Hide it in your heart

I never understood the purpose of memorizing scripture until the last few weeks. What's the point? I'd ask myself. Sure I had known a little I could recite over the years just from hearing it in church. Verses committed to memory could probably be counted on one hand. I had read about it recently in "The Love That Multiplies" and "The Duggars: 20 and Counting," by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. It wasn't until it was part of my lesson from Bible Study Fellowship to memorize the Beatitudes, that I started thinking about memorizing any part of the Bible. This week I'm working on Philippians 4:8, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 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." What a profound difference this has made in my life. Before this I had only memorized the verse, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone oh Lord, make me dwell in safety," Psalm 4:8, and that was only out of desperation, repeating it over and over until I fell asleep. Hiding it in my heart has helped me maintain focus in times of uncertainty. Reading the chapter corresponding with the day of the month in Proverbs everyday has also made an impact (I started doing this when reading about their tradition in the Duggars first book, "The Duggars: 20 and Counting.") I am also amazed that when I need it most, I recall God's word and specific passages. "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you," Psalm 119:11. A joyful bonus in my memorizing verses is hearing Creed echo some of the words. (insert image of heart melting!). I took it quite literally when the leader said to write it on our forearms if we have to, to get it in our hearts. Currently Philippians 4:8 is written on the inside of my forearm. When we were in town the image gathered much attention, one woman stopping me so she could read all of it. "Amen, sister," she said. "We all need that." 

egg dye leaf impression

egg dye leaf impression

"leaf pile"

construction paper and foil leaf impressions

wax paper leaf impression

Today we experimented with our collection of leaves. Trying various mediums for leaf rubbings we used foil, wax paper and construction paper. I was following an idea that was in the back of the Cloverleaf Book "Fall Leaves Colorful and Crunchy," by Martha E. H. Rustad, for making images of leaves using watercolor paper and a hammer. The execution however, did not work with the hammer. We were able to use a white crayon for a leaf rubbing on the watercolor paper, which provided resistance in the outlines and veins of the leaf. We also hammered on a piece of foam paper, effective but not really pretty. I had kept jars of egg dye from making Ukranian eggs years ago and I'm glad I did. They served as a colorful substitute for watercolor paint. Creed painted a leaf pile and it's a marvelous concoction of several overlapped leaf rubbings. Happy accidents are always delightful.

construction paper leaf impressions

hammered leaf impression on foam paper

egg dye leaf impression

wax paper leaf impression

wax paper leaf impression

"Jesus was born on Christmas Daddy."

Big A, Little A, what begins with A?

The local church where we attend our Bible Study Fellowship meetings have pre-wrapped Christmas shoe boxes set up on tables for people to fill for Operation Christmas Child. Blessed to participate, I took a box to fill with Creed. Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in more than 130 countries have experienced God's love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan's Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts and share the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ. National Collection Week is Nov. 18-25. I want Creed to have a servant's heart just like his Mama and Daddy. I'm excited to have him help pack a box for a child who would otherwise not have anything on Christmas, explaining the entire time what Christmas is about, not only our Savior being born, but imitating his giving nature, loving heart. Creed saw the wrapped present and said, "A present for me?!" He wanted to open it and I tried explaining that there was nothing in there, before having to show him. When we came out of the grocery store the other day he saw it again asking about it. I said, "There's nothing in it, but you can help Mama fill it. We're going to fill it with toys for children who don't get any presents for Christmas." "Do you know about Christmas, " I asked? (He's just listening in his car seat while daddy is loading the groceries.) I explained Christmas the best I could so he could understand. When Daddy got in the front seat ready to go Creed said, "Daddy, I need to talk to you." Daddy answered him, "What do you want to talk about?" "Jesus was born on Christmas Daddy," he said. "Really," he asked? "Thank you for telling me Creed," he said. We smiled at each other as he was pulling out of the parking lot. I love these magical moments. For more information about Operation Christmas Child visit: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.

Fun with the "tube tumbler"

We shall spend this week catching up what we've missed in the last two weeks, wrapping up review for this month. Creed spent some time tracing the mechanics of the alphabet late this morning before taking another stab at writing the alphabet. He seems to be a little more interested now, but gets easily frustrated as does mama. So after an "itty bit" we took a break and he played some educational games on the computer. There was a magical moment where I watched him in awe drawing a big A, and little a, all by himself, as well as big E, and big F.

We played for a while using the shoots on the wall, we made last week. I love to hear the beads tumble from tube to tube ultimately landing in the cup at the bottom, before dumping them in the back of the truck. More importantly, I'm happy that something this simple can provide so much entertainment!

View from the top of the corn maze.

View from the back of the barrel train.

Feathering our adventure hats.

