Ten Sins, and Bible Verses to Remember

For my Seminary Wives Institute class, Biblical Parenting, with Mrs. Danna Stinson, I had to write down ten sins of me and/or my children and a Bible verse to help us out of that sin.  So I am just copying what I came up with here.  A good reference for me!

1.       Fear of Man:  “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.”  Proverbs 29:25

2.      Pride:  “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  1 Peter 5:5

3.      Love of Self (rather than love for others), demanding our own way, or being “bossy:”  “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4.      Covetousness:  “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:11

5.      Fear and Anxiety:  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your  minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

6.      Anger:  “…bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”  Colossians 3:13

7.      Envy:  “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5

8.     People Pleasing:  “… just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”  1 Thessalonians 2:4

9.      Dishonoring Parents/Authority:  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and your mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”  Ephesians 6:1-2

10.  Grumbling and Complaining/Discontentment:  “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”  Philippians 2:14

The Louisville Science Center

Last December, our dear friends the Schwenkes moved away.  It was really awful.  We are all still pretty sad and not at peace about it, I'll just be honest.  Many friends move away because they are done with seminary and find jobs.  The Schwenkes had to move because they couldn't sell their home in Eastern Kentucky and the people (the state?  the gov't, whoever) wouldn't allow them to rent it any longer.  And a few months ago, Matt got his orders from the US Army...he'll be leaving for Afghanistan soon...for over a year.  :-(  They have three children ages 8, 6 and 5 (something like that).  Please pray for this sweet, precious family.

We are reading the story of Joseph right now.  The story always convicts me and teaches me,  more and more every time I read it, that God's plans are the best plans.  That there is a bigger picture we can't see.  That He does love us so very, very much.  

I don't know why God has taken the Schwenke family away from us.  Josiah doesn't understand why I don't let him have whatever he wants, either.  He lets me know through frequent temper tantrums that hurt my heart, my feelings and make me angry.

He doesn't understand because he is two.

He is small.  He's short-sighted, selfish and immature.

You see what I'm saying, here, right?

Every now and then, the Schwenkes visit us.  They make us go crazy places like they always used to.  Jenn always planned our home school field trips.  She got us all motivated to drag our clan to places us moms would probably never go by ourselves, without our husbands, because it is quite a chore!  But in a large group, we watch out for each other, and it all works just fine.

Plus a lot of people leave when they see our big group coming...

On Tuesday (yesterday) we went to the Louisville Science Center.  We all had earned free passes anyway with the Louisville Free Public Library Summer Reading Program.  So this trip was almost free.  I paid for my ticket and we all packed our lunches.  We left at 9:15 am and got home at 2:30.  Shwew.  It was quite a day!  

Waiting outside the doors for all our friends to arrive.

Our 5 and 6 year old friends  really know how to get into character.  We love playing with them!

Josiah was an excellent bus driver, even though he was convinced it was a train.  Choo choo!

He spent an hour playing in the water, getting soaked.

The rain jacket didn't help much!

He loves to make tea for Mommy.

I l-o-v-e this picture of our sweet seven year old friend, Kaylee.

The tubes of air...shot balls out, so cool!

"We need these blocks at our house.  These are REAL blocks!"

Shopping for shapes!  The kids could grab a list of shapes to "buy" and checked out at the register.  

Maryn apparently had a very, very long list.

Building a rollercoaster!

After our friends left, we stayed a while since Owen finally fell asleep.
I got to play with them finally, and we all built a couple castles.  :)

Kansas and Louisville, KY

We had a good time watching the Jayhawks on Sunday evening.  We ordered pizza and had milkshakes, and ate right in the living room!  It was a special night.  Josiah pulled the rocking chair out all by himself for a special spot.

 Maryn was cheering for the Jayhawks with the rest of us!

After ballet and Josiah's 3+ hour nap today, we went on a nature hike and to a playground in Cherokee Park.  Then we came home, had dinner with Daddy, and Daddy--not to be outdone--wanted to take us to a "cooler" area of the park.

