Whose Child Are You?

 Remember this trip to 

CHUCK E CHEESE?

 It was a rest stop - taken on my

way to take the girls home.

We had fun.... but there is

a little more to it!

S0 - I thought I'd share the lesson

I learned while we were there:

Whose Child Are You

Not too long ago, I took a trip to Texas to return two of my grand daughters to their parents. To break up the drive, I planned a few stops. The first stop, was Chuck E. Cheese's. Both girls love to go to the Chuck E. Cheese's in Wichita Falls and it would provide a nice bathroom break, lunch break and it would give us a chance to stretch our legs and work off any energy our bodies stored by being cooped up in the car.

Once we arrived we ordered our lunch and began to play games while we waited on our food. I've learned that our tokens last longer if I give the girls a few at a time, so I followed them around, handing them tokens as needed. As the girls enjoyed a game of skeet ball another little girl came up to me and asked for tokens. Having a heart for children, I handed her a few and off she went to play games. Then I joined Grace and Olivia in a skeet ball game and watched carefully as Grace tried to teach me how to get my ball in the 5,000 point hole. When my game was over, the other little girl was standing beside me wanting more tokens. I looked around, and didn't see her parents, so I gave her two more. By then our food was ready - so we sat down to eat.

And - as we were eating the little girl came back - wanting even more tokens. This time, I told her she needed to go get tokens from her own Mom or Grandma - because these tokens were for my grand  children!

Now - I am not one to be selfish, especially when it comes to children. But - this child was not MINE! I answered her request a time or two, but it is not my responsibility to meet her needs. She is not my child. She is not my grand child. I don't even KNOW her! We have absolutely no relationship.

This event got me to thinking. How often do people try to use God the way this little girl tried to use me? I wonder if He ever feels as if people expect Him to be some sort of Santa Claus in the sky? It seems as if people are focused on themselves more now than any time in history. Some even act like God was created for their benefit, when the fact of the matter is, we were all created for Him. We weren't created to live life for ourselves, but for His pleasure.

Yet - when we selfishly ask for things, God often gives in and grants us our request. He'll hand us a few tokens! And when we come back for more, He may even give us that. He is constantly displaying His goodness! But we can't expect to keep coming back and continue to have our prayers answered without becoming His child! The Bible is full of promises. But - those promises are not for everybody. They are meant for those who God can truly call His own. His children. Those who have accepted His grace and been given the most important gift of all. The gift of His son, Jesus. Salvation. Eternal Life.

When you become His - His promises are yours!

It's simple, really.

Give your life to Jesus and accept Him as your Savior and become a child of God. Give your life to God. Obey Him. Inherit His promises and eternal life. OR - take your request to your own Daddy.

You see. If you are not God's child, you have no relationship with Him. So, asking Him for things is kind of like that little girl at Chuck E. Cheese asking me for tokens.

Yes, God is good. And yes, He has the means to supply all of your needs according to His riches and glory. And He will. IF - you first become His child!

Need help giving your life to Christ? Feel free to call me or any of your truly saved, Bible believing friends or follow this link if you'd like to pray privately.

http://www.embracegodstruth.com/LifeToJesus.html

 

The Coolest Zoo, Ever!

While the girls were here, earlier in the

month we went to 

The Garold Wayne Zoo

in Wynnewood, Oklahoma.

 Brilyn, Asher and Weston went, too!

 This is a very hands-on zoo!

We all got to play with a baby taliger!

(half tiger and half liger {lion-tiger mix})

 The Taliger's name was Alisa and it

loved Olivia!

It actually, loved Olivia's frilly dress.

It would chase her and bite it and the

wildlife attendant would often have to

pull it away. The cub was gentle andwas never

really a threat to Olivia - only her dress.

 I played with the Taliger, too, but for 

the most part, I was happy to take pictures

and let the kids play. After all,

what kid can say they've actually played

with a baby taliger?

 Asher & the Taliger

 Weston & the Taliger

 The taliger, Alisa, by herself!

Grace & the taliger.

Grace probably enjoyed this as much

as anyone. I think she played with the

little cub the most. 

And I'll share more about this

hands on zoo later.

There is just too much to share

in only one post.

Grace's Birthday Party at Home

This year Grace got to plan her 

own Birthday Party!

They did it the weekend after

her birthday instead of the weekend

before - so that if Weston came late,

I could still make it!

And Weston came late, so that

was a good thing!

 

 As the girls arrived they went to the

make up table and did

their own make up!

 

Then they put on dress up clothes

and had a Tea Party Lunch! 

Everything looked so lovely!

 Grace chose the gold table cloth.

Her Momma would have preferred a different

one, but It was Grace's Birthday, so

she had the final say.

I actually think it looks quite nice!

 Grace also got to serve her guests

their tea!

 Isn't this little guest just beautiful?

She was as sweet as she is pretty, too.

 And didn't these three do a lovely

job on their make up?

After they ate they went to the craft

table to make a few crafts.

 And while they were busy making

crafts, I was able to switch the table from

"tea party lunch" to "birthday party".

 Now.... isn't that a pretty table?

