rest. One of the ways I save money is by using a service called "The Grocery Game." It is a service you pay for, which might sound silly, paying for something so you can save money? But it costs less than 2 dollars a week and I save WAY more than that, the first week I saved $65. She finds the good deals each week for you, and matches up the coupons with the sale prices and so often you can find things for free or up to 80% off. It isn't just for coupons either, it includes regular sale prices.

I have a friend who does all of this research on her own and blogs about it, often posting the great deals on her site. All Together Beautiful is her site. She also has great tips in other areas, not just groceries.

And finally, how to do Valentines on a dime! I subscribed to a newsletter called "Living on a Dime." I heard about it when a friend gave me a cookbook called "Not Just Beans!" I like the cookbook, and the newsletter. This week she is giving away a free e-book about doing Valentines frugally!