 We did some rock jumping in the gorgeous river, and some pretty intense hiking.  John and Maryn also did some pretty risky rock climbing.  She is a brave girl.

 Here they are!  They climbed up all those rocks.

Then we went to another playground that had boulders and more kid friendly rock climbing things, and she loved that too.  Maryn had her third ballet class this morning, and she is just doing splendidly.  She's a natural.  Her toes, when they point, are so beautiful.  I can't wait to see how she progresses in the coming year, if we are able to keep her in it through the summer especially.  Our kids are thoroughly exhausted today!

Mommy and Daddy are exhausted too (I did get a nap today!  No way would I be functioning right now otherwise).  Good night!

International Food Festival

Last night we held the first ever International Food Festival in our neighborhood.  I love our neighborhood and all the unique opportunities we have for making friends, experiencing different cultures, and just doing fun (FREE) things without even having to drive anywhere.

We got to try a lot of different foods last night.  We had Indian and Nepali food, Iraqi, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Italian, and more.  I'm not sure the lasagna John made was authentically Italian but it's the kind I prefer!  My Italian grandmothers didn't ever make lasagna that I can remember.  They made lots of soups, eggplant parmesan, tons of vegetables and of course loved to have bread, bread, bread with every meal.  And pizzelles!  Wow, how I love pizzelles and wish I had my grandmother's old iron pizzelle maker.

My favorite food at the Food Festival was the Samosas from Nepal made by our neighbor, Babitra.  Samosas are little turnovers stuffed with meat, beans, potatoes, whatever.  They were a little spicy but definitely in a very, very good way.  John loved the spring rolls made by Esai (sp?) who I think said she is from Japan, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.  They were made with a really super thin (thinner than paper) dough and stuffed with a colorful array of veggies and I think what John said was crab (or lobster?) meat.  There were two amazing sauces to dip them in which John said were incredible and spicy, even for him.  But he loved it!

Josiah stayed entertained by Miss Margeaux's dog.  Pets aren't allowed in our neighborhood, but we have three sweet blind ladies living here that all have seeing eye dogs.  And this has been my kids' sole exposure to dogs, for the most part.  Josiah climbed right on Margeaux's lap and petted that dog, laughing at her (hysterically like he does with babies) until the dog licked him and he flipped out!  But after a few minutes he got used to it and was right there again.  Then he had a free piano lesson with Miss Easai (see facebook for a video of that).

What did Maryn do?  She ran around like a wild banshee, scooping up food whenever it pleased her (mostly cheese puffs and brownies).  :)

I am always surprised more people don't come to these events.  What on earth else do they have to do that could be better than what I just described?  Not only free food, but pleasant company and the opportunity to make more friends!

Back to School!

I have the great privilege to take the class Old Testament and New Testament Survey with two of of the world's foremost scholars on the Bible, Dr. TJ Betts and Dr. Tom Schreiner.  My class is only six weeks long and costs $10.  That's right, ten dollars!

Dr. Betts and Dr. Schreiner are literally the guys that write Bible commentaries and Bible dictionaries.  They are also incredibly talented speakers, preachers and teachers--meaning they don't dumb down the material too much but they won't make it too difficult that it will be over my head.  I am so excited and feel so blessed.

That being said, I have to read the entire New Testament by mid-May, along with maybe 30-40 chapters of the Old Testament.  That's a lot of reading!  My Kindle is helping me flip through those chapters already at great speed.  This is very good news.  Whenever I get my actual Bible out, Josiah quickly runs over to me to feel its pages.  He is obsessed with Bible pages.  He loves their thin, whispy texture and the sounds they make as they crinkle and slide next to each other.  I am SO glad I have a Kindle!

So by Thursday, I am going to try to read Matthew, Mark and Luke.  Wish me luck :)

Play Time!