We had a lot of fun with Daddy over the weekend visiting the zoo and local farms. We collected leaves for a fall project while also collecting different kinds of feathers. Among the feathers in our adventure hats were female and male peacock and flamingo. The zoo was beautifully serene and mostly ours as we showed up at opening hours. After the zoo we decided to visit a local farm on the way home. There were a lot of long lines and the rides were incredibly dusty, leaving us all sniffling, sneezing noses, dry eyes and sinus pressure. Despite all this Creed enjoyed it tremendously. I was tempted to skip the corn maze, but I'm glad I didn't because I would have missed Creed interacting with Daddy taking turns reading the map. As the sun was setting I wondered when we would ever see the end. Finally I said, "I wanna go home!" Daddy started running with Creed close behind while Mama trailed along catching their heels at every turn. With a bound we were out and I was relieved. Home sweet home couldn't have sounded any sweeter.

"On Guard!"

Last week Creed and I had fun creating pumpkin masterpieces with our new friends and family. While the children were excited to begin with they soon lost interest when it came time to scoop out the sticky yuckiness waiting inside the pumpkin's belly.

Togetherness

"This little light of mine"

Scooping out the "yuckies."

I followed the pumpkin prayer step-by-step explaining as we were going along:

Lord, open my mind and fill me with Your wisdom and guidance (cut off the top) 

Lord, take out all my fusses and frowns and fill me with your love. (scoop out the yuckies) 

Lord, open my eyes to se all of the beautiful things You have made. (carve out the eyes) 

Lord, help me to be a sweet fragrance for You. (carve out the nose) 

Lord, help me always to speak Your words of love and kindness. (carve out the mouth) 

Lord, let me be a light to others for You have filled me with Your Light. (place in a candle, we used a battery operated tea light. You can get two for a dollar at the Dollar Tree). 

You can find this pumpkin prayer (author unknown) as well as many other activities and free printables at www.christianpreschoolprintables.com.

The littles took turns holding the pumpkin.

There is a slightly different version by Liz Curtis Higgs that includes an after paragraph explaining the pumpkin prayer: Christians are like pumpkins. God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off which you may have gotten from other pumpkins. Then, He cuts the top off and scoops out the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, unforgiveness, etc. Then He carves a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see. Are you letting your light shine? Be a jack-o-lantern for Jesus!

Yesterday Creed began homeschool with a trusted friend while mama went to the doctor. He continued progress in the Usborne sticker book working on the number 9. Creed worked on his motor skills with some of the projects from "Learn to Paste" (you can find these from the Dollar Tree, also Learn to Cut) and finished the rest with mama before nap time. One package contains eight projects for learning to paste, including "All Mixed Up and Match it Up" which is pasting pieces of a puzzle together and "What's Missing," pasting various parts of an animal into place. We're still working on holding a pencil. Daddy sawed a bunch of regular pencils in half and the smaller pencils seem to be perfect. While we're still working on our grip, I went by the local Teachers Aide store and found three different grips. He practiced yesterday using his ABC dot-to-dot book. 

I've been reading the book, "Playful Parenting," by Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D. I'm currently finishing chapter two and can already recommend it. With incredible insight it offers "a bold new way to nurture close connections, solve behavior problems and encourage children's confidence." 

"You've filled me with your light."

Usually the month of October would be bustling in preparation of our annual Harvest Festival. This year I've decided to skip it, due to personal physical setbacks and will continue next year. This festival was created for Creed and those who wish to celebrate the fall season. Since Creed came along I've struggled with this "holiday." I would just as soon skip it all together than acknowledge it at all. I skillfully avoid all the halloween related programs on television substituting thoughtfully planned episodes on Netflix, cable and rented dvds from the library. I carefully monitor what he's watching, guarding his heart and innocence. (Be careful little eyes what you see). We also avoid it as much as possible whatever we run across when we leave the house. I grew up trick-or-treating. I looked forward to getting mounds of candy. A house that handed out full-size candy bars was like hitting the jack pot! As I grew out of adolescence and into my teenage years it became something else. Later on in college I would dress up as scantily as possible hoping to win first prize in whatever contest was being held. I was fascinated with the dark side of it. it. Avoiding the soap box . . . It's a personal conviction. Nevertheless, I will breathe a sigh of relief when November first comes along, and not have to be so "on guard!"

