Grandparents and Go-Carts

I hope every one had a wonderful Mother's Day! I did! My boys bought me a giant card, that daddy had them put their hand prints in (so that is why there was a blue paint stain on my carpet!). Plus, I got a canvas picture of our family and....a one hour massage. Yep. I got spoiled!

Today we are headed to Springfield, Missouri. My husband and I are going to the Baptist Bible Fellowship Meetings held at our old College. It will be great to see some old friends and to make some new contacts for our Houston Church Plant. Our kiddos get to go to Nana and Papa's house during that time. Jack is super excited to ride the go-cart. Yes. My 2 1/2 year old has his own go-cart. That he drives. Thankfully with his Papa.

See you all on Friday!

To My Sister Miranda On Her Graduation

This is my little sister Miranda. This little girl, is graduating high school on Saturday. 

 How in the world did she go from being that little, precious, wide-eyed, fiery, red head...to a strong, gorgeous, confident, and amazing woman of God?!

To my dear Miranda, our "little one", 

I wanted to tell you how incredibly proud I am of you. You are so funny and full of life. I love how quirky you are and how you love to make people smile. I love that you don't worry about what others think of you, and yet you conduct yourself in a way that no one could say anything negative about you. I love how you have convictions and stick to them. I love how you have a servants heart and are continually look for ways for God to use you. I love and am amazed at the wise decisions you make at your young age. I love the way you seek God. 

Miranda, I know God is going to use 

you in great and might ways. Your heart is open to Him and willing to serve. Never let that change. Right now, life is exciting and about to be completely new. Never forgot God. Hold fast to truth. There will be times in your life when Satan will tempt you with the things of this world. Hide God's word in your heart, so you will not fall when those temptations come. 

I am already praying for that special person that I know will come into your life some day. Don't settle for any less than God's perfect for you, Miranda. Wait on his perfect timing. Above all, keep God first, and He will work out the details.

 I am so proud of you, Miranda. More proud than I could ever express! I can't wait to see how God continues to work in your life and grow you in the years to come. You are an amazing, godly, loving, confident, caring, selfless, funny, quirky, and feisty young woman. I love you Rudy!

Croc-a-gator ABC Game

We are in the process of learning our ABC's. Jack has the song down pat, and now we are moving onto letter identification. The game below is actually one I remember playing with my own mom when I was little. Jack and I named it...The Croc-a-gator ABC Game

This game will allow your child to: 

-properly identify their letters

-practice gross motor skills

-engage in dramatic/imaginative play

What You Need:  

-Construction Paper

-Markers

-2 Pillows

-a "croc-a-gator" and a snake (or any other stuffed animals of your choice)

Prep:

Have your little one place their foot on the paper and trace around it on each page. Write one letter of the alphabet inside each foot print. We only did a-g...but you could do as many as you like. Next, lay your pages down in order. Place one pillow at the front as a starting point and one at the end as a finishing point. 

Rules:

-Child must jump to the correct letter when called out. Ex- mom calls out 'a' child must hop to the correct page with the letter 'a'. 

-If you jump to the wrong letter the crocodile 'gets you' (I have it tickle him) and you have to start over at the beginning. 

-Get to the end before the crocodile catches up and you win! 

Jack was a bit confused. Mommy told him this was an crocodile...but he kept saying it croc-a-gator. It was pretty cute. 

Our "croc-a-gator" guarding his territory.

Hurry Jack! Find the letter 'C'!!!

Oh no! Even worse than the 'croc-a-gator' is the snake! Be careful Jack! 

You're surrounded! Hurry find the letter 'E'! (The more dramatic I was...the more Jack loooooved it!)

He was so funny. I told him to look for the letter 'E' and he put his hand to his forehead searching for the right one.

After a while we really got into the acting part of it...he started saying 'oh no! A croc-a-gator and snake! I'm scared!'

Finally we reached the end! 

After we played the game about a dozen times Jack decided to befriend the 'croc-a-gator' and team up with him against the evil snake. 

He kept saying 'momma, he is my best friend!'. He now sleeps with him every night. Ha! 

Variations: 

This game is great since you can change it up every time you play. You can add in new letters once your little one masters a set. You can put them in order or make them random. You can put them in a line, like we did, or spread them out randomly around the room. You can trace momma's foot too and put capital letters on those and have your little one match up the big and little letter pairs. As Jack learns to identify each letter we will change it up and make it a bit more difficult. 

So grab a few fun stuffed animals and get dramatic learning your ABC's!