 The last two days we had our new little friends, Elijah and Levi, over for play time.  Yesterday they were with us from 10 am - 2:30 pm!  We had so much fun.  All four kids played back in Maryn's room for an hour and a half.  I didn't even have to go back there at all!  I got some mailing stuff done, did some reading, and ate a few treats while the kids weren't looking.  ;-)

 Levi and Josiah really play well together.  Josiah LOVES having boys over!

 And um, Maryn loves it, too...

 After lunch (grilled cheese!), they colored and did Play Doh and played some more, and then we watched Tangled.  Because their nap time is usually at 1:00, and they were all starting to get a little feisty.

After I took the boys home, I told Maryn we'd make cookies.  So we got out all the ingredients, and guess who woke up?  Josiah, of course.  And obviously Maryn didn't want to wait too long to make those cookies (there were marshmallows and candy bars in the recipe, so she was desperate for a taste).  So I got to cook with two kids in our miniature kitchen, which I assure you is a great pleasure.  :-/

Above you see them helping me cook.  Looks fun, huh?

Today we picked up Elijah and Levi, and Elise Downstairs volunteered to take Maryn if I took her son Eli for some boy time at our house.  So I had the pleasure of having four boys at our house, ages 1, 2, 3, and 4!  It was so much fun.  I've concluded that boys are definitely louder than girls, but boys (the boys here anyway) are a little better at keeping busy and actually make less messes.  Because most of the time they were just chasing each other and sword fighting...not too messy.

When Maryn came back they spent an hour or so playing "Tangled," and she got to be Rapunzel of course.  Eli was Flynn, and he was being so sweet to her!  I am really happy about that because Maryn and Eli really used to clash.

Now we are getting ready for a big appointment at the seminary clinic.  Josiah is supposed to get four shots.  I usually limit them to two at a time, but we are so, so, so very behind and WIC and our pediatricians are starting to wonder about me.  Plus our little friend thought she may have whooping cough and I kind of flipped out since Josiah definitely is not fully vaccinated against that.  'Tis the season!  But we are staying healthy this year, so far.

Josiah has a pretty bad cold, but I am hoping this time it doesn't develop into bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. like it usually did last year, and Maryn hasn't gotten it yet.  Miracle!  I am using those Shaklee vitamins in their juice and letting them eat clementines all day.  They are both eating and sleeping well, so hopefully we can fight those germs.

Happy Play Time!  Serve your neighbors somehow this week.  It really is a pleasure.  ;-)

Hallway Play Date

We had our hallway friends over this morning for a little play date.  The kids usually behave pretty well and the mommies get to talk.  And no one even has to walk outside.  :)

Miss Elise being Miss Preschool Teacher :)

Ella Grace, her daughter, Ella, Bekah's daughter, and Maryn

 Elise's youngest, Julia.  They live right downstairs.

 Elise, Julia, Josiah, Weston and Miss Bekah (who lives across the hall)

If this is too long and boring, don't read it :)

I am getting ready to update Maryn and Josiah's scrapbooks.  Maryn's was started by Alicia and chronicles her first three months of life in great creative splendor.  Josiah's was started by me, and chronicles his first year of life in about 7 little pages that I completed in less than an hour.  I intend to get them both up to date by Christmas with the same tenacity and quality as I did with Josiah's.

I had to load up my Snapfish cart with pictures from my facebook, which stores all my photos, and I had to go back to all my favorites of Maryn's childhood so far.  Such sweet times with our baby girl, and how she's grown!

As most of you know, we all got sick Wednesday.  John came home from work late Tuesday night with a stomach bug.  He slept on the floor of the bathroom all night and after I went to get Josiah and Maryn out of their beds, I was in the other bathroom for a while...both kids standing beside me of course as I knelt over the toilet.  Glorious.