A WISE TEACHER MAKES LEARNING A JOY

"A wise teacher makes learning a joy" - Proverbs 15:2

Learning how to make a bird feeder

Falling in love with learning through exploration, sensory and motor skills definitely helps when you've got a buddy now and then. We started off our morning stamping leaves on our freshly laid coffee table paper (aka Christmas paper in the making). I thought it would be a great ice breaker for the littles to get to know each other. Though each did take the time to do a couple of stamps, they had other plans. Next we went on a scavenger hunt for pinecones, which looked more like an Easter egg hunt. I never realized how prickly the fresh fallen cones were. It seemed like a grand idea, before reality set in of itty bitty hands possibly getting pricked. There were three in the trio today expanding from two-three years of age. It was interesting to see not only how they interacted, but how they interacted with the project at hand - pinecones filled with peanut butter rolled in bird seed for our feathered friends. One wanted to fill them with peanut butter, while the other two remained uninterested. Finally when it came time to put on the birdseed, Creed didn't want to roll it, but sprinkle it on. The smallest of the itty bittys rolled the bird seed on like a pro. All of them of course took breaks now and then, getting distracted by their surroundings. Finally it was time to hang them on the tree and Creed loved that part. It's funny how you've got something planned in your head and it doesn't quite turn out how you had imagined it, it was even better! By the time the project was completed everyone unscathed, we were all ready for a nap, but settled for lunch right away. 

A dab there ...

A sprinkle here ... viola!

After Creed woke from his nap he helped Mama in the kitchen making banana bread with our "Saturday" cooking class. Saturday we're planning on visiting a local botanical gardens and nature reserve for the Scarecrow Festival, where we will do our weekly color and shape walk. Among colors and shapes, our mission will be looking for many different kinds of leaves. We're learning how leaves bring food back to the tree and why some turn colors and fall off the tree. The circle of life as the seasons rotate is something even creatures of nature recognize - from the smallest bugs, ants store food preparing for the winter, to the busiest squirrels, with their innate nature of stashing away nuts for the long haul of the coldest days to come. Fall is truly my favorite time of the year. I love the faint crisp smell in the air and sound of leaves crunching underfoot. I like wearing layers of clothes. There's something snuggly about being bundled up. The weather forecast is promising cooler temperatures. Happiness is after all, footed pajamas, hands down. 

"I'm not gonna lie!"

Yesterday I searched for a book about telling the truth. I was looking for something that could get the point across to my three-year-old son, Creed. The only thing I came up with was an inspired kids Little Critter book by Mercer Mayer, "It's True!" He seemed to like it and we did go over it again tonight. I realized that I had a set of books about character that my mother gave me and my sister when we were younger. I searched eagerly hoping to find one about truth and found one about lying - bingo! "Let's Talk About Lying," by Joy Berry, hit a grand slam tonight. Before we read the books about lying and telling the truth I said, "I'm going to pray for you OK Creed?" "OK," he said. I prayed that God would give him a discerning spirit to know right from wrong at a young age. I prayed that he would always choose the right path according to God, our Father. "In Jesus Name, Amen," I said, and he said, "Amen." As I read the story to Creed we talked about how he told me a lie when … and that he must always tell me the truth. God wants us to tell us the truth I explained. "How could you have done that differently," I asked. He looked at me waiting for the right answer. "You must always tell the truth," I said, "I need to be able to trust you. After you tell a lie you must try to make it right." "Do you know how to make it right," I asked? Again, he was waiting. "You admit that you lied and tell the truth. Then you say you're sorry," I said. With a contrite heart Creed said, "I'm sorry Mama." "I forgive you Creed. I love you," I said, "We need to be careful not to lie." I know this is a lesson that will need to be addressed more than once, but at least we've laid the ground work.

He was sitting on the potty when I called to him, "Did you poop?" "I'm not gonna lie," he responded. Yep. I'm glad it's sinking into his precious little mind. I went to a local book store and a lady asked if she could help. I told her I was looking for a book on telling the truth or about lying and she was looking for a DVD, which she didn't find. We were headed out the door when she said, "that's normal you know." (lying) I nodded, smiling and walked out. Yes, I know it's normal because we were all born into sin, but that doesn't make it right. It's our responsibility to help our children navigate until they're old enough to discern right from wrong themselves. She was trying to be encouraging, I know for sure.

"I Spy on the Farm," by Edward Gibbs, is a beautifully illustrated book with spy holes to discover some noisy animals in a take on the classic game, "I Spy With My Little Eye." The back of the book has a circular cutout where children can hold up spying with their little eye. Our book for the week is Old McDonald and this was a great addition. We're still one Creation Day 6, but have moved onto farm animals.

Today I watched the movie , "The Impossible," starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. The movie is based on a true story of one family's experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. I remember seeing it on TV and couldn't even wrap my head around what that must have been like. Even seeing this movie, I cried and the lyrics, break my heart for what breaks yours, from the song, "Hosanna," by Hillsong, kept playing over and over again in my head and heart. Watching the horror and sheer pain made me feel grateful for every single thing we have and realize just how much we really have … and don't need. Compared to many remote places in the world we live like kings. Having a roof over our head qualifies us. Having food in our refrigerator, let alone electricity. I've always had a heart for missions. It's a dream that one day we can go on a mission as a whole family, at least Creed and I. Counting my blessings.

