The Meldrim Family

Little something for the teachers

2011-08-28T19:15:00.000-04:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to replicate it.

I did it really simply and it only took about 5min for both bottles.

One more back to school project done! Andrew only has one more day before school starts!

Restarting something old....

2011-08-27T14:13:00.000-04:00

Not sure if you have heard of 31 Days to Clean but is a ebook/PDF about "Having a Martha House a Mary Way". This is based on Luke 10:38-42

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I don't know about you but I have a hard time not just keeping my house clean but doing it for the right reasons. I need to have the right motivation for cleaning my house and I am hoping to find it as I go through this book. Every day there are Martha challenges that involve actual cleaning and then there are Mary challenges that challenge your way of thinking. I started this once before but had a hard time with the Mary challenges. Then I restarted it with the new Martha challenges that help with routine cleaning. I did well with that for quite awhile until summer came. I figure now is a great time to start again and this time I going to sign up with a group to hold myself accountable.

A new website The Homemakers Challenge is staring the 31 Days to Clean on September 1st and I joined up. I plan on writing a post weekly about how things are going - maybe even with some before and after pictures to keep it real. I want to be honest about my house and my heart. So, if you would like to join head on over and sign up. If you are not a blogger then just join up in spirit and come and read the posts Monday -Friday. They are not doing any of the challenges on the weekends which I really like! So as Sarah Mae - author of 31 Days to Clean says....

"Journey with me for 31 Days as we get our homes and our hearts in order. Give me 31 days and I’ll give you not only a cleaner home, but a vision for one."

Organizing Part 2

2011-01-27T14:23:00.000-05:00

It always seems that once you start one project you can't stop - the end feeling is so good you want to keep going so you can keep feeling good! I have a few places in this house that tend to get messy but since they are behind doors, I just forget about them. Until I open up those doors and things keep falling out! Luckily I was feeling inspired from going through my closet that I jumped right in to this project too.

This is a narrow cabinet right above a built in desk in our house. This cabinet drives me nuts because it is not the same depth as regular cabinets and things just don't fit nice. You can even have a piece of paper in there - it is too big! I also tend to throw stuff up there when I am either too lazy to put it away or I don't know where I should put it. Here is the before.....

Okay, not the whole before. See all that empty space? It was full of stuff - here are a couple pictures of the stuff strewn all over the desk and the counter...Yikes! There are art projects of Jonah's that were supposed to be Christmas gifts to his siblings - luckily, birthdays are coming up! There are random presents I have bought for the kids for their birthdays, old cellphones, toys I have confiscated and even Jonah's art projects that were supposed to be Christmas gifts to his siblings! Oh my!

So, I basically took EVERYTHING out of that awful cabinet and cleaned it out! I made piles of the stuff so when it was time to put it back (or move is somewhere else) I had it organized some. I ran downstairs and found some more storage boxes and started dividing things up. Plus, I got out my label maker so there was no questioning where things belonged. Check out the after - I am quite proud!

The top shelf are things I need to get to but not every day. On the left are flashlights and 2 boxes of batteries - regular and rechargeables. They are actually wipe boxes - got to love free! On the right are more wipe boxes and a couple school boxes of labels, rubberbands, staples, extra keys, and electronic accessories. On the 2nd shelf are cameras (the kids, our old one and the video camera). On the right is the stapler, tape, makers/white out, label maker and a tin with packing tape, calculators and paper clips. All very accessible for every day use.

Of course, I couldn't stop there. The built in desk has a drawer that has some important things but mostly junk. I had to go through that too. Here is the before.....how did I even find stuff in there!

Check out the after - so much better!

Now I know where everything is and the important stuff is prominent. Andrew can even find pencils for his homework now without searching! I still have a cup of pens and scissors on the counter because I just can't trust the little ones with those!

Hmmm....what to organize next!

Feeling Inspired

2011-01-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

My cousin Katie had a great inspiring post the other day and basically challenged me to do some thinking about the "stuff" in my life. I have a thing about stuff. I like it! I love to shop for clothes (almost always a bargain too) but frankly, I hold on to things for too long or buy things I don't really need. I have boxes of stuff in my basement of things I can't part with too. Unfortunately, I am a very organized so thus the stuff doesn't seem so bad. It is all boxed up and on shelves and I pretty much know where everything is stored. But, do I really *need* all that stuff? Definitely not! So, I felt inspired to so some organizing and purging around here. I have only just started and there is alot more to be done but it felt great to drop off a van trunkload of stuff at our local LOVE Inc store this morning. Sadly is was almost all clothes!

I started with our bedroom closet. I had sweaters that I have had for quite sometime but never wear. I really looked at everything and tried to simplify. I still feel like I have tons of clothes but my closet is much better and I truly like what is left. I do plan on looking at it again when we switch seasons (all my summer stuff is in a closet downstairs) and part with more that just did not get worn enough.

Here is the before - do you see ALL those sweaters! Oh my! Plus I had taken a stack out before I snapped the picture ( you can see the empty spot on the left bottom shelf)

Here is the bags of stuff I purged from the closet, my dresser and a bin of stuff on the floor of my closet - I filled another bag after this with some coats that were in my front closet too!

Here is the after - I made Nate come in and do his side too and that added to the pile - can you see that my dress shoes are now on the top shelf along with my bags - these were on all the floor. And I can actually move my clothes around without searching for space!

Here is Nate's side - he actually has empty space on his side now!

It feels so good to get rid of that stuff! I contemplated saving it for a garage sale but I decided that I was better to donate it all. This is going to the year of just purging and donating. I know it will feel so great to get all of that unnecessary stuff out of this house!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-07T14:32:00.000-05:00

I have not been in the Christmas spirit this year at all! Usually I am raring to go the weekend after Thanksgiving to decorate the house. But this year I was just not in the mood! Probably did not help that I have been sick on and off for a few weeks now. But, we ended up getting our tree this past Saturday and the anticipation of that helped me take all my fall decorations down and bring out the Christmas decorations. I have a thing for Christmas nativities and have a small collection now. They are my favorite decorations and I get sad when I have to put them away in January. Every year I seem to set everything up differently but I am always happy with how my house looks in the end. Here are some pics of our setup this year!

The Christmas tree

This nativity is by Jim Shore - each person has different carving on their bodies, depicting the story of Jesus' birth - this is up in our dining room.

More Jim Shore but much bigger! These were given to us by the consistory at Kinderhook Reformed Church - we LOVE them!

Here is our pretend mantel - have to have somewhere to hang the stockings! The wall hanging was made for us by Nate's mom - one of my favorite things to put up! I got the stockings new this year from Meijer of all places - only $16 for all 5 of them. Nate and my stocking are on the same hook as we are short one hook. That is a good thing! :)

Here is a close up of that nativity. It is hand made and given to me one year from my parents. I don't remember the artist but I have it somewhere.

Here is the display on my cedar chest this year. A tray of candles, a container of balls and a nativity from Israel.

Close up of the tray - the tray is from Nate's aunt. She originally gave me a tea set and Nate's mom found this tray that she thinks went with the tea set. Nate's aunt has passed away and I love that this is from her. I added a fun reindeer (Michaels), a bunch of candles I have had for years, a little silver bird (Michaels) and some greenery I cut up from floral stems. There is also a fun red garland I found at the Fredrick Meijer Gardens and some pine cones.

Close up of our olive wood nativity - Nate bought this when he did this January term at Calvin in Israel.