The hours that passed that day were incredibly unpleasant, but our sweet neighbor Elise took both of our children all morning (9:30-1:00).  Sometime around 3:00 Maryn cried that her belly hurt, ran back to her room, and threw up everywhere--mostly on her dress up clothes.  Sadly, very sadly, some of her dress up clothes got ruined in the dryer.  Her Snow White dress and her very favorite dress up costume, the fairy from Halloween last year.  She hasn't noticed that they are gone yet, but it broke my heart.  She wore that fairy costume almost every day her whole second year of life.  I am seriously considering looking for a replacement online even if we just keep it as a keepsake.

Fortunately by that time John was feeling A LITTLE better, but I was still throwing up.  Also, whenever I get any kind of sick, a migraine always accompanies the illness.  So my main woe was actually the headache.  I was insanely hungry and kept trying to eat small bits of things.  It's tricky being sick while pregnant because it's so easy to become dehydrated, and if an expectant woman doesn't eat for hours, she will feel nauseated.  So it was a losing battle.  I felt miserable clear up until Friday (mostly from the migraine), when I finally surrendered and drank coffee.  I felt terrific after that.  Poor Maryn was the sickest I've ever seen her, throwing up all night, almost once every hour.  Since I was still miserable myself, John had to sleep with her all night and take care of her even though he was still not feeling well himself.  I still think I am in recovery mode, but my son is not cooperating with my sleep cycle...and we are just busy.

Most people have a lot to do in the month of December.  When you're a one car family, you have to fit all those errands into very small windows of time but still try to "enjoy the season," and time together and all that.

Today I squeezed in a trip to Hobby Lobby, which I did NOT have time for, but I wanted ribbon to try to make the craft from Ladies Craft Night.  It was such a nightmare, and we ended up walking out of the store with nothing at all, Maryn almost having a meltdown on the way out.

So, Ladies' Craft Night.  I had been thinking of doing this for a long time.  A lot of people think I'm crafty.  I do like and enjoy creating art (painting, drawing) but I rarely feel it's worth the time and money.  I like doing kids' crafts, too (with kids, not by myself).  But I just don't make a lot of stuff we actually use around the house, and the question is--why?  Well, it costs a lot of money to be crafty for one thing.  And, it's lonely.  But if I had a friend sitting next to me doing a similar project, wouldn't the time go faster?  And wouldn't it be less stressful?

So we planned a Ladies' Craft Night.  I chose two crafts, which was tricky itself because it couldn't be something that needed a lot of drying time, coats of paint, etc.  It couldn't require a lot of nicer materials (like scrapbooking dye cutters, sewing machines, etc.) or special skills (sewing, crocheting).  We did ribbon trees and a Christmas countdown calendar.  When buying the supplies, I had no idea how many people would come, but I sort of suspected it would be a total flop.  So many people were sick and it had been raining for days.  But I guessed maybe 15 women would come at most, and loaded (LOADED) up my cart at JoAnn's.  Maryn and I were there for 2 hours.  We nearly cleaned out their ribbon and tree forms, and the cashier and other customers probably thought I was nuts.

Maryn, by the way, did a fantastic job at JoAnn's.  I am so proud of her.  Her only complaint at the end, at 1:00 (we missed lunch and 1:00 is normally quiet time), was that she was hungry and, "I miss my daddy!"  See, we have to run errands like this when John is home because we need the car of course, so we did miss Daddy indeed.  And while we usually can go grocery shopping as a family, JoAnn's is a less pleasant experience with the boys along.  :)

So my total bill at JoAnn's, even with some measly coupons, was $250.  I bought some things for the Kids' Crafternoon (next Monday) as well, but still.  I almost passed out, put it on our new American Express Rewards card (to be reimbursed by our property managers), said a prayer and headed home.

So I am not kidding you, I think nearly 30 people came to this craft night.  I mean, I know it was a good idea (for me!) but apparently everyone else thought so too!  I was so happy to see a great turnout but we did NOT have enough materials.  Meg and Beth had to run to JoAnn's for more, but apparently they hadn't restocked since my visit.  I didn't even get to make a ribbon tree.  I think I am going to give up on it, because I am starting to wonder if it's a curse on me.  It just wasn't meant to be.