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 15:13

Vanilla and Chamomile Bath Fizzies

This year I decided to make Mother's day presents. I wanted to make something that would be unique, and pamper my mother and mother-in-law. My mom has Fibromyalgia. Because of this, she is in a lot of pain. Constantly. She is the strongest woman I have ever met, you will never hear her complaining about being in pain. She goes about her day, serving her family, and never makes excuses. She is amazing. (Note to God: Please make me even half the woman my mother is.) She enjoys taking baths since they help to relax her muscles. So, I decided that something to put in the bath to aide in her relaxation would be perfect. I searched several different things...bath salts, bath bombs, etc. I finally came upon a post for making your own bath fizzies by Jacinda of Growing Home. I loved the idea of scented bath fizzies, and knew it would be perfect for my mom. These would give off a relaxing scent and moisturize her skin as well. 

Want to make some for yourself? The thing I love about making these...I already had everything I needed in my pantry!

Here is what you need....

4 tbsp of Coconut Oil

2 tbsp Cream of Tartar

4 tbsp Baking Soda

2 tbsp Flour

2 Packets of Vanilla Chamomile Tea

(Jacinda used Cornflour to give her fizzies a more golden color. So if you have cornflour on hand, go with that. I think it would be beautiful. She also says to use dried Chamomile flowers or 2 tea bags of 100% chamomile tea. I think that would give it a stronger smell, in a good way. I only had the vanilla chamomile on hand. But the smell is just as wonderful! Use what you have on hand and experiment with smells. Dried lavender or peppermint would be great too! I think you could even experiment with using essential oils.) 

I doubled the recipe in order to make enough to fill a pint jar. You can double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe to make the amount you need. 

Place all your dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together. 

Add in the melted coconut oil 1/2 tbsp at a time, stirring as you go. You may not need to use all 4 tbsp of coconut oil. I found that I only needed around 3-31/2 one time around and closer to 4 the other time I made it. If it ends up being too wet add in equal amounts of flour and cream of tartar till it reaches the desired consistency. If it is too dry and crumbles add in 1/4 tbsp of oil till it is smooth. You want it to be a bit like silly putty (just a little wetter). If it is too slimy and sticky add more flour and cream of tartar.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper, and roll into a smooth ball then flatten onto a baking sheet. I did not use wax paper, and after the mix hardened it was hard to get off.

Here is where you can get as creative as you want. You can use a cookie cutter to create different shapes. You can also simply shape them with your hands into flat circles or squares. I tried using a small cookie cutter, but it had a lot of detail on the edges and I could not get it to come apart with out ruining the design. So experiment and find out what works for you. I think a heart shape, like Jacinda used in her post, would be much easier to work with. 

Once you have your shapes cut out, place in the fridge to harden. This takes about 30 minutes tops. 

I decided to lay my mix out flat and let it harden in the fridge. Then I simply broke it up into about 1"-2" pieces to give it a raw, natural look.  

Place your finish product in a glass jar and add a label with directions on how to use your Bath Fizzies.

 Finish it off by tying it with a ribbon, and giving to someone you love! 

 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 136:26 

Linking up to Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways

Family Time: Fun in the City

Last Saturday Jack was able to fulfill a life long dream....to ride a dragon. He has been obsessed with 'How to Train Your Dragon', and will even pretend to ride Toothless around the house. So when we went to Frontier City the other day, and rode the carousel, he just about flipped out when he saw a dragon. The look on his face was priceless and he kept telling me 'mommy, it's my dragon!'.

We had a wonderful time as a family and with close friends. 

I really can not believe that my little guy was old enough and tall enough to ride most of the kids rids. It just doesn't seem possible. Where does time go?! Any way, he looooooooved the mini roller coaster they had. He rode it with his friends over and over and over and over. Seriously, like 10 times! They were all so cute holding their hands up!

 

This was his face the very first time he rode it. He was a bit unsure. Especially since mom and dad were not riding with him. But he was brave and did it any way. After the first time around, he was chanting with the other kids, 'again! again! again!'. 

It is funny how you can go to an amusement park and not actually ride any 'real' rides yourself, yet have the most fun ever. Kids kinda change things like that. My boys make every experience just that much sweeter. Seeing the joy on my son's face each time he walked up to a ride like a big boy was awesome. I love this little...big guy. 

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.