 And just look at that cake!

My daughter, Heather, made it herself.

 And each guest got to take home

a little doll!

 I think those lovely little girls thought

it was pretty cute.

 Grace blew out her candles and we

had cake and punch and then, she

got to open presents!

It was a really nice party and I think

all of the girls had a good time.

And they all behaved! There was not a

single disagreement or 

temper tantrum.

Grace has pretty sweet little friends

for which I am grateful.

Handprint Snowmen Ornaments - So, So Cute!

We made

Handprint Snowmen Ornaments

and they turned out so cute, I just had to share.

We did this early in the month - before Weston

was born, so we will have to make him

one later. 

Anyway.... aren't they DARLING?

 
Here is Grace's!

Her handprint almost fills up the ball.

And here is Brilyn's!

 And Olivia's!

Brilyn and Olivia's hands are

just the right size to make 

super cute snowmen.

So - this is probably a good craft 

for two and three year olds!

And look at Asher's itty bitty snowmen!

Aren't they adorable?

I did his handprint whild he was sleeping

and he barely even stirred.

He's a sweet boy.

He likes to snuggle but is content to 

sit in his swing if you have

a chore or two to take care of. 

You don't hear so much as a peep out of

him unless he is hungry....

Anyway...... to make the ornaments.

You need:

Large Blue Christmas Ornaments

(other colors would work, but blue looks like a night sky)

White Paint

(I used the acrylic Folk Art stuff from Walmart)

Sharpie Markers

Q-Tips

Paper Plate

Paper Towels

Put a little paint on a paper plate. Place your child's

hand in the paint and smear it around to get good

coverage. Dab the painted hand on a paper towel to remove

excess paint. Then apply hand onto the ornament and remove.

Don't worry about getting a "perfect handprint".

Snowmen are not perfect!

 BUT - if there is any stray paint you can

wipe it away with a corner of a

damp paper towel.

Allow the paint to dry. 

Then.... with a Q-Tip you can touch up

the handprint. Add paint to thin areas to

give them a little more shape. 

Your "handprint" is more of a 

size reference than an exact replica of

your child's hand.

After touching up allow the paint to dry

again. Once dry... use Sharpie Markers

to add eyes, noses, mouths,

scarfs, buttons and hats.

Dont forget to add your child's name

and the year so you can look back

and see who created this lovely

ornament and when!

And enjoy!

Kids seem to love making CHRISTmas

crafts and any grandparent would

love to receive one of these for

CHRISTmas!

Fishing In The Rain

 While we were camping it rained!

So - we could either sit in the

tent and be bored.... or we could

get out, get wet and have fun!

So we went fishing!

 Grace caught several fish!

 And she can now catch fish all

by herself!

She just needs help putting the

worm on the hook and taking

the fish off.

She had so much fun!

She even picked out the campsite

she wants to camp at next time.

BUT - we were so far out in the sticks

that we didn't have phone service.

AND - Grace warned me that if we

go camping again and we take the

toddlers (Brilyn & Olivia) along, we shouldn't go

so far out into the woods that our phones

don't work because me might need

help with them.



Creepy Crawly Things....

 Grace loves little critters.

She wants a pet sooooo bad. She found a

snake and carried it around with her

everywhere.

 She chased lizards.... but they're

really really fast, so she didn't catch one.

I think that's a good thing, though.

I think those things can bite.

 She studied tracks like this one.

We believe it was made by a raccoon.

But there were deer tracks, dog tracks

and tracks made by various birds, too.

And..... she saw this:

That frog lives in the handicapped stall's

toilet. We though he was stuck there, so we

teased him and made him jump out, only to

find him there again the next time we

went to the bath house.

Grace thought it was the funniest thing.

There was a whole lake nearby and he

chooses to swim in a toilet?

That's one crazy frog.

 

When The World Is Your Classroom

We home schooled our children and now

my daughter is home schooling Grace!

I couldn't be happier.

Home schooling offers families a lot

of flexibility that public and private

schools simply can't offer.

For instance - to a home schooler,

the world is a classroom.

 Grace and I went camping and she

took her school work along.

I'm sure we didn't do it quite as well

as she would have done it at home.

BUT - she learned things you simply can't

learn from a book!

 Working on her lessons!

 Studying nature.

Did you know that lily pads change

colors like leaves? We saw some that

were pink and purplish tan and brown.

 Grace is such a gentle little thing that the

deer come almost up to her.

I think that doe would have come

a little bit closer had she not

had a fawn to protect.

 Perhaps the fawn was getting a little

lesson of it's own?

 We saw several deer.

And we saw other wildlife, too.

I think Grace is going to want to go

camping again and again!

She is definitely a little nature lover!

Hammer Head Crab

Another hands on thing the kids got

to do at the zoo was pet the

Hammer Head Crab.

 Grace is a brave girl and she will

touch pretty much anything if

we tell her it's okay.

 Brilyn has to think about it.

She'll let Mommy touch it first.

I was just impressed that most of the

new additions to our local zoo

were hands-on.

Kids love to be able to actually

touch things.

I think this was one of the best

zoo trips we've had!