I was also happy that it was a good mixture of people.  Not just seminary wives.  The cute young seminary wives without children yet, and the old seminary wives with at least two, four sweet Muslim ladies, and several women not associated with the seminary at all of all ages.  Two of our blind lady friends came with their seeing eye dogs, and though I was a little worried about how they'd do with the ribbon and straight pins craft, they really did an excellent job.  I think everyone had a great time.

I also found a second person to drive for our monthly Food Line distribution!

Sometimes, it's just one success after another!

And I tried all the crafts tonight for our Kids' Crafternoon and had to re-plan the whole thing because every craft was a total failure.

Sometimes, it's just one let down after another.  :-(

But all in all I would say we are having a great December so far.  Our sickness was dreadful, I'm still days behind on laundry, but we did have a lot of quality time laying around and cleaning up after each other when we could.  :)

I think I'll post pictures for this post tomorrow, or I'll do a whole post with pics.  Or just look on my facebook page.  I'm tired, and Josiah is finally asleep!  Yay!

Happy National Cupcake Day!

We went to a cupcake party today.  It was set for 11:00.  Apparently everyone in our neighborhood eats a lot later than we do.  I was unwilling to let my children fill up on cupcakes half an hour before lunch, so we had our lunch and arrived a little late to the party.  Maryn, in good Maryn fashion, dumped a pile of sprinkles on her cupcake, licked off the frosting and sprinkles, and sprinted for the playground.  Josiah, in good Josiah fashion, at his miniature cupcake in one bite and his sugar cookie in two seconds.

It was in the 50s today, and the playground was nice and cool.  We stayed until 12:30, when all the other kids' sugar highs were wearing off and they had to head home for lunch.  We came home, ate some Halloween candy and took naps.  Maryn fell asleep with the Target Toy Book on her face.  Fun times :)

We are getting excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Are you?  I  know Christmas morning is going to be SO much fun this year.  We have big plans for some great gifts for our kiddos, and I am going to love to see their faces light up (followed by days of spoiled brat attitude, no doubt...lol...just kidding...).  I already got a few stocking stuffers, and some presents for a few family members and friends.  I feel so blessed to be able to give a few presents this year.  I am grateful!

Speaking of gratefulness, I put another Food Line under my belt on Tuesday, and scored a box of Jimmy Dean Sausage sandwiches, which is something I've been craving.  Maryn can't quite understand why I want Jimmy Dean Sausage sandwiches as my dessert rather than ice cream and cupcakes.  I don't even know if I have ever eaten the things before in my life, and they taste like cafeteria food, but man.  I like them.  John and I just had this discussion.  Remember cafeteria rib sandwiches?  They are one of those things that taste so good, but you know they are gross.  I was so happy to be a teacher and get to eat cafeteria food every day if I wanted to.  Chicken patties?  Yes, thank you.  Rectangle pizzas?  Seconds, please!  Chicken nuggets?  Yumm-o!

Well, it looks like Josiah is going to cry right through his nap time.  I better go rescue him.

I LOVE getting outside.  Just stepping right outside and being able to sit at a picnic table and talk for two hours with FIVE sweet friends and our 15 children.  LOL fifteen children!

I feel blessed.  Thank you friends.  :)

the final straw (:

When the Andersons moved, it was really sad.  I cried my eyes out.  Literally!  Okay, not literally.  That would be gross and you'd probably have heard about it because I would have been in the hospital for a really long time, and I would probably still have scarring and bandages around my face.

The Koesters have been hanging out around us (and we around them) a lot lately, and Jodi has been such a sweet, normal friend to me.  "Normal" is code at seminary, so if you are a seminary wife you know what I mean. If you are not a seminary wife, just ignore it.  Jodi loves the Lord, her husband and her five precious children, in that order, and she knows those are the things that really matter.  She is set apart for Christ, but has her feet firmly planted on the ground.  ;-)

I am having serious allergy issues today (it's raining.  Rain=Mold=Allergies) and not only do my sinuses hurt, but my ear hurts and my foot hurts, too.  So I'm not going to make this post very long.  I'm actually going to stop describing how much I love the Koesters because I'm already near sobbing.

