Monday, October 20, 2014

Three Kids At The Park!

One Friday when I was watching 
Weston, we invited 
Brilyn and Asher to join us
at the park!
 
 And guess what EVERYONE'S
favorite piece of playground equipment was?
 Yep... it was the swing!
The BABY swing!
Brilyn sometimes, enjoys being
babied a bit, too!
After all, the boys can't get
ALL the attention!

And don't forget to go 
follow my
blog!

And if you have special ways
of keeping the focus of
CHRISTmas on CHRIST,
please share!
Guest bloggers are 
welcome and needed!

Friday, October 17, 2014

An Amish Store and Restaurant

While my husband and I
were traveling to Hilldale, Ok
to take pictures of a high school football
game for CBS's Max Preps
I saw this sign.
 
We had left early and had time to
spare, so we stopped!
It was such a neat place!
 We didn't eat at the restaurant,
but we did take a look around and
we got a couple of things from the shop.
There were all kinds of jams and jellies.
 
 Honey and Bee Pollen
 Amish made tea towels and things.
 Fudge
 And a pie case full of delicious
looking pies!
I bought some fudge and it was delicious!
I also got a little book of 
Amish Home Remedies.
And while a lot of stuff was Amish made,
the store was probably more
Amish Inspired - than truly Amish.
The servers in the restaurant
wore English clothes
and there was no shortage of
electricity!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Look Who Is Turning Into a Fish!

Look at this girl go!
 
 She can put her face in the water
and go under!
 And pop up!
 With a smile! She's not swimming
underwater.... ALL OVER THE POOL!
She has done so well this summer!
Go, Gracie!

Monday, October 13, 2014

The Dallas Arboretum

Another field trip we
went on was a visit to the 
It had a really cool Pumpkin Patch!
 But - it was filled with people, so it
was not the best place to get
good pictures!
 And while all of those pumpkins
were beautiful, I think there were
enough pumpkins there to feed an entire
village for week. All just sitting out in the
sun and wasting away!
 Of course - it would be expensive
to ship them to a village of
starving people.
But - it really makes you stop
and think. How blessed we are to live
in a country that has plenty!
And we are even more blessed it we
live in a household that has plenty!
If you have dinner on the table
tonight, remember that!
Take the time to be grateful, and 
Thank God for His provision!
YOU are BLESSED!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Dallas Children's Garden

The Dallas Children's Garden
is a pretty fun place!
 
There is a fun play area, where
Olivia rode a Giant Ant!
 
 And Grace got to pretend she was
a baby bird!
 Here, I think she is a 
HUNGRY Baby Bird!
 The girls got to discover little critters
that were pulled from the pond.
(this was pretty fascinating - we saw tadpoles and dragon fly larva)
 They got to climb on things!
And they got to cool off in the
water at the splash pad.
If you go - you might want to remember
that there is a splash pad and
bring a change of clothes.
Most kids are going to want to get wet!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Sharkarosa Home School Day

I went to stay with Grace and Olivia
for a few days so I could 
attend some field trips and 
go to Grace's Classical Conversations
Home School Coop.
 
 The first field trip was
Sharkarosa Home School Day!
Notice that Momma Kangaroo 
has a pouch full!
 At Sheirkarosa we saw lots of animals
and we played on a playground.
 It was very hands on - which we liked!
 Grace isn't afraid of many critters!
She even likes snakes and spiders!
 We got to ride in this little barrel train!
 It was fun - but Grace said that 
our driver drove too much 
like Grandpa!
That means - he was a little too
wild and crazy for her.
However, Olivia had no complaints!
 We went on a Safari and saw 
Zebras and Camels.
And we got to pet them!
Before going into each enclosure
they filled buckets on the side of
the Safari Tram with feed
for the animals, so they came
right up to us!
For Grace and I this was probably
the best part of the day.
Heather, however, made sure she sat
in the middle of the seat, so she
had people on both sides of her 
to keep the animals away.

And don't forget to go 
follow my
blog!

And if you have special ways
of keeping the focus of
CHRISTmas on CHRIST,
please share!
Guest bloggers are 
welcome and needed!

Monday, October 6, 2014

PLEASE DON'T SHOUT

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Psalm 127:3
I'm writing this to parents everywhere.

Old parents, new parents, first time parents of babies, parents of teens and even parents of adults.

Parents, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't train your child with a shout.

Consider the value of a whisper.... or a soft spoken word.

You see. When you shout, you teach your child to tune out the soft spoken word.... to ignore the whisper...   You teach them to be inattentive to your every day voice, and you don't gain their attention until you shout.

This is sad. But, even worse, it's dangerous!

It's puts your child in harms way physically and spiritually.

A child who will not obey until you shout at him, does not come when called and will step into a dangerous situation unless you are there to protect him. He doesn't obey, because he really doesn't hear you when you are not shouting. He has learned not to listen.

It is important that children learn to listen. It is important that they learn to pay attention and take in valuable instruction. YOU can teach them that - by training them with a soft voice... and an occasional whisper. Doing so will be of great benefit for your child spiritually. That's why it's so, so important.

You see..... God often speaks to us in a still small voice within our heart. It is most often soft and gentle. God does not usually shout at us. He softly calls to us, by speaking to our hearts. A child who cannot hear a whisper could miss this call. For that reason, a child trained with a soft voice will most likely be more receptive. He knows how to listen, while the child who is trained with a shout has learned to ignore.

Isaiah 55:3 tells us "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." 

We live in a world where many people do not hear or recognize God's voice. In our noisy world, we have pushed aside that still small voice. We have not inclined our ear  and heard what the Lord is telling us. And if we don't do so, we shall not live. We shall not receive an everlasting covenant or the mercies of David.
Do you see how important it is to listen? Please, teach your child to LISTEN to a soft voice and to incline their ear to a whisper. Just TRY IT! A whisper is often used as an intimate way of communicating within a close relationship. Get close to you child. Talk softly. Be the parent God wants you to be.

And if you don't know what it is that God wants from you, open your Bible and your heart. READ and LISTEN. The book of John is a good place to start.

You don't have to rely on a church or a preacher or an elder or a priest. God Himself through His Holy Spirit will teach you if you will simply get into His word and prayerfully read it and listen!

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Psalms 32:8

Friday, October 3, 2014

Our Little Photographer

Grace has been using my
play camera since she was 
two and she's becoming
quite the photographer.
 On a recent field trip, I took this
picture of her taking a picture!
This is the picture she was taking!
She does quite well, 
don't you think?

And - I have been busy,
busy, busy lately.
But please.... read the last post I
posted if you haven't already.
CHRISTmas will be here
before we know it.
Please join me in honoring
CHRIST this CHRISTmas.