                                                                                     Romans 15:13  

Vision and a Purpose: Church Planting

Sunday night my husband was able to share the vision of our Houston Church Plant with our home church. It was wonderful to be able to share our passion and excitement with them. To let you get a better idea of that vision too, this is the video that our Church Plant team's lead Pastor made (and my husband wrote the script for)....

That video gets me so pumped and excited to see what God is going to be doing in Houston, Texas. Pretty unbelievable that Houston is the most culturally diverse city in America! That means is surpasses both Los Angeles and New York. Thousands of people are moving to Houston everyday. The need is great!

I just can't help but think....how amazing would it be to reach one person from another culture. We disciple that person and equip them to share the gospel. They then go back to their family (in America) who doesn't speak English. They share the truth of the gospel with their family who then accepts Christ. They go on to share with their neighbors and their friends. Finally, maybe some one they have reached feels a burden to go back to their home country to share the gospel. They go back, already knowing the language and the culture. They are able to effectively reach the people of their country for Christ.

It thrills me to think of things like this happening in the future! I am so excited to see the great and mighty things our God is going to be doing!

For more information:

Visit \Our Website

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"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
-Romans 10:14 (ESV)

Learning and Playing with Littles: Spools in a Can

I find that it is always fairly simple to come up with ideas to teach/play with Jack. I can stick a tub of packing peanuts in front of him and he has a blast! Luke on the other hand is not as simple. He sticks literally everything into his mouth! Everything. Dirt, bugs, grass, rocks, toys...packing peanuts. You name it! 

I try to allow him to experience all of Jack's activites, but after the sixth time I have pulled the packing peanut out of his mouth he starts to scream at me in frustration. He just wants to taste it momma! 

I have decided to do a least one activity each day this is designed specially for Luke. One that he can look at, touch, listen too, and taste, till his hearts content. The activity that I am going to share today was a HUGE hit with Luke. He stayed focused for literally 30 minutes! That is a looong time for an 11 month old to stick with one task!

Here is what you need:

-Cleaned out coffee or formula can (something that has a plastic lid that snaps on)

-Scissors

-3-4 Empty thread spools (or extremely large beads...ones that your little one could not full get in their mouth or choke on)

Prep: Use your scissors to cut a hole in the top of your plastic lid. Set scissors aside (far away from little one's reach). Sit down with your baby in a clean and quiet area. I find that my boys always focus so much better when I have all distractions turned off (tv or music). It also helps to have all toys or other items put away. 

I started out by allowing Luke to explore independently. I handed him the can and he looked it over, banged it on the floor, and stuck it in his mouth (of course.) Next, I handed him one of the spools. He looked it over, and stuck it in his mouth. 

Then, I modeled for him how to put the spools, one at a time, into the hole. He was completely fascinated when they "disappeared".  He immediately grabbed for the can and looked in the hole to see where it had gone. It cracked me up how he was leaning over the can to look in.

After showing him a few more times, I handed the spools back to him and let him try. I couldn't believe how fast he caught on! He would put each one in (not easily...but he kept working at it till it went in), then looked inside the can to see where they had went. Once all three spools were in the can I would take off the lid and allow him to take them out.

Then, I put the lid back on, and we would start the process all over again. 

 After a few minutes he realized, that when the spools were in the can he could shake it and it would make a loud clanging noise. He looooved it! He would smile so big at me and shake it harder.

He had this same goofy look on his face the whole time...a wide open mouth. I couldn't believe how hard he was concentrating to put the spools in the hole!

He got excited every time he shook the can. After a while he started yelling while he was shaking the can. Singing maybe?  Who knows. (Surely it can't be because the rest of his family is loud :-) )

See the face again?! It was so cute! I have brought this game out a few more times and he immediately remembered to put the spool in the can and shake it. 

This activity is so simple, yet so much fun! Plus your little one really is learning! They are learning how to follow directions, practicing fine and gross motor skills, as well as making connections (i.e. when I put the spools in the can and shake it, it makes noise.) Plus, plus look at the concentration on that face! Plus, plus, plus, you are keeping your little one busy for thirty minutes! 

What is sensory about this...

Let your little one feel the rippled edges of the can.

The can feel the smooth sides of the spools.  

They can listen to the sound of the spool hitting the bottom of the can.

They can listen to the sound the spools make inside the can when they shake it. 

They can taste everything. 

So grab an empty can and a few spools and have some sensory, learning, fun! 

For another awesome sensory idea check out our Treasure Basket.

Linking to: For the Kids Fridays, Living Life Intentionally, Fun Stuff Fridays

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127: 3-5