Gifts 471 - 486

It is such good practice/discipline to stop and take a few moments to think about the many gifts you've been given...it is even better practice to get in the habit of looking for them in every moment...

471 - excited boy happy about new library book in the mail

472 - super delicious cherries from our favorite fruit stand

473 - magazines that encourage

474 - enjoyed piano songs

475 - friends to discuss God's word with

476 - flowers blooming in pots

477 - cheerful sweetie girl helping out

478 - fresh, yummy salads

479 - that God's grace is sufficient

480 - my illustrious male readership ;)

481 - meals ready to be popped in the crockpot

482 - cute kiddos diving for rings

483 - cats purring in your lap

484 - neat weather coming across the mountains

485 - good books on sale

486 - eating on the deck 

here's some neat pics of our weather the last week or so...one of my favorite things about living here

interesting how you can see the blue sky poking through the storm clouds

 

 

I also enjoy seeing the sun's rays streaking through the clouds
 

Boy Books

A friend of mine asked the other day if I'd give her a list of books that Josh has enjoyed...so I decided to share that here as well. Josh has read all these books (unless indicated), and I have read at least some/one of the ones marked with an *.

by author

Chuck Black * - Christian author - quality books

Wayne Thomas Batson (his Dark Sea Annals if for more of a mature audience - Josh hasn't read those) The Berinfell Prophecies are his favorite - Christian author

by set/series

The Wingfeather Saga - Christian author

Terrestria Chronicles * - Christian author - great series

Wormling Series - Christian author

Redwall

Roman Mysteries * - Christian author

My Side of the Mountain Trilogy

The Circle Series * - Christian author

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (has only read the first one, the rest are on order)

Cooper Kids Adventure Series * - Christian author

Hardy Boys

single books

Watership Down

The Cricket in Times Square *

Homer Price

The Hobbit

Call it Courage

Hatchet 

It takes me quite a while to find decent books for Josh to read particularly as he reads so incredibly fast. Mostly I keep my eyes opened for recommendations from people I respect, follow links to books associated with books I know to be decent, and search Amazon reviews for affirmation or questionable material in books I have come across. Please know that I'm not saying all these books are top-notch and are encouraging high character...some of these are just fluff books. Do check these out for yourself as everyone has different convictions.

---Also, please add any other boy favorites in the comments section...that would be great. 

on Sat we went to Cashmere's helicopter ping-pong-ball drop...lots of fun
see the helicopter in the distance...
 

dropping the balls
 

here come the balls...down for the catching...and then for the redeeming of
prizes every child needs
 

Chopping/Baking Extravaganza

Isn't the word, extravaganza, a great word!?!?!? It just makes you feel perky. :)

Well, I can't say I'm feeling perky at the moment, tired more like it, but I wanted to share the great fun my friend Heather and I had earlier today...we decided a couple of weeks ago to get together and do some meal preparation. That would allow us to have some new meals already made and nice conversation to go with them. I had come across this blog entry and we decided to do four of the five recipes (not the peanut one as her boys are allergic). For some reason, I became over-ambitious and decided to add in making three desserts at the same time...so we made fudge, magic bars, and rocky road fudge bars. (one thing that has been a life saver for me over the past couple months has been having treats already made and waiting in the freezer for friends/family to enjoy.) We actually did all that in 4 hours which included having lunch and keeping track of kiddos. I was kind of amazed when I realized that. 

All I can say right now is, whew, glad that's done, and boy will it be nice to just pull out a bag from the freezer and smell yummy dinner smells with minimal effort...and, hooray for treats! :)

 

 

 

Growing Up

There seem to be certain moments in parenting life where you feel like, "Wow, they actually are getting it...my efforts have not be in vain." Many days I know I feel like I repeat the same things over and over again...don't bug your sister...stop doing that...you forgot to put your shoes away...where are the scissors...haven't you finished yet...are you listening...chew with your mouth closed...who left the door open...etc,etc.

But, then, there are moments where God extends grace and you see that your kiddos actually are maturing, they are growing up, they may even become responsible adults someday. :) I think for the parents it's often harder to realize that as you are with your kiddos day in and day out, noticing all their little (and big) faults. But, when you look back over a span of time, it's so delightful to see how they have progressed. I know especially when they were younger, it was hard to see much fruit from all your labors. But, take heart, it does come in it's time...press on, be diligent, don't grow weary. 

This week, I feel like we've reached a somewhat new stage. Hannah, especially, seems to have reached a point where she is taking more responsibility on her own, following through, and not grumbling too much about it. As I mentioned earlier, she was a super help during VBS for me even leading a couple of sections each day we did story tent. I have been able to see her think through things, figure out a solution/better idea, and then implement them...that's super fun for a parent. 

Josh, also, has been making more mature decisions. The other day, he walked into the house and noticed he was tracking dirt in. Rather, than keep on going and ignoring it; he stopped and vacuumed up the dirt! Amazing! All the myriad of times calling the kids back to pick up/do something they neglected paid off...at least for that time :). 