This was the nativity that started it all - made by Demdaco. It took a few years to get all the pieces but so worth it! I need some berry branches to put in the vases on the left.

Given to me by my parents one year. I think it was year we moved here so I didn't get to use it the first Christmas. It is so little and lovely!

One last nativity - this one given to me by Nate's mom - it is from Africa, purchased from Ten Thousand Villages in their town. I love it so much I have considered leaving it up all year round!

I love looking at others' Christmas decorations! Such a wonderful season to celebrate our Lord's birth!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

Kristin's Holiday Wish List

2010-11-24T15:08:00.001-05:00

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
   I wish that my family would know and understand the reason we celebrate Christmas. For us, without the birth of Jesus, we would still be slave our sins. But, because of his birth and eventual sacrifice, we can live with him forever!

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
Our Christmas morning tradition is every changing. Since my husband is a pastor, we usually don't even celebrate a typical Christmas morning on Christmas. Usually we celebrate on Christmas eve morning instead. We all stay in our pjs, start with stockings and then move on to presents. Break for a yummy breakfast and then off to a day of playing.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
        It would be for a serger! I really want once but it is totally a want and not a need. It would make sewing quicker and more professional - and more fun!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
   This year we are doing a new tradition of 25 days of giving. These do not need to montary items but things like making cards for the shut-ins of our church or sending our Christmas letter to our Compassion child.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
   We played your typical (dreaded) monopoly, yatzee, Connect Four etc. I really am not a game person but I try to play a few to make the rest of the family happy.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
   Staying in our pjs and celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, St Nicolas Day and Epiphany are all traditions passed on from my husband's family. We are trying to create more of our own family traditions as the kids grow up.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?
              Anywhere as long as it includes our families. We aren't always able to see everyone as we are spread across the country. Being with everyone is most important to us!

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
1. Andrew has been asking for a Ds for years. He scours the ads for a sale all the time. Cracks me up! I would love to make his dream come true.
              2. Some fun new wii games - especially ones for the little ones like Elmo's A to Zoo or Jumstart games
              3. And what seems on the top of most people's list a Xbox 360 with Kinect.

If you want to get in on the fun, head on over to TodaysMama, link up your blog post and cross your fingers you win!

Have you heard of CSN stores?

2010-11-23T16:54:00.001-05:00

I hadn't until I started seeing them pop up on some of the blogs I read. I got a chance to check out their website recently. I was almost overwhelmed at the number of products they have! CSN stores has over 200 different online stores where you can find almost anything you would want or need! They have everything from baby gear to furniture like extra tall bar stools, to accessories for your car. I am completely amazed!

Here are a few things that caught my eye -

Strollers - any kind you want! Perfect for me since one of the wheels of our stroller keeps falling off!

Something to organize all the kids decide they need to take with them in the car - Jonah has started asking if he can play in our "new" mini-van.

Or how about a fun chandelier for Lily's room

Or how about a beautiful dining room set?

Well, maybe the table is a tad bit over my price range but it is pretty. Take a peek at CSN stores and let me know what you think! And come back later for a review too!

Lastly, since it is Black Friday week, CSN let me know about a few of their deals. Check out these links and get some Christmas shopping done.

http://www.csnbaby.com/holidaydeals

http://www.everygameroom.com/holidaydeals

http://www.fitnessequipmentandmore.com/holidaydeals

http://www.toysandgamesonline.com/holidaydeals

Upcycled T-shirt Dress

2010-11-03T20:49:00.001-04:00

I am Momma has a great tutorial for an upcycled T-shirt dress and I had to try it! I had problems with my seams on the outside so I put them in the inside but I love it so much! It was not hard at all and used up some of my crazy knit stash. The grey and blue striped is knits I had purchased at some point. The pink hearts and the pink ruffled edge are thrifted shirts. I added a little rosette and leaves on the white onesie.

Go and check out her tutorial!

I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar: Upcycled T-shirt dress

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T13:38:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple pictures of the kids this Halloween -

Lily was a ladybug - Ladybugs are good luck in Chinese adoption and when I saw it at the thrift store for $1 last year, I knew I had to have it. I got lucky that it actually fit her this year! And since it is typically cold in MI on Halloween, I was glad it was fleece pants and a hooded jacket. She really was jealous of her brothers and wanted to be a power ranger too - the mask and the weapon were much more exciting then wings frankly. Luckily, she liked the ladybug purse I made her (see post below) and she was happy again.

The boys were Power Rangers - these I got 75% of at Meijer the end of the season last year. I am glad I didn't pay much since Jonah's was falling apart the first night and looks pretty awful now. Andrew's has muscles which just cracked me up. Here they are in fighting mode! Thanks for reading!

What I do in my "spare" time....

2010-11-01T18:26:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a lot of time for sewing lately but I have managed to get a few things sewn plus some crafts done too.

Some ruffle pants for Lily - idea from a local seller but I could not get myself to pay $25 for them. I made a pattern from a pair of Lily's pants.

A couple custom orders from friends to give as gifts - diaper and wipe cases, burp clothes and taggies

Kindle cover I made for a teenage boy at church - I still need to make myself one!

Ladybug bag for Lily to carry during Trick or Treat

Sweater pumpkins - found on a blog somewhere - a few blogs I think. I bought one orange sweater from our local thrift store for 75cents and the cream is a piece of fabric from the same store for the same price. I only made 3 pumpkins but I have enough fabric for a whole pumpkin patch if I want. This does not involve any sewing just fabric, rubber bands and twine.

Give Thanks Board - idea from Jellybean Junkyard - finished it just in time for dinner tonight!

Blessed by pictures!

2010-09-15T14:21:00.001-04:00

When we were in China, Lily's Inner Mongolian Bayannaoer Orphanage gave us this nice photo album with a bunch of picture all labeled in Chinese. My Grandma Lily translated them for me and some of them are hilarious and perfect describe our little girl. We also received a letter from a special orphanage Lily was at from Jan 2010 until a few weeks before we met her. It is called Amazing Hands and it is in Bejing. They are a private Christian orphanage that helps out other orphanages in China by offering more specialized care for those children that need it. I am SO grateful to the Bayannaoer Orphanage for sending Lily there! The letter contained a necklace for Lily to remind her of God's protective hand upon her and some wonderful words from the director about God's hand in all of our lives. It also mentioned a CD but it wasn't enclosed. Luckily, I was able to email the director and since she was coming to the States this fall, she would mail me another copy. I was SO excited to get the CD today! It has a bunch of pictures from her time at Amazing Hands plus pictures of the building (that is no longer there - it got demolished and they had to move!) and pictures of her caretaker there. Lily lit up when she saw the pictures of herself and smiled big, pointing at her Ayi (caregiver). What a wonderful blessing!

Here are a few pictures from the CD that I loved! Okay, maybe more then a few..... :)

Amazing Hands Orphanage

The Street

Looking happy with her food

Happy Chinese New Year - holding her red envelope

We recieved 5 pictures from this day already but I love this one - what a face! I have seen that face quite a few times already!

Same day - walking along!

Playing at the park - they were celebrating Easter this day

Love this one! Her expression and her little belly sticking out - too cute! She came to us wearing these pants.

This lady is Amy - the founder of Amazing Hands - she mailed us this CD

Happier on the swing

With her Caregiver - we have quite a few pictures of her caregiver and her name is written down for us too. Amazing Hands only has a small number of kids so I think she got some great one on one care at times.

