Week In Review

Places we went: an important pro-life meeting at a church, Chuck E Cheese, the marine aquarium, the rec center pool to sign up for swim lessons, the pediatrician for a well visit, the Forum for the Hillsong concert, church, Family Fun Day at the park, and my friend's house to visit and see the new baby!

Daddy and I watched: Untold Stories of Columbine.

I am reading: The New Strong-Willed Child.  I don't think T is strong-willed, but it never hurts to read a good book on Godly discipline:) 

Highlights from the week: A very productive meeting, watching the dolphins at the aquarium, worshipping Jesus with thousands of other Christians at the amazing concert, and visiting with my friend and meeting her little guy!

I am praising God for: Helping T to sit still for two hours during my meeting; a good health report from the doctor.

I am praying for: The families who lost loved ones in the tragic helicopter crash

A Goal this week: Go on a juice fast

I am looking forward to: T's first swiming lesson on Monday, our niece's book release party on Wed, and a "Fight For The Family" rally on Sunday.

Family Fun Day

We had great seats!!

T loving his new baby doll

NOTE~ pics from aquarium are on my phone~will try to do a separate post later!

Our week in review

Places we went: Church, Target, the library, and a local pool for swimming (we needed a change of scenery).  Although we don't visit often, we love this pool, located at the rec center on the beach!

I cooked: Pesto Fish, Turkey Patties, and Tomato Hamburger Soup (and more).

We are praising God for: an amazing turnout at my pro-life meeting (19 people).  Also, my dear friend had her baby on Friday evening.  It's a boy!  My brave buddy had an unmedicated waterbirth and she prayed and sang that baby out:)

Funny moment: T said "Daddy, can you pour tentacles (instead of chemicals) into the pool"?

Highlights from the week: watching our niece nail her live tv interview, the wonderful feedback I got regarding the pro-life meeting, watching T care for his new baby doll, and receiving an email from our friend in China (the doctor who stayed with us last year during Christmas).

A goal for this week: Start making fresh juice with our new juicer.  Drink at least one per day.

I am looking forward to: a big pro-life meeting tomorrow morning, meeting my friend's baby, and the Hillsong Concert on Friday.

I am praying for: A sweet friend who is early in her pregnancy and struggling with some frustrating health issues.

Week in Review

Hi all!  As you know, I have been really terrible about updating our blog.  Over the past few months, it seems that I spend all or most of my spare time working on my ministry.  I greatly enjoy it, but the Lord has been showing me that I need better balance in my life.  I really want to take more time for some of the other things I enjoy (reading, scrapbooking, memory keeping) and not just devote all of my time to ministry.

I think blogging is a wonderful concept...it serves as a memory keeper for us, and keeps family and friends in the loop!  My sister-in-law has been posting a weekly wrap-up post on Fridays, which I think is a great idea.  It's a neat way to combine various moments throughout the week into one post.  I'm inspired to try it myself and see how it goes.  I couldn't find the time to post this yesterday or Sunday..but I suppose it is better late than never!  Hope you enjoy our week in review!!

In preschool last week... We finished up our camping preschool pack and worked on some pages of T's alphabet book.  We've also been reading lots of books, especially the Eyewitness books.

We played... hide and seek, Food Group bingo, chase, Candyland, and more!

Places we went...gymnastics, our church for the VBS show, a friends' house to swim, and a birthday party at the park.

One new thing we tried... Juicing.  We didn't actually make the juice ourselves, but we went to the natural foods store several times and had them make us some juice.

We learned...that carrot and apple juice with ginger is pretty gross.  (At our next visit we discovered that carrot and apple without the ginger is MUCH better).

I cooked... Chicken Enchiladas, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Turkey Burgers

We are praising God for.. my cousin and her husband becoming parents

Highs of the week... celebrating my birthday, getting my first ever massage,

Low of the week... Watching my baby suffer through the pain of his first earache

A funny moment... When T woke up one morning and his eves were stuck shut (he has been sick), and in his most panicked voice he cried "I can't see"!!

I am looking forward to...watching my niece on live tv, my pro-life meeting on Tuesday, and the arrival of a dear friend's baby.

One goal for this week is...to gather up and print all of my pictures of T over the past 3 years.