Anyways, I just wanted to share that kids do eventually get it...somehow, even though it often doesn't feel like it, it does start to sink in. I remember reading many years ago something about a conversation between Susanna Wesley and her husband (don't quote me on this...it's a loose recollection). He basically said, "Why do you keep telling the kids the same thing over and over again...you must have said that 99 times already." She responded, "Well, maybe they'll get it on the 100th one." I figured if the mother of the amazing John and Charles Wesley felt like she was saying the same thing again and again until they got it, and eventually they did, then I shouldn't feel too discouraged having to do that as well. Keep pressing onward...

crazy hair day at VBS
 

 

the snack crew - you can't see it too well, but they made "sheep"
out of cupcakes, surrounded by marshmallows and candy facial features
 

Last Day of Home School

I happened across this cartoon on a blog and thought it was pretty funny so wanted to share it...

Gifts 453 - 470

Thankful for so many things...

453 - first cherries of the season (not that great, but still cherries!)
454 - sitting on the deck in the evening
455 - watching boys wrestle
456 - cute kids listening to bible stories
457 - James got back to China safely!
458 - bunk beds
459 - beautiful lillies
460 - the smell of honeysuckle
461 - yummy, soft homemade bread from a friend
462 - invitations to pool parties
463 - school books in the mail
464 - shopping with Toodle
465 - chatting with friends over coffee shake
466 - big slices of watermelon
467 - new ideas
468 - freshly laundered sheets
469 - grasses blowing in the breeze
470 - knowing that heaven will be better yet

VBS Fun

We've been having a great time these last couple days helping out at Mid Valley's VBS. It's been nice seeing everyone and catching up with each other's lives. However, this year I got demoted ;) so am just doing three days of bible story tent rather than my regular five. And, since Hannah is going into 6th grade, she is too old for VBS. So, she's been helping me out a lot. We sat down the other day and talked through our event. She took on preparing and running part of the morning all on her own. It was really awesome seeing her mature in that and being willing to get up in front and lead. Today was our first day in story tent (yesterday we helped with the craft), and Hannah thought through our games, gave instructions, and set-up/cleaned-up from them. That made my job a lot easier, and I love seeing her gain those skills. She can be rather shy so I was pleasantly surprised that she was willing to lead. 

Here are some pics from the last two days...they always decorate the church in such a fun way for the kids.

Sand art fish - you take off the stickers and sprinkle colored sand over the sticky part
 

 my awesome helper!

 

 

My friend, Heather, took this super pic

Single-mindedness

Some good challenges on single-mindedness today. This morning before church I was reading a smidge in Don't Waste Your Life and came across this quote that was simple, yet profound:

The essence of praising Christ is prizing Christ.

If Christ is prized in our life above all other things, He will receive the praise due His name. It's when we act as though so many other things are prized in our life, as shown by what we talk about and how we spend our time and money, that He is diminished from His rightful place. 

And, then, during church this morning, Pastor Josh preached from Acts 20 where Paul had some strong statements about the driving force in his life:

vs 24 I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel ofthe grace of God.

vs 27 I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

The beauty of the gospel and the exceeding grace that God bestows on all who come to Him kept Paul focused on the call he had been given. He wasn't distracted by gaining more stuff, making more money, being like everyone else, being the smartest/coolest/most athletic, etc. He was focused on serving the Lord in all areas of his life...as we should be also. This life is short...let's make the most of it for eternity. 

some pics from last year at this time

 

 

 

 

5 Minute Things

A friend of mine and I were recently talking about disorganization and how that contributes to frustration in our homes. I definitely wouldn't be considered a neat freak, but having too much clutter around does make me feel crazy and snappy. A lot of issues with disorganization is not using time wisely. Rarely do I have big chunks of open time on my hands, but I do often have five minutes of free time...so I wrote up some things you can do in that time...

• wipe down counters/tables
• shake out tablecloth
• refile recipes
• vacuum a room
• wipe a sink
• dust
• empty dishwasher
• wipe down appliances
• wipe down mirrors
• organize a drawer
• clean out the car
• put away clothes
• general pick up
• grade some papers
• get out new school work
• sweep
• water flowers
• cut checks
• send in deposits
• put away books
• read a chapter
• write a quick note

As I look at this list, it's easy to see how much more organized things would be if I used those small bits more wisely. The challenge is to get in that mode of thinking...to be consistently diligent rather than passing over those five minutes. 

GC Update

I know many of you have interest in how things are going with our Gospel Community perspective so I wanted to give a quick update about that. First off, we had our first GC meeting about two weeks ago. There are four other families in our group (which is on the generally bigger side although in some churches they have around 50 people). We don't know any of these families particularly well although we have been friendly with most of them over the last year or so. The kids range in age from 5-20ish (some families do have even older kids than that), and they have all seemed to get along fine. 