All in all we feel so blessed to have these picture for Lily look at. I am glad that she enjoyed seeing them and did not get upset. Going through the pictures again I found a video on the CD too! It shows her walking and trying to stuff a toy in her pocket. How fun to have that! I am sitting her just smiling to big. What a blessing!

Words give a thousand pictures...

2010-09-02T09:21:00.004-04:00

Lily has been home for 4 months now and I am amazed at her vocabulary. She talks all the time and has lots of sentences. She started saying things like "I want it" after only being home 6 weeks! And she repeats anything - Andrew had her repeat him while he was counting in Spanish and she said them all! Just for fun, I thought I would start writing down her vocabulary so here is the start of the list....

Mom/mama (mama, mama, mama, mama - I think you've got the idea!)
Dad/Daddy/Jonah/Andrew/Grandma/Mary Lou/Gracie
Love you
Yup/yea/No/No way/Mine/I want it/I need it/Buy it
Please/Thank you/Sorry/Help
Hi/Hello/How are you/Good Morning/Bye Bye/Stop/Go/Come back/Come on/Nigh Night
Doggie/woof woof
Baby
Truck/car
All wet
How did you do that?
See/Okay/Oh/Don't know/I can't/Got it/Here
Shoes/socks/bow
Outside
All done
Walk/Run/Sit/Up/Down
Get out
Play/cook
Book/Read it
Drink/eat/gum/cheese stick/ham/meat/hot dog/candy/noodles/broccoli/apple juice
Bowl/fork/knife/spoon/cup/bib
Open it
Wall/Chair/Bed
So much
Leave it/Not for you/Bad dog
Oww/Hurt/Bonk
Bat/
Mouth/Eyes/Ears/Feet/Belly/Nose/Hair
Potty/diaper/bathroom/stinky/ewww
Cute
Hot/Cold
Amen
Have Fun

Here I go again....

2010-08-21T23:00:00.002-04:00

I hope you are are not getting sick of the clothing revamps because I am not! I just can't help myself! They are all over the blog world and I loves to see what others make from old clothes. And when it is so cheap to make something used into something new.....well, here I go again! One long sleeve garage sale shirt for $1 and a short sleeve garage sale (but new!) shirt for $1 turned into a skirt, leggings and appliqued shirt for Lily.

Top of the tee and then the bottom of the tee turned into skirt - I forgot to take a picture before cutting it up! All I did was cut with an allowance for the elastic casing, sew up the casing and put in the elastic. I did make all the gathers in the back because I liked the print to be flat. I sewed across the casing on the sides to keep the gathers in the back.

I used the arms of the striped shirt for the legs - they are a bit long so they are rolled up here. At least they will fit for a long time! It took a bit for me to figure out how to sew the legs on to the body part and I was not going to tear it out and try again! I used this tutorial to learn how to make leggings from arms. The only thing I did differently was I used a dress diaper cover as my template instead of just cutting a rectangle.

Then I cut the pocket off the striped tee and appliqued it to a hand-me down tee that actually fits her. I tried to cut around enough for a seam allowance to tuck under but I didn't get it right. It was easier to just applique it on and since knit does not fray, it should be just fine.

Here is Lily trying it on for the first time. She really liked it and it fits great! I love that she put her hands in the pockets right away! Made all the trouble I had putting that pocket on worth it! Now we just need this heat and humidity to go away so she can wear this!

She kept putting her hands in her pockets and then pretending to eat something! She thought she was so hilarious! She is so happy here and I love to see her smile!

linking to these parties

Fruit of the Spirit Summer - Week 9 - LOVE

2010-08-15T21:33:00.000-04:00

Bible Vereses/Story

Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

1 John 3:16 (New International Version)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1 John 4:19-21 (New International Reader's Version)
We love because he loved us first. 20 Anyone who says he loves God but in fact hates his brother or sister is a liar. He doesn't love his brother or sister, whom he has seen. So he can't love God, whom he has not seen. Here is the command God has given us. Anyone who loves God must also love his brothers and sisters.

I Corinthians 13 – Love chapter

Story - The story of Jesus's death shows us His ultimate sacrifice because he loves us!

Crafts
Heart crafts - http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/crafts-hearts.htm

Door sign – use the heart template – write our Bible verse on it - http://www.mssscrafts.com/memoryverses/doorsign/

Bookmark - http://www.mssscrafts.com/memoryverses/bookmark/

Make TP Roll Noodle Neighbor Puppets -Children will have fun creating these neighbors. Color/paint toliet paper rolls. Then you just hand out sheetsof different noses, eyes, and mouths. The children pick from the assortment to create their own characters. When they are finished they can use them as puppets by placing their three middle fingers inside the tube. Their thumb and pinky are the puppets hands. While the children are creatingtheir puppets you can talk to them about how God created us all, that the Bibletells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. and we should treat others how wewant to be treated. Talk about who our neighbors are and that we shouldn'tjudge people by how they look, etc. Here are the faces - http://daniellesplace.com/Images22/faces.gif

Love Is - Spinner Game - take a paper plate and divide it up into 12 sections – in each one, write out a description of love from I Corinthians 13. Make a arrow for the middle to create a spinner – use a brad to connect it to the plate and put a heart on the brad. Children take turns spinning the heart in the center of the game, determine which wordthe heart is pointing to, and then give an example of how we can show love inthat particular way. For example, if the spinner lands on "Love is kind", he may say, "We can show kindness by giving to people in need."

Fruit Association – Strawberries
Coloring page – http://www.raindrop.org/rugrat/fun/cstrawberry.gif
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/langearlyread/ss/letterscolor_5.htm
After coloring red – let kids use their fingerprints to make the seeds(black ink)

Strawberry Play Dough
Need: 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1package un-sweetened strawberry Kool-Aid, 1/4 cup salt, 2 tablespoons cream oftartar, 1 cup water
Directions: Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aidin a medium saucepan
Add water and oil.Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. When mixture forms a ball in pan, remove.Knead until smooth. Store in a covered plastic container.

Make a strawberry ornament ornecklace out of a walnut - http://crafts.kaboose.com/strawberry-ornament.html

Other Ideas –
Jesus Loves the Little Children song
Seeds Family Worship CD – Seeds of Purpose -Greatest Commandment

Fruit of the Spirit Summer - Week 8 - Goodness

2010-08-15T21:32:00.000-04:00

After looking goodness up in greek to try to understand the difference between goodness and kindness, we noticed that goodness in greek means more like generosity. So, that is what I am going with here. I didn't want goodness to seem like "works" to the kids so I think generosity helps get ridof that mentality too.

Bible Verses/Story
Matthew 5:16 (New International Reader's Version)
"In the same way, let your light shine in front ofothers. Then they will see the good things you do. And they will praise yourFather who is in heaven.

Luke 3:11 (New International Reader's Version)
John answered, "If you have extra clothes, youshould share with those who have none. And if you have extra food, you shoulddo the same."

Matthew 18:21-32 (New International Reader's Version) - The Servant Who Had No Mercy/The Unmerciful Servant

Crafts:
I had a hard time think of Goodness/Generosity crafts that were not just like our kindess crafts. Sorry! If you come up with any, please share!

Similar to Kindness – making different crafts –flowers, birdseed cookies, etc to bring to others as gifts

Fruit Association: Bananas
How about make Banana Splits – that sounds pretty"good" to me and would seem very generous to our kids I think! :)

Coloring Pages - http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coloring.ws%2Ffruit%2Fbanana2.gif
http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coloring.ws%2Ffruit%2Fbanana.gif

Other Ideas –
How about going through toys and clothes and donating them to Love INC or a mission in your area.