ANYWAY...

We are so happy and excited for them.  Andy has a great new position at a church in Indiana, close enough to visit and on our way to MN.

I met Jodi and Betsy soon after we moved here, and very few others are still here that were here when we moved (that I knew well, anyway).  Seeing the Koesters go is like the final straw...they are the linchpin, the vital thread that weaves through our "recess" groups, the family that was just always there.

I love each of these kids sweet little faces and will miss them so, so much.  We love you, Koesters!  You will always be in our prayers.  We are so grateful to call you friends.

Okay, seriously.  Now I really need to go take some Zyrtec.

Or maybe an anti-depressant!  Waaah!  :)

Back to School!

 Someone is becoming more of a troublemaker! He got into the cupboard and pulled out the Sam's Club size baking soda.

 Maryn and I made this decoupage box for Josiah's new big boy room early one morning, before we even ate breakfast.

 I love this picture above, simply because my sweetie pie Maryn is actually smiling so cute.  Josiah and I look like we're a bit possessed, but since it's usually the other way around, I just had to post it anyway.  ;-)

We were on our way to church in this picture, and Maryn got moved up to a new class.  She loved it, and woke up very excited.  John and I have been attending a "new class" for the last 6 months or so and we are enjoying it very much.  It's just a small group, and while the teacher isn't Dr. Moore, and there aren't famous people everywhere, the people are real, they know and love our kids, and we are getting to know all of them.

 John has gone back to school.  He is taking one class on Mondays and one class on Fridays.  On Tuesday, I almost has a meltdown.  This semester is going to be tough.  Please pray for us.  Above, you see how Maryn feels about it.  Here you see John sitting at his desk (see his desk light?) and he is about to be swallowed by a big fish (the stripey thing).

 I'm trying not to be such a lazy fatty, so here we were taking a walk Monday morning.  It was 65 degrees and the kiddos were "freezing" so I went up and grabbed them some blankets.  I walked about 1/4 of a mile and thought I might die.

Maryn and I have been getting along much better lately.  One thing that brings us together is being partners in crime as we stick bath foamies all over her little brother.  We giggle and giggle and giggle as he tries to find them, spinning around like a little doggy chasing his tail.  Oh, they are so cute.

Maryn, Josiah and I are doing school on Mondays and Fridays just like daddy.  I put new crayons and scissors in a "new" backpack for her, and she woke up on Monday so excited to open it and play school.  We painted, played Hi-Ho Cherry-O, did a fun craft with foil, yarn and markers, laced buttons, played some file folder games (Big and Small), read Not a Box, and did two worksheets.  I put the worksheets in a plastic sheet so we can reuse them.  One showed how to draw a kite step by step, and one was choosing which picture was "bigger."

We have been practicing saying things like, "Mommy is big.  Daddy is bigger."  This is a part of language that is hard to learn, and I remember that from teaching second language learners.  My daughter is a language learner as well, and this is a difficult concept.  She kept wanting to say, "Mommy is big.  Daddy is big."  Or, she wants to sort her Care Bears by size but puts any Care Bear wearing a diaper in the "small" pile, because if they wear a diaper, they must be "little."  Interesting to see!

Having her do the step-by-step kite was interesting too, because of her perception at this age.  She wanted to make the  lines that were supposed to be on the kite, on top of the kite.  And the crossing of two lines is difficult at this age.  So it was just interesting to see how her mind is developing.

What did Josiah do all day while we had school?  He played!  He just loves to play, play, play.  And normally, he does not get into the baking soda!  :)

Vacation Bible School 2011 Topics and Crafts

Vacation Bible School in our neighborhood has begun!  Since I have spent about 50 hours this month organizing these crafts, I figured I'd share them all and maybe someone out there can  use these ideas--for something in your own home or with a group.  