Our first meeting ended up having some neighbors join us which was great. The time was mostly centered around enjoying conversation with each other and getting to know everyone better. We had a small bit of gospel interaction which I think would have been stronger had our group been together longer and more intentional about our conversation. Going forward we hope to have some of the times be just with our group so we can grow together and others times be more evangelistic. It's a bit unique for our case right now as this group will likely break into multiple groups in the fall. We also don't have a specific mission focus, and it's possible we won't since we are only meeting for a couple months together.

We've also had two DNA (discipleship, nurture, and accountability) times. These times are just with the guys and just the girls. The guys have been having all-church DNA times these last few weeks so our group of guys hasn't met just on their own. The girls have met twice now, and they have helped us get to know each other better. In the future, we will work on sharing our testimony with the group. The hope is also to spend some time together in prayer and encourage one another in our struggles through applying scripture to situations and accountability in our weaknesses. 

So, it's been a good, but somewhat slow, start (you know me...let's go, let's go). I'll try and update from time to time as we go forward. 

some beautiful sunset pics from this past week -
Dave thought the camera magnified the colors a bit
 

 

this pic is probably the most accurate colorwise
 

The Right Perspective

This quote is a good one to remember...as with so many things in life, it's all about perspective:

Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.

----- Philip Brooks

these pics are from our Sage Hills hike a while ago that had gotten
stuck on my camera
 

 

 

 

Last Week's Recap

Like I said the other day...this past week has been busy! So, since I can't put any coherent thoughts together tonight, here's a recap from our week:

James chose classes at WVC - I went and sat in on the orientation and actually had a small desire to go back to college :) weird, I know - he chose biology, art sculpture, and reading (he didn't really choose that one, it was required)

Kid's piano recital - you already saw pics of that - sadly my friend Cathy V is no longer going to continue with lessons next year, so we'll be changing to Miss Jimmi - I tried to upload video of that, but for some reason couldn't

Opening Ceremony for Hospitality Heights - we've been volunteering at Haven of Hope the last two years and this past week they opened another shelter - this one is for families as the other two are just for either males or females - we were able to walk through the houses and they looked super! - it was fun to see all the different items we had sorted as volunteers in place making the houses look beautiful

Graduation - even though James didn't officially graduate, he still participated in the ceremony - it was fun to go to the graduation (even though I didn't stay for all of it) and see everyone in their caps and gowns - they recognized the exchange students which was nice

Going away party(ies) - James is off for China in the morning so we got together with my folks and Dave's folks these past few days - today we had an official exchange program party

1st time in GC Kids (children's church) - I know this is a little funny include, but I kind of felt at home at GCC today as I was running around a little crazed, needing to talk with people, and having something particular I had to accomplish :) - I've decided I don't do well long term without being really involved, I'm not good as a by-stander

Working on next year's schedule - I'll post more about that once it all gets hammered out - it is amazing how much time you can use up looking for new books and curriculum

I made something with quinoa - this is really starting to get random now - but, I feel pretty impressive just using that word :) - you should try it

That last entry is proof that I should be going to bed rather than writing here. I'm looking forward to a calmer week ahead...and, hopefully, getting things tidied up around here.

Gifts 443 - 452

Busy, busy this week...this is James's last week here, and he has quite a lot of activities to complete before he heads back to China. So, that's also kept the rest of us busy as well. :)

443 - excitement over dressing up

444 - the underside of leaves

445 - beautiful picture books

446 - learning about new ministries

447 - all riding together

448 - getting a set of dishes from my childhood

449 - hunting for ripe strawberries with Toodle

450 - audio cds in the car

451 - teeny, tiny spiders

452 - freedom in Christ (Gal 5:1)

here are some pics of Hannah dressed up for her piano recital
I'll post the videos whenever I get a chance to upload them
 

I really like these two pics - but she looks too grown up
 

 

 

Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare

I came across a set of history readers the other day by the title "Wicked History." They had a number of books on historical people I wanted us to read about, so I checked some out from the library. Seeing as no one had recommended them to me and by the title I could tell they were trying to be "edgy," I decided to read one for myself before I passed them along to the kids. They are really quite short, 130 pages, and quite small, 5x7...so a quick read. 

Overall, the book was quite a good, brief history of Hannibal (in my case). They do choose "wicked" people in history so are limited in that degree...none on Hammurabi for instance...I guess they're not quite as exciting to read about. Anyways, they packed in a lot of facts in a generally pleasant form. They are not stories (historical fiction), but are conversational in manner. They also include maps, associated people, a timeline, glossary, pictures and various outtakes to focus on a specific aspect. I should mention that while transitioning to a new part there are "blood droplets" on the page - to keep with the wickedness theme, I'm sure. Many of these historical figures were terribly murderous and evil so the books portray that accurately. They do not, however, go into great morbid details about those events...more just states the facts and moves on. 

I think they do a good job at filling in the gap in readers that are either way too brief or way too intense for my age kids. If they didn't have the wicked/blood aspect to them, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. But, if you can be okay about that, you'll find them to be a good introduction to these characters. 

some more pics from Winthrop/Sun Mountain