Focusing on sharing for little ones might help them understand better – generosity is sharing without hesitation

Allow each of your children to pick out one (or more!) item each at the grocery store to contribute to the local food pantry.

Fruit of the Spirit Summer Week 7 - Gentleness

2010-08-15T21:30:00.001-04:00

I am SO sorry for those that are following my blog because of my Fruit of the Spirit Summer! We went on vacation and I completely lost steam. In an effort to get them all out, I just finished the last 3 weeks and will post them all in separate posts. If any of you are doing these with your kids, I would love to hear how they are going!

Bible Verses/Story -
Proverbs 15: 1, "A gentle answer turns anger away.

1 Peter 3:3-4. It isthe perfect verse for our daughters
Braiding your hair doesn't make you beautiful. Wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes doesn't make you beautiful. Instead, your beauty comes from inside you. It is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Beauty like that doesn't fade away. God places great value on it.

Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Reader's Version)
"Come to me, all of you who are tired and are carrying heavy loads. I will give you rest. Become my servants and learn from me. I am gentle and free of pride. You will find rest for your souls. Serving me is easy, and my load is light."

Luke 15:3-7 - Jesus as the Good Shepherd

Crafts
Sheep/Lamb crafts –
http://www.mssscrafts.com/memoryverses/scripturesheep/

The standard sheep with cotton balls on it - http://www.dltk-bible.com/animals/lambs.html - Plus a handprint sheep and a sheep from simple origami

Sheep ornaments from yarn, pipe cleaners and a foam face - http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/woolly-sheep-663716/

Fruit Assocation – Peach
Coloring page - http://www.edupics.com/coloring-picture-peach-i5878.html

Making peach pit necklaces! http://impressyourkids.org/fruit-of-spirit-peach-pit/

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/strawberry-necklace.htm(but make it to look like a peach, not a strawberry! )

Use the peach pit to make patterns in play dough or clay

Who needs to buy clothes anymore....

2010-08-14T22:54:00.002-04:00

when you can turn a garage sale tee.....

Girls size L Old Navy tee found at a garage sale for $1

into a 18-24month dress!

I took up the shoulders, narrowed the body and the sleeves and managed to reattach the sleeves! The sleeves are a bit too long but I am going to just roll them up. It was alot of work to get those sleeves right! Plus a little embellishment with a flower!

Felt flower with pin backing - made with 4 felt circles and a fabric covered button

Here is Lily in the dress! I think she is adorable but I am a tad biased! :) Not a great picture since she won't stand still for even 3 seconds - must be a 2 yr old thing..... or is that an any kid thing....

Sew Mama Sew and an unbelievable giveaway!

2010-08-10T21:42:00.000-04:00

Sew Mama Sew is a great place to buy fabric, join in their community and be inspired by projects galore. They have generously offered a Husqvarna Viking Serger to one entry in an unbelievable giveaway! Here is my entry...

Sew more, sew better, have "sew" much more time to sew
Especially to sew for others - for gifts, for fun, for those in need
Reaching beyond myself and my family to touch those around us
Growing as a person and a family
Ever hoping to make a difference somewhere
Really, all because of a little serger

I know it sounds crazy that a little serger could do all that but that really is my hope. I would love to sew more and be able to touch someone's life with it. I would love to spend time sewing dolls for little girls that don't have dolls or clothes for kids that need clothes or lovies for kids that need a hug or sew pillows for battered women or scarves for those out in the cold. Someday I am going to do just that - with or without a serger - but it would be so much more fun with one! :)

Thanks for a great giveaway Sew Mama Sew!

NOT my Sunday.....

2010-08-09T14:31:00.002-04:00

McMamma at www.mycharmingkids.net has a great Monday post called Not Me Monday. Later you can go check her out and see what she and her kiddos have been up to!

After my day yesterday, I thought it was fitting to join in....

I did NOT stay at home yesterday instead of going to church! Ever good pastor's wife knows that she is supposed to be in church every Sunday - looking put together and having all the kids in perfect order. What pastor's wife would stay home?

All 3 of my kids were NOT crying simultaneously at 9:10am and I was NOT standing there with a head of wet hair when we were supposed to be getting in the car to go to church. NOT at this house.

I did NOT sit on the computer all morning while my kids played and yelled and cried. Nope, NOT me!

I did NOT sit in sweatpants all day, hide out in my room to read a book and accomplish absolutely nothing. Not a chance.

I did NOT blame our horrible Sunday mornings on the devil when explaining our church attendance to my husband. Nor did I claim that Sunday mornings are my hardest morning all week, every week. Nope!

Cause that is NOT what good pastor's wives do on Sunday.......and I do NOT feel guilty......

Look what I won!...

2010-08-05T16:27:00.001-04:00

I LOVE giveaways! I go through spurts where I will enter every giveaway I can find. Then anxiously await to see if I won anything. I have not won a ton but I have won some things in the past like books, a pair of Robeez, jewelry and just recently I won this.....

Maybe it doesn't look like much here but what it is a stencil. Instead of buying an expensive vinyl decal, you can just paint this on your wall instead. It is quite large and I can't wait to put it somewhere. It looks pretty easy - just attach to your wall with blue painters tape and use a small roller or stencil brush. Check out a picture of it on a wall....

Doesn't that look so fun! I think I am going to try it out first in the garage. We have a new spot for the kid's coats and shoes and I think it would great up above the hooks. Plus, if I mess up, it is just the garage!

In case you are wondering, I won the stencil from Lemon Tree Creation and Cutting Edge Stencils Check out Lemon Tree Creations' Wooden Wall Art to see what they did with the same stencil. I love what they did with it! There are so many cool stencils to choose from at Cutting Edge Stencils. My favorite is the Large Tree with birds! How fun would that be to go along with our Fruit of the Spirit Summer!

THANK YOU Lemon Tree Creation and Cutting Edge Stencils!

Go Enter the Fly Away Home giveaway

2010-07-22T21:31:00.001-04:00

Check out Fly Away Home Clothing Boutique and enter for a chance to win an Surprise Asian Girl Dress (size 2T-7/8)! I really want to win this for Lily so I entered already. All you have to do is comment on her Facebook page and share the giveaway on FB or your blog. Then comment on her blog that you did those 2 things and you are entered! Her stuff is super cute and all of her profits goes to pay off their 2nd adoption from China. All her clothes have some Asian flare and I love all of it! Go and enter!

http://www.flyawayhomeclothing.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fly-Away-Home-Clothing-Boutique/127645833944364

Little Girl Swimsuit coverup

2010-07-19T22:19:00.002-04:00

I had some terry fabric sitting around and I wanted to make Lily a little swimsuit cover-up. I had some white that was given to me but I saw it was quite stained - I am going to attempt to get it out but no time for that now....I had the urge to sew. So, I decided to use the turqoise. I was nervous because it has a lot of stretch. But, I grabbed my elastic thread and decided to go for it. Luckily my machine cooperated and I got this.....

Some shirring at the top, ruffles on the bottom and a little yo-yo flower to match - what more could a girl want?

I am so glad I decided to try my hand at shirring and another try at making Lily something without a pattern. I can't wait for her to wear this on vacation next week!

Edited - I am so excited! This is the first time I linked up and I got featured at http://www.thetraintocrazy.com/ today! Check her out - she has a sew along going on right now and she makes tons of great stuff.