The challenge with our VBS is that we really needed crafts that didn't need to dry (so no paint, no glue) and could be done in about 15 minutes.  We also just did crafts as a station, so it has to all be cleaned up and ready for the next group immediately (nothing too messy) and all the crafts were for kids THREE to TWELVE.  So, I made crafts slightly different for the little kids without being too complicated, and here is what I came up with.  

So I pretty much hated my life last week as I tried to get this all together with my seriously obsessive crafty two year old pulling at my skirt, begging (BEGGING) for this and that and everything else.  But now that VBS is here, I love seeing it all come together and am not stressed at all about whether or not the kids really love it...or if it's all going in the trash as soon as they get home...or if doing coloring sheets would have been just fine....etc...not stressing at all about that.  Not.  At.  All.  ;-)

This is me.  This is what I do!  I came up with crafts that I thought were going to be pretty lame-o, but really, I am very happy with these!  We figured in 100 kids for each day, and I only spent $230 on ALL this stuff--paper, card stock, contact paper, tissue paper, blotters, millions of stickers, lots of yarn and ribbon, markers, crayons, the pretty crosses and sand art, etc...for 100 kids, for 4 days--that's 400 crafts!!

Thanks to Target, where I got most of our craft supplies.  Who knew, right?

And Jo Ann's who had the stuff Target didn't have (yarn and ribbon).

And a BIG THANKS to our neighborhood people who sponsor it all!

So, here it all is...sorry for the errors and funny fonts and colors, whatever.  :)  

Monday:  Who is God?

 Deut. 6:4  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

Trinity craft supplies:  popsicle sticks (write Father, Son and Holy Spirit), crayons and markers, Elmer’s Glue All, yarn

3-4 year olds:  pre-glue triangles, write Father, Son,  Holy Spirit

Directions:  Introduce craft, discussing the Trinity.  In school we learn that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, but God is 1 + 1 + 1 = ONE!  He is one God who makes himself known in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We make special note to the children that none of the crafts we make hold special powers or are holy in anyway.  This craft just helps us remember that God is ONE God.  And there is only one true God.  

Each child finds a Father stick, a Son stick and Holy Spirit craft stick, writes their name on the back of one stick, colors and glues them together to form a triangle.  Then we tie the verse Deuteronomy 6:4 to the triangle.  

                               

Tuesday:  The Law is love.

 Deut. 6:5  “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Materials for 3-6 year olds (Heart Door Decorations):  pink, red, purple, white construction paper, stickers, labels, blotters, glue

Materials for 7-12 year olds ("Stained Glass Hearts"):  large thick paper, contact paper, tissue paper

 Above is the little kid craft which is a door decoration.  We made a hole punch at the top of the heart and made a little hanger with yarn, glued the verse for Tuesday on the back of it.  Then, the kids can decorate the heart as they wish with stickers and "blotters."

Below is the big kid craft, which would probably work well for any age, really.  We used contact paper for this rather than glue--very easy and surprisingly cheap.  Cut the black heart out of some extra posterboard we've had in the closet for ages, cut out some contact paper hearts, stick the contact paper onto the black side, and stick the tissue paper squares all over it, hang it on the window and voila, a beautiful sun catcher.

Wednesday: Salvation through Christ

 Romans 10:9 “…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

3-6 year olds:  Fuzzy Crosses, Crayons, Thin Markers, glue (for verse)

7-12 year olds:  sand art kits (put sand in bowls with baby spoons)

Above you see our little kid craft for Wednesday, which Maryn was happy to make a sample for.  I love these, which we found at Oriental Trading.  I think each kid is going to be able to make two.  Super!  I think they are beautiful.  We bought them 12 for 3.99.  Not too shabby.

The big kids will be doing little sand art pictures.  I am really excited because sand art pics were one of my favorite things as a child.  I hope it doesn't create too much of a mess.  I haven't made a sample yet, so I'll try to come back and post a pic later.