Yesterday I watched the movie, "Grace Unplugged," starring AJ Michalka, Kevin Pollak, James Denton and Shawnee Smith. It's a Christian movie about a Christian teen, who's also a phenomenal singer, that rebels against her father after getting a music break of a lifetime, which puts her faith to the test. I cried reliving the rebellious youth I had with my own parents. The older I get the sorrier I am, especially when I think about my child's future. The enemy loves to remind us of our past, but we must remind him of his future. It's in the theater now, go while you still can!

P.S. if you know any good books or DVDs for preschoolers about lying and telling the truth please leave a comment.

Creation Day 4, Sun, Moon and Stars

Creation Day 4

This afternoon we spent some time making popcorn and cutting bunnies out of pancakes. Creed is enthusiastic about everything - it's contagious, and I love it! We made another page for our Creation Book to go along with Creation Day 4. We had made a starry night with star stickers along with a crescent moon, but after finding our star hole punch Creed practiced punching stars. I brought out a yellow piece of paper but he said we needed blue. It turns out it looks a lot better with blue stars. We made another crescent moon, a little more festive this time, with white, yellow and blue.

I came across a DVD at the library, "BJ's Teddy Bear Club & Bible Stories Vol. 1-2," a series for children ages 1-5 on TBN. Volumes one and two feature the story of creation as well as Noah and the Ark. The program introduces children to colors, letters, numbers and stories from the Bible. Creed and I both enjoyed it. The Creation episode is really detailed in a child-friendly way. Please leave a comment if you know any preschool friendly Creation DVDs.

A is for Apple Crisp

Our leader suggested reading the verse prior

 and the verse after and it's really helped my

understanding.

This morning I started reading the portion of the notes again in the BSF International weekly lesson. It generally takes me anywhere from one-three days to complete it. I read and re-read, look up definitions, read some cross references and of course, there's the stop and start of daily life going on around us. In the lesson we read from childhood Jesus obeyed God's command to meditate on the Scriptures. Jesus learned Scripture in the same way anyone does - through hard work and devotion to God. His mind was so saturated with the Old Testament that most of His words were directly based on it. Can you imagine that from age 12? In a place where no television resides, (my biggest distraction I hate to admit), I'm sure there were other things that could have deterred his focus. I looked up the scripture that went along with this, also the definition of meditate. At this point He had my full attention, "like a tree planted by a stream of water." I'm getting rooted. The latin meaning for meditate is measure. To meditate is to think deeply, focus ones mind for a period of time, plan mentally ... consider. The most meditating I've ever done in the past is reciting a verse over and over in my mind when I couldn't sleep, Psalms 4:8 "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone oh Lord, make me dwell in safety." I wonder what it would feel like to do this from the age of 12, day and day and night after night. I mean really meditate. Furthermore, Jesus knew that following God's will involved believing His purpose would be fulfilled because of absolute faith in His promises and by His power alone … the power was by His spirit only. John 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Notice it says commanded, not wavering belief. I'm telling myself don't wonder if he's going to be there - it's concrete, a fact. Do not be afraid because He said so. Do not be discouraged because He said so. If He's given me His spirit he surely is with me wherever I go. To find a Bible Study Fellowship in your area search: https://www.bsfinternational.org   

Creed practicing his kitchen skills with a Curious Chef nylon knife very
kid friendly. This knife resembles a smaller version of a lettuce knife.  

Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook published by General Mills.

This afternoon Creed and I started our Saturday cooking class with the children's cookbook, "AlphaBakery," published by General Mills. The recipes are based on the alphabet and we started with A is for Apple Crisp. Creed helped cut the apples into small chunks with a Curious Chef nylon knife, and measured the ingredients for the crumble topping. We substituted an all-purpose gluten-free flour for regular flour and earth balance for the butter. It turned out really yummy. I was surprised that it wasn't sweeter and Creed ate a couple of bites before deciding he really didn't care for it. He loves to help me make pancakes and anything else he can get into in the kitchen. Usually when he helps prepare it, he eats it. Not today. I'm hoping to inspire a love of cooking just like Mama and Daddy. To learn more about kid friendly kitchen products by the Curious Chef look here: http://www.curiouschef.com. The only product we've tried is the kid-friendly knife, which Creed is able to work pretty well. When we cook together I pull out a set I put together in coordinating colors from the Dollar Tree.