I am praying for...more boldness in sharing the Gospel

All About Me

This year, we are going through the alphabet one letter at a time.  Each week we work on activities that correspond with our letter of the week, and we also have a weekly theme based on our letter.  Here are some skills we are practicing this year: recognition of lowercase letters, pre-handwriting, letter sounds, basic math, basic science,Bible concepts, shapes, etc. 

Since we started at the beginning of the alphabet and will continue on through, our first letter, of course, was A.  The Theme for that week was "All About Me."  Here are some of the things T worked on:

Apple Jack letter collage
Cut and paste-things that begin with A
Letter A Do a Dot pages (he LOVES these)
Trace Letter A on worksheet
Writing practice on Expo board (he does try to write the letter A)
Completed and colored All About Me poster
Bible verse-"As For me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15)
Did worksheet on small families and large families

Other things we did included:
Alphabet picture match puzzles
Bead Sorting
Put racecar drivers in their appropriate cars (by number)
Lined up cars in numerical order 1-10

Playing with his number cars

We started out pretty easy.  This year, I plan to use lots of printables from my favorite websites (Confessions of a Homeschooler, Making Learning Fun, Homeschool Creations, 1+1+1=1, and Totally Tots).  T still is not into crafts all that much, but he does enjoy cutting, gluing, painting, and do a dot markers, so I plan on doing lots of these type of crafts!!

Thanksgiving

I finally have some time to catch up on my blog!! 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and hope you did too!!   T worked on some fun educational Thanksgiving activities and printables throughout that week.  Here is a glimpse at what he worked on:

Bible verse: Be thankful to Him and bless His name (Psalm 100:4)

Turkey color matching file folder game

Thanksgiving matchng game

Colored Thanksgiving pages

"Is it all about the Turkey" sheet

Thankful color, cut, and paste Cornucopia

Painted Colors of Salvation Indian Corn

Made Thanksgiving Dinner Collage from grocery ad

Made Turkey handprint t-shirt



T modeling the shirt we made with our handprints



Every Thanksgiving, our church hosts "Thanksgiving in the Park."  It's intended for people who don't have family nearby or for people who want to eat Thanksgiving dinner with a large group of believers.  We enjoyed it so much last year that we decided to go again!  Like last year, there was a ton of delicious food there, more than enough for the 60 or so people who came out.  T was not very interested in eating and just wanted to play, as there were lots of other kids there.  As always, one of the older kids really took to him and played with him the whole time.

"Be thankful to Him and bless His name"!!!!!

Cuddling with a new friend!

Operation Christmas Child

One of our favorite holiday outreaches to support is Operation Christmas Child.  The mission of OCC is to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way by providing gifts to needy children around the world.  Participants choose the age and gender of the child they would like to help, and then fill a shoebox full of age and gender appropraite gifts for that child. 

This year, we opted to buy for a two year old boy and a two year girl.  We filled our boxes with coloring books and crayons, stuffed animals, dolls, kid toothbrushes and toothpaste, stickers, and more!  Once our boxes were filled, we downloaded some cute "all about me" coloring sheets designed to send with the boxes.  I helped T fill in his answers.  My favorite fill in the blank was "I love Jesus because..."  Participants also have the option of listing their address, in case the family that receives your gift is able to write back.  How neat would that be!!  Even if we never get a letter back ,we will at least know what country our box was shipped to.

I love this ministry for many reasons.  One, because it provides gifts to children who probably have never, ever received a gift before and who literally have nothing.  However, the main reason why I love this outreach is because it is an evangelical effort.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is shared with all children and families who receive a gift through this ministry.  I can't think of a better gift to give than Jesus!

Buddy Walk

Today T and I participated in the Buddy Walk, an event which recognizes and celebrates the many wonderful people living with Down Syndrome.  The walk officially started at 11:00, but I was glad we got there at 10:00 because there was plenty to do!!  There were bounce houses, horseback rides, face painting, and much more!  T had a blast jumping around in the bounce houses, but wanted nothing to do with face painting.  They also had live entertainment and presented awards to local residents who have made a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.  When it was time to start the walk, I couldn't believe how long the line was..there must have been a few thousand people there!  It was really great to see all this support out there for these special people.  When the walk was over, T played on the playground for a few minutes before we left.  It was neat to see him interacting with children with Down Syndrome..he didn't see them as any different from him..he was just thrilled to be playing with other kids.  I pray he will always keep the same gentle, kind nature he has now.  We had a fun morning and look forward to participating in this event again next year!

Some of the walkers lined up

Jumping in the bounce house