Thursday: God’s Word is for life

2 Tim 4:16  “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”

3-6 year olds:   Jesus is Lord bookmark (verses, Romans 10:9), labels, stickers, dye cut shapes or foamies, blotters

7-12 year olds:  Heart Pockets:  twine, yarn or ribbon, thick paper, label w/ psalm 119:11, plastic needles, index cards

The big kids will put their memory verse cards in these heart pockets on Thursday to take home.  I am so impressed with how these turned out.  They really look beautiful.  We got some really colorful quality card stock and several colors of ribbon.  I wrote Psalm 119:11 on each heart:  "I have stored up Your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against You."

The little jeweled stickers were only a dollar for a sheet of 100 or something.

 Below, the little kids will be making a Jesus is Lord bookmark--pretty simple!  They'll get to use the blotters again and, believe it or not, kids love these dot stickers that are SO cheap and easy to peel.  Plus kids can mark on top of them easily, create their own faces on them, etc.

God is Good

One of the joys of college and seminary life is that so many people around us are in the same boat.  Many are passing through.  Some finish in three very quick years, some move along slow and steady, and some families have to stop, save, and start again.  When we moved here, the Andersons were at our door to greet us (actually, they greeted John, had him over for dinner, and made me feel better about him being in an empty house with nothing to eat!).  They helped us with all the necessities when our moving truck was a week and a half late--air mattresses, bedding, pots and pans, toilet paper, paper plates, etc.  Betsy's cheerful smile at all hours of the day, along with her honesty and openness about everything from well, you know what, to you know what, and other you know whats...were a blessing to me when I otherwise would have been shut indoors with two little ones day in and day out.  

She was there whenever we needed craft supplies or advice, baking and cooking supplies or advice, and her boy was around to knock on our door relentlessly to ask to come play, to borrow a movie, or to tell us he was eating an apple.  Gabbi was always available to love on my children like no one else quite could, to play silly games no one older than ten could, and with the patience no one younger than 8 could have.  

We said goodbye to the Andersons the other day, with many many tears but with overwhelming joy that God has taken them back to Betsy's home, where Dennis will serve as the Pastor of her parents' church.  What a tremendous blessing they will be to a church full of people and a new neighborhood.  I have had Betsy almost to myself for two years, and now it is time to share her with many more who will be blessed by her, her husband, and their children.

God gives and he takes away.  His will is perfect and He always knows best.  

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."  -Romans 8:26-28

I'd like to share some photos with you from our Anderson family send-off!  

 Above, our new neighbors from Iraq (I am not going to post last names for safety reasons for some of these families).

 Above, our backyard neighbors the Schwenkes (seminary/Army family), who are originally from Kentucky.

 Above, the Kirks (seminary family), who have also just moved this week I believe, as he has been deployed to Afghanistan.  Please pray.

 Above, the Jimenez family, a seminary family originally from the Dominican Republic.

 Above, two of our downstairs neighbors originally from Sudan.

 Above, our downstairs neighbors the Powells (also seminary) from South Carolina.  Elise, Brian, Eli, Ella Grace and Julia.

 Above, Danny and Amy,who don't live here but we know through the Andersons.  Sweet couple!  I hope we still see them.

 The Gills, Jon, Jin, Ethan and Ezra, seminary family, from California.

 Jennifer, me and Josiah.  I love Jenn!

 The Krenzins!

Tara and half of her brood.  Downstairs and down a few doors from us.

 Bagy, our friend from Bhutan.

 The Koesters!  Andy and Jodi and kids (Titus, Sam, Mara, Lily and Drew)

 The cutest family in the neighborhood, the Erdmans!

Yay!  And here's Jonathan, Rebekah and Avery.  They are expecting a baby in November.  We love all these neighbors and friends so much.  And we are blessed by every one of them.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Thank you God for so many amazing friends.