Fruit of the Spirit Week 6 - Faithfulness

2010-07-19T21:44:00.000-04:00

I don't feel like I have a lot of ideas this week but hopefully you can come up with something to do every day.

Bible Story/Verse

Psalm 41:10 - Create in me a pure heart, O God,and renew a steadfast (faithful) spirit within me.

Revelations 2:10 - Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Genesis chapter 6 thru 9 - The Story of Noah - Noah was faithful to God but also God showed his faithfulness to us in the rainbow

OR The book of Ruth - Ruth was faithful to Naomi (I focused on Noah so I did not look for Ruth crafts/activities)

Fruit Association - Cherry
- Play Hi Ho Cheerio
- Cherry tree craft - http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/fingerprint_appletree.htm
- Make a box with a cherry on it - http://www.craftideas4kids.com/cherries-triange-box/

Crafts

Mosaic Rainbow - Make a mosaic rainbow, use small squares of paper or tissue paper the colors of the rainbow. Draw a small arch on each child's paper. This will give them a guideline for the bottom color on the rainbow and they can keep adding the colors on. They glue on the squares , one color at a time.

Rainbow crafts - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/rainbow/

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/mini_theme/rainbow.htm

Noah’s Ark Lapbook – these are free but you do have to sign up - http://www.lapbooklessons.com/NoahsArkLapbook.html

Noah Activity page - http://sewhttkr.home.comcast.net/~sewhttkr/bibleWS/bibleWS/5_raincovenant.htm

Physical
Maybe making the cookies?

Other Ideas

Rainbow cookies - http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/recipe/rainbow_cookies.htm

Singing the Noah Song - I have not link to this - it is on a kid's Bible CD we have and now I have it in my head!

Fruit of the Spirit - Week 5 - Patience

2010-07-12T15:05:00.002-04:00

Bible Story/Verse

Proverbs 14:29 says, “Anyone who is patient has great understanding. But anyone who gets angry quickly shows how foolish he is.”

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

The story of Job - I know this is along story, mostly dialogue, but it is the best story of patience and the blessings that can come out of it. I plan on reading what happened to Job from the Bible, summarizing all the dialogue and then reading the blessings that come from Job waiting patiently and not speaking out against God.

Fruit Association - Pears
Pear Suncatcher - http://www.craftideas.info/html/pear_suncatcher_b.html

coloring page - http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coloring.ws%2Ffruit%2Fpear.gif

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4238/baked-pear-dumplings - these look really good but a tad difficult to make - just wanted to offer it anyways for those adventures bakers!

Crafts
Job crafts are hard to find! So here are some sites with activity sheets and coloring pages

http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm - scroll down until you see Job - each pdf has tons of activities - more geared toward elementary kids but there are coloring pages too for little kids.

A whole site dedicated to the character building of children and it includes a whole page on patience! http://www.characterjournal.com/html/patience.htm

Physical
I've got nothing! How about talking about patience every day when you are stuck waiting somewhere! ;)

Other ideas
Scroll down for the Fruit of the Spirit basket craft
http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/NewCraftandWorkshet.html

I can't remember if I linked this before - it is making a fruit scented picture using koolaid packets.
http://lesson-plans-materials.suite101.com/article.cfm/fruit_of_the_spirit

A free site with Lapbooks - check out their Fruit of the Spirit lapbook - http://www.lapbooklessons.com/FruitoftheSpiritLapbook.html

A mom did similar fruit of the spirit lessons - here are her ideas - she used runts candy for teaching! Yum! - http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2010/04/preschool-corner-fruit-of-spirit.html

Fruit of the Spirit File Folder game - http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/ChristianFileFolderGames2.html

Fruit of the Spirit mini book - http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Minibooks3.html

Fruit of the Spirit download bean bag game - http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/04/fruit-of-spirit-bean-bag-toss.html
http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2010/04/preschool-corner-fruit-of-spirit.html

Fruit of the Spirit Summer - Week 4 - Self Control

2010-07-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

Bible Story/verse

Adam and Eve - Genesis 3

2 Timothy 1:7 God didn’t give us a spirit that makes us weak and fearful. He gave us a spirit that gives us power and love. It helps us control ourselves.

Fruit Association - Apple
Why we always depict Eve with an apple is beyond me since the Bible only mentions fruit but we do so here are a bunch of apple crafts. Since I haven't made fruit prints with the kids yet I will probably do that. I also like the simple paper plate apple.

http://www.freekidcrafts.com/apple-crafts.html

http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2009/10/an-apple-a-day-apple-crafts-and-treats.html

Crafts
A stop sign or a stop light -

This one uses apples as stamps to make a stop light - http://crafts.preschoolrock.com/index.php/crafts/apple-stamp-traffic-light-craft-poem

this one uses milk/orange juice paper cartons - http://www.dltk-kids.com/safety/milk_carton_traffic_light.htm

PDF template - http://www.fastq.com/~jbpratt/education/theme/transportation/trafficlight.pdf

using kleenex boxes for a stop light - http://www.parentsconnect.com/do/red_light_green_light.jhtml

making stop light cookies! - http://candycraft.muxgo.com/candy-crafts/candy-craft-traffic-light-biscuits

stop light necklace - http://www.asuen.com/books/act.rlgl.shtml

Physical
Play Red Light Green Light

Have the kids ride their bikes/trikes/scooters, set up a "track" and you be the stop light

I have a particular Kindermusik song that I will sing with the kids - we march and we march and we march and we STOP, we jump and we jump and we jump and we STOP.....etc

You could also play the game "Freeze" or Simon Says (listening and then controlling what they do or not do)

Fruit of the Spirit Summer- Week 3 - Peace

2010-07-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

I posted these on Facebook but I forgot to post them here! Sorry!

Bible Verses/Story

1 Peter 3:11 Turn away from evil, and do good.
Look for peace, and go after it.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and Know that I am God

Mark 4:35

35 When evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." 36 They left the crowd behind. And they took him along in a boat, just as he was. There were also other boats with him.

37 A wild storm came up. Waves crashed over the boat. It was about to sink. 38 Jesus was in the back, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him up. They said, "Teacher! Don't you care if we drown?"

39 He got up and ordered the wind to stop. He said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down. And it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Don't you have any faith at all yet?"

41 They were terrified. They asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Fruit Association - Watermelon (a piece of - get it?)
- Make a boat out of a watermelon rind to act out the story
- Watermelon coloring page - http://www.coloring.ws/fruit5.htm
- Paper Plate Watermelon - A paper plate watermelon makes a decorative, colorful craft for any bulletin board, wall or refrigerator. This simple craft only requires a white paper plate (preferably with a non-glossy finish), red and green paint, watermelon seeds and glue. The outer edge of the paper plate will be painted green to represent the watermelon rind, while the rest of the plate will be painted red. Once the paint has dried completely, glue watermelon seeds onto the red portion, or "flesh" of the watermelon to complete the paper plate watermelon; a great activity for ages 3 and older.

- Watermelon Seed Mosaic -Kids of all ages (as well as adults) can show their creative side by creating a mosaic with watermelon seeds. Any type of base can be used, including cardboard, construction paper and foam board, or serious crafters may choose to use canvas. Glue watermelon seeds onto the base to create designs, themes or abstract pictures. Draw shapes or designs for younger children and allow them to glue seeds following the outline provided.

- Watermelon Seed Music Makers - Kids love noise makers and will enjoy making these watermelon seed music makers. Begin by taking a white paper plate and either color or paint the outside rim (underneath side) green and the rest red. Fold the paper plate in half with the colored side on the outside. Staple the edges of the plate halfway around the plate to seal. Add enough watermelon seeds to make noise when shaken and then staple the rest of the way to seal completely.

Crafts
A symbol of peace is a Dove so here are some dove crafts -
- http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/birds-doves.htm
- http://www.zoomdinosaurs.com/crafts/newyear/dove/
- Paper Peace Doves (assoc with MLK day but disregard that part for this!) - http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/martin-luther-king-jr-day-activities2.htm

Physical Association
This is probably going to sound "new age" but this can also be part of spiritual disciplines. Spending time sitting with our kids and calming ourselves in order to have peace. You can't have peace and be hectic. Deep breathing, calming our bodies and then praying and listening to God. "Be Still and Know that I am God" is a great verse to remind us of this.

Another thing is Forgiveness - You can not have peace with others when you have issues between you. Working on forgiving those that wrong us this week would be great as a way to discuss peace.

Other Ideas
- 3D fruit craft - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/plants/fruit/
- Sing "Be Still and Know that I am God"
- Videos - VeggieTales "God wants me to Forgive Them",

Fruit of the Spirit - Week 2 - Joy

2010-06-21T15:01:00.000-04:00

These feels really unfinished to me but it is what I have at this point. As I come up with more stuff I will add to it. I will NOT be doing this next week as Andrew has day camp but I will work on the following week so it will be ready for those who need it.

It was really easy to come up with ideas about Kindness last week. Joy is being a bit more difficult. Joy is hard to explain to a child that understands the meaning of happy. Joy is more then being happy. To me Joy is an emotion that you have no matter your circumstances where as happiness comes and goes depending on what is happening in your life. Joy is an internal emotion while happiness is external. You may not be happy but you can still have joy. Joy comes from God, Happiness comes from our world. Now I have to try to explain that to my kids. I am hoping that I can at least get them to understand that there is a difference. I encourage you to look up verses about joy to help with your (and my!) understanding of joy. The program on our computer shows Joy used 210 times! Get looking! :)

Bible Verses/Story

Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord makes me strong.” (NIrV)

"For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands."
(Psalm 92:4)

Luke 1 –Angel visits Mary – Joy in the midst of being scared and unsure

LK 1:26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

LK 1:29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

LK 1:34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

LK 1:35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

LK 1:38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

LK 1:39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

LK 1:46 And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord

LK 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

FRUIT ASSOCIATION - Oranges
Oranges can take lots of jostling because their peels are extra thick. Yet, they are juicy and sweet inside. Likewise, we need to be able to handle when sad or hard things come our way but yet still have joy!

Let me tell you! Orange crafts are hard to find! :) I did find one that is usually geared toward Christmas (kind of fitting right!). You cover an orange with whole cloves and it simply smells good. I thought it would be fun to not cover the whole thing but on part of it spell our the word JOY. To ease getting the cloves in the rind, you poke it with toothpicks first.

I also found a link that talked about making candles out of oranges but it would be more time consuming (http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F6%2F6%2Fnorth%2F17912928) I have seen at Hobby Lobby, candle wax crystals that you don't have to melt but will melt when you burn the candle so that would be a quicker option then melting wax.

Thinking of last week with the grapes, you could paint a tree and each week add the fruit to the tree by slicing your fruit and using it as a stamp. Hopefully this makes sense to you - ask otherwise!

Orange coloring pages -
http://www.coloringcastle.com/pdfs/fruit/fruit-orange.pdf
http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.coloring.ws/fruit/o

range.gif - with this one, you could write things in each pie shape - maybe Bible verses on Joy, ways to show joy even when you are unhappy..

CRAFTS

Whispering Tube - Make a whispering tube out of a paper towel roll. Cover the roll with pretty paper and have the children decorate them with stickers, crayons, or markers. Instead of using paper towel rolls, you can cut pretty colors of poster board and roll it up to form a tube. Glue it together using a hot melt glue gun. Whisper the bible verses through the tube and have the children repeat what you said. OR whisper things that might not make a child happy to teach how they can still respond with joy.

Angel crafts -
Shapes angel - use a circle for the head, triangle for the body and a large circle (or doily) folded in half for the wings - decorate.
Paper plate angel - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Angelplate.shtml

Coloring page of Gabriel and Mary - http://www.first-school.ws/t/cp_bible/annun_luke1.htm

Tree crafts - these could be used any week but I just found them. I like the first one - it is only construction paper! I also LOVE the mod podge hand trees - I am doing this at some point!
http://www.facebook.com/notes/the-crafty-crow/craft-activity-theme-trees/407441147018

PHYSICAL:
I've got nothing! I thought about bringing joy to someone else but that seems too close to happiness vs the joy from God. I will keep thinking! Let me know if you have any ideas!

Other Ideas
I forgot to mention this book last week - 9 Fruits Alive by Mindy McDonald - it is a great book for younger kids that tell each fruit and how it can be shown everyday.

Sing - I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, down in my heart (where?) down in my heart (where) down in my heart........

a great find!

2010-06-19T22:31:00.000-04:00

I knew instantly I had to buy this! Isn't it so pretty! I am not sure what made me gasp first....the lovely bird on the top, the 4 different carved birds on the sides or the wonderful lines and shape. The best part....it was only $1.50 at Love INC.

Now where to put her....

Lily's Baptism

2010-06-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday we welcomed Lily into the family of God!

What a celebration! Nate was worried she would cry but instead Lily made the congregation cry by baptizing herself after Nate finished. After Nate walked her around the church, Rosemary stood up and announced that the congregation wanted to sing "This is the Day" to celebrate the occasion - we were touched!

Four Generations! My mom, myself, Lily and my grandmother Lily.

Pic from our Kindness Craft

2010-06-17T20:13:00.002-04:00

I of course forgot to take pics of the actually craftiness but here are some after pics. We made Birdseed Cookies to bring to our church shut-ins - kinds to both our church members and to the birds! I got the idea from this blog - http://lets-explore.net/blog/2009/06/birdseed-cookies/

Today we went and visited 3 of our church members and passed them out. All 3 ladies wished we could have stayed longer. We need to do this more often!

A summer of fruit!

2010-06-09T22:08:00.003-04:00

Beth Moore said at her last conference - if you want to know if something is good in your life, see what kind of fruit it is producing. This gave me the idea to very intentionally teach the kids about the Fruit of the Spirit. Andrew can list them off but does he know what they mean? I hope to do this one a week (though vacation might make it hard). There are 11 weeks so we should get through the 9 fruits okay.

This is VERY low key! I refuse to get stressed about this and I want it to be fun for all of us. So, if you need to take a week off or just plain skip it then you can. I am not doing them in order so you can always go back to one if you want to. I am going to try to do something every day with the Fruit of the Week too keep it fresh in their minds and to keep impressing it on them. So, a story, a couple crafts, doing something physical and who knows what else - each week I will write down my ideas and you can add to them or just take what works for you. I am not going to do everything I list each week but at least I will hopefully have lots to choose from.

I decided to start with Kindness b/c frankly that is what my kids need right now. They are just not nice to each other both with actions and with words. I am hoping this helps! Plus I thought of some ways to take the crafts and turn them into discipline techniques.

Fruit of the Spirit - KINDNESS - Week 1 - June 13-19
9 Fruits Alive - a book about all the Fruits of the Spirit is a good book for the whole summer!

KINDNESS
Colossians 3:12 NIRV (New International Readers Version)
You are God’s chosen people. You are holy and dearly loved. So put on tender mercy and kindness as if they were your clothes.

Luke 6:36-38 NIV
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.

Bible Story - The Good Samaritan Luke 10:30-37

3Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him. They stripped off his clothes and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. A Levite also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too.
But a Samaritan came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. 'Take care of him,' he said. 'When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?"
The authority on the law replied, "The one who felt sorry for him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do as he did."

FRUIT ASSOCIATION: GRAPES
Not sure what to do with the grapes but sharing them would be a good start.
*Grape coloring pages - http://www.coloring.ws/fruit3.htm - might be fun to cut out circle pictures of family and friends to put on the grapes as a reminder of who we are to be kind too.
*Make cards from prints of grapes - either cut the grapes in half, press in paint and then on paper or put paper on a cookie sheet (one with sides), roll the grapes in paint and then roll on the paper - sounds mess but fun too! I

CRAFTS:
Kindness Jar - have the kids think about what kindness means and what are kind acts. Write on pieces of paper (maybe even had the kids draw little pictures) and add them to the Kindness Jar. You can easily just use a clean recycled jar or a plastic container. Use whatever you have on hand. Decorate it and add the kindness slips. A good way to think of practical acts of kindness. And, when the kids are not so kind to each other, make them pick a slip out of the jar and be kind instead.

Circle of Kindness - take a paper plate and draw pie pieces on it - draw pictures of those you are to be kind too (like those in your family), attach an arrow cut out of cardboard (use a cut up cereal/cracker box) with a brass fastener. Then just spin the arrow and see which person you can be kind to today. I thought when my child has a bad attitude, I can have him spin the arrow and in turn be kind to someone to try to get rid of the bad attitude. http://www.crayola.com/crafts/detail/circle-of-kindness-craft/

Write the word KIND in big letters a piece of poster board or opened paper bag - write it so there empty space in the letters (like the outline of the letters). Cut out clothing to put in the letters. (see verse - "as if it were your clothes") http://impressyourkids.org/fruit-of-the-spirit-kindness-a-kind-sign/

Make a crown - call if their Kindness crown and talk about what we do when we are kind - good along with the kindness jar. And adds in the "as if it were your clothing" part of the verse. See story here - http://impressyourkids.org/fruit-of-the-spirit-kindness-orange/

Make cards or flowers to give to others - here are some links to flowers and cards that I like -
*Flowers from plastic bags - http://www.growingupcreative.com/2010/04/6.html
*Flowers made from circles cut from newspapers - http://madebynicole.blogspot.com/2009/01/paper-flower-tutorial.html
*Another newspaper flower - http://siayla.blogspot.com/2009/04/earth-day-newspaper-flowers-and-more.html
*Flowers from rolled up paper - these can be made with seeds and then be planted but I thought just to make them plain would be easier - http://www.howdoesshe.com/mothers-day-gift-ideas2
As for cards - painting heart shaped paper dollies with watercolors then attaching to cardstock/construction paper,
* Printed cards - looks fun and easy - http://lets-explore.net/blog/2009/05/mothers-day-cards-making-prints/
* or just use crayons and office paper for an easy and simple card.

Birdseed Cookies - this looked fun to both be kind to birds and to give to shut-ins from our church -
http://lets-explore.net/blog/2009/06/birdseed-cookies/

PHYSICAL:
I would like to take the kids to visit either a few of our shut-ins or bring cards to DeVos Childen's Hospital. (I have a call into DeVos to see if this is okay?) We do not do this enough and I think this is a great opportunity to do it.

Other ideas:
Watch Veggie Tales - Lyle the Kindly Viking (I have it on hold at Allendale Library so let me know if you want to watch it next week!)or Boz Friends and Helpers (we own this one)
Read books about Kindness -
The Giving Tree
How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs - I figure we have to be kind to our dogs too!
Berenstain Bear books - Lend a Helping Hand (works with Goodness too I think), And the Bully, The Golden Rule, Too Much Teasing, Love they Neighbors

SO, let me know if you are joining in on this summer adventure! Right now I have 19 friends on FB joining in. I think this is going to give our summer some purpose and be tons of fun!

NO we are not still visiting family in China.....

2010-06-09T21:05:00.002-04:00

I got "harassed" at Target today by one of the Bethany social workers *you know who you are! * that it looked like we were still visiting family in China! Whoops! Sorry I have not updated our blog in months. Just a tad busy with 3 kiddos now. I have posted a ton of pics on Facebook but I will add a few of my favorites in the past few months - It is really hard to pic my favorites since I have taken almost 900 pics in the last month and half!

SO, I can't get blogger to load my pics to pics will have to wait! Sorry!

Some time with family!

2010-04-23T04:15:00.003-04:00

Since we knew we were spending a day in Shanghai, we arranged to meet my Grandmother's niece WaiWai.

She picked us up today and took us to a wonderful dim sum lunch. I tried dates, plain pumpkin, sweet and sour fish, and bean curd thing along with wonderful dumplings and bbq pork. For dessert she ordered red bean paste pie. I don't usually like red bean paste but this was tasty! Lily refused almost everything except for a pastry that went with the pork and the pie. After lunch we went to a YaYuan garden. It was built by a high official during the Ming dynasty but because he had a dragon built in the gardens he ended up giving it to the emperor as a gift. Dragons are only supposed to be for the emperor. It was very pretty and quite large. Back then they didn't have cement so they used sticky rice to adhere all the stones together - funny huh! On the way back, Wai Wai bought us ticket for the train instead of a taxi. It takes about an hour by taxi - it took 7 minutes by train! The highest speed was 431 km/hr! Crazy! Now we are resting and hopefully will find our Bethany friends that are staying here so we can eat dinner with them. Tomorrow we are headed home! :)

Arpil 22 - Long day!

2010-04-23T04:11:00.002-04:00

We left Guangzhou but with some difficulties. We were to leave at 5:45pm and did not leave until 11:30pm. There were a bunch of irate passengers so lots of Chinese yelling and screaming at the airport workers. We luckily meet a couple of really nice people that live in Shanghai but are from the UK and another adoptive family that lives in Shanghai but is from MI originally. At least we could keep each other company! Lily did pretty good considering but really it is a day we wish we could forget. We arrived in Shanghai to a Chinese only speaking guide and driver. The driver did not really know where he was going but we got the hotel eventually. The hotel is not great but it is a bed and we were grateful to finally be here! I have more complaints about the day but I think we are just going to move on!

Praise God!

2010-04-20T04:38:00.003-04:00

Lily has been peeing today! She has gone overnight, peed on the chamber pot when she got up, had a wet diaper at lunch and just peed again after her nap! That is 4 times already! Considering most days she only goes 2 times this is a major improvement! And the struggles of getting her to sit on the chamber pot are much shorter.

THANK YOU for all your prayers! We are praying this trend continues!

Pictures

2010-04-19T10:11:00.003-04:00

Since I am having a hard time both uploading to FB and emailing pics to the blog, I started uploading pics to Snapfish. These are only ones that are not on FB (and still not all of them!). You may have to copy and paste the link. Enjoy!

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2415170017/a=14144735_14144735/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

April 19th

2010-04-19T09:34:00.002-04:00

Thank you for all your prayers! Lily's TB test was negative! Praise God! Of course, the minute she saw a doctor at the clinic, she started to cry. She completely remembered her experience there just a few days ago! A couple kids in our group tested positive but they had clear chest xrays so they are cleared to get their visas! I know their parents were a tad anxious though! Tomorrow our guide will take all our paperwork to the Consulate in order to have Lily's visa started. Wednesday we have to go take an oath regarding the adoption and Thursday we will be able to pick up her visa. It seems like such a slow process - we are ready to go home!

Lily is amazing us every day. Of course, there is still lots of crying, temper tantrums and just unhappiness on Lily's part throughout the day. She is VERY strong-willed and almost any thing can set her off. Many times we have no idea what has set her off. It is almost hilarious at times because she will cry like she is in massive pain but the minute you do what she wants she stops crying instantly. I think some of the temper tantrums are getting better -she is learning that NO is any okay word sometimes. But, now for the amazing..... She is saying so many English words! She started with peek a boo on the first day. She now says gentle, thank you (with signing too!), diaper, along with mama and baba. She will try to repeat us often and does really well. She put on her first pair of squeaky shoes tonight and walked all over the place with amusement. She is very careful - especially with walking. She notices if there is a difference in ground level or type and takes her time. She eats alot of food - especially Cheerios! She likes to have clean hands and will even try to wipe up her spot at the table. She loves to brush her teeth (we have to pry the toothbrush away!) but she hates baths. She sleeps like a champ and once she is asleep we can talk, turn on lights, turn on the tv, etc. Even if she has been angry at us, she wants to be comforted by us. She is quite attached to me, less to Nate but slowly getting there. She has a mind of her own and gets her point across very quickly! She likes girly things (yea!) - we put on a Chinese dress today to try the size and she did not want to take it off!

Please continue to pray about her going potty. She will sit on the chamber pot we bought but it can be a struggle sometimes. We wonder if she has had some bad experiences on the potty at the orphanage? She is still only going potty overnight and then 1-2x a day. Nate's mom is going to call Lily's ped and try to get an earlier appointment when we get home to get her all checked out.

We are ready to come home but know we will have some great experiences still in China. Friday we will be in Shanghai and we will be spending the day with my Grandma's niece WaiWai. I have not seen her since I was in elementary school (I think!) so it will be nice to see her. We are hoping she can take us to see my Grandma's house in Shanghai!

Thank you again for all your prayers! We feel them!

P.S. - since I can't get on my blog, I have no idea what I posted before (too tired to remember!) sorry if I am repeating myself at all! :)

April 17

2010-04-17T10:32:00.002-04:00

Thank you for all your prayers! Lily did well at the medical exam considering she received 4 shots and a TB test. No fever so far so we are hopeful that she is not going to have any reaction from the vaccines. We go back Monday to check the TB test results.

Your many prayers have been answers so we have a strange and sort of personal prayer request - could prayers be said on Lily's behalf that she pee? She only pees overnight and then only 1 or 2x a day. It just does not seem like enough and we are a tad concerned. We bought a chamber pot but she does not like it or toilets. I worry she has a UTI or bladder infection but she does not have a fever or any noticeable pain. Please pray that any bladder problems will be solved and that she will pee normally! I told you it was personal! :)

We are all very tired and off to bed. Tomorrow we go to a folk art museum and then to a park for the kids to play.

April 17th

2010-04-16T20:39:00.002-04:00

Today we have to have Lily's medical appointment. I have heard it is pure chaos at the clinic on these days. They will examine her and she will have to have any vaccinations she hasn't had yet. I have heard of kiddos getting 7 shots at once! She will also have her TB test.

Please pray that she will have not have any reactions to the vaccinations! With that many, she can have high fevers, allergic reactions and who knows what else.

Please pray that she will have peace in the midst of the chaos! She is a screamer when she is upset or she does not get her way. We pray that she will be calm and that the vaccinations will not keeps her upset for too long.

Please pray that her TB test is negative. If it is positive, she will have to go through more tests. Chinese kiddos can test positive because they may have had a TB vaccine. We do now know if Lily has had the TB vaccine yet. If she tests positive, it could delay our coming home!

I somehow broke a blood vessel in my left eye and my eye is not feeling the greatest. Pray for patience and healing for me (and Nate) please.

THANK YOU for all the prayers and encouragement! We continue to need them! And truly appreciate them!

Unable to get on again

2010-04-16T10:48:00.002-04:00

We were using a VPN that worked great in Beijing and Hohhot but now it is not working in Guangzhou! So, no more Facebook status' or real blog updates with pictures. Sorry! We are off to bed after a long day! I will try to update the blog tomorrow!

April 13

2010-04-13T02:10:00.003-04:00

We are so thankful for all the prayers! God is amazing us every day and Lily did pretty well this morning! We got to the room before the orphanage workers and she was sitting in our laps and playing when they came in. They talked to her from across the table but she pretty much ignored them. The nanny came by us for some of the paperwork and Lily just kept playing. She handed the nanny something at one point but never tried to go to her. A little bit later, the nanny came back to us and held her arms out to Lily. I refused to let her take Lily and it seemed the nanny was okay with it. But, it made Lily cry and get all upset again. I was really frustrated with the nanny! I don't understand why she would do that but I am trying to be sympathetic to her. The assistant director had the nanny step out and that helped calm Lily down. She only got upset again when we were waiting for the other couple to finish their paperwork. She laughed and smiled and called Nate "baba" which I think helped the orphanage workers to see we were a good family. They asked us about what medical care we were going to get for her and asked us for updates and pictures. We will be glad to share with them - I know they certainly cared for her!

Lily had to do a footprint in red ink as her signature to show who she was.

Since we were signing all kinds of paperwork, she wanted a pen and pretended to sign too. She would help turn papers over and even pretended to do her fingerprint. We had to sign and then do a fingerprint over our signature for every signature.

The nanny, the assistant director, and the orphanage director

After all the paperwork, we went to lunch at McDonalds (LOTS of stares there!) and went to a baby store for diapers. Lily fell asleep in the Ergo on the way back. She won't let me take off her coat so she is napping in the bed with everything on! She is going to be a sweaty mess! She loves her hat and scarf Daniela!

The greatest part of today was that we received some things from the orphanage. She was left with a pink bracelet on and we recieved that. Lily promptly put it on like she knew what is was! Also, we found out that Lily had been brought to a private foster care in Beijing for a few months and they sent a letter and a necklace as a reminder of her time there. They presented us with a rug/wall hanging of Genghis Khan (founder of the Mongol empire). And best of all, they gave us a photo book of photos from her life at the orphanage! Pictures of her at different stages and with her little friends! There is some writing so we will have to have someone translate that for us. I am just so excited to have these photos and her bracelet!

Not much else planned for today - maybe we will venture out to a grocery store at some point. Lily is napping and I am not waking her up. She is a good sleeper! Tomorrow we go to the Cultural Museum and the next to a local market. We are waiting for her passport to be ready for us on Friday and then we leave for Guangzhou for the medical appts and the visa paperwork.

We're a family!

2010-04-12T07:38:00.006-04:00

Wow! What a day! The wait was torture and we were in the lobby 30min early. Another American family is here (different agency) to adopt a little boy so we were at least together in this! Sandra our guide showed up and the orphanage workers were not here yet. She was calling them and they arrived right then! They walked in the hotel and we met our kids. Lily was shy from the first moment and shyness turned into crying and screaming when the nanny put her down. Anytime we payed attention to her, tried to offer her toys or food, she just pushed us away. The picture they took of the 3 of us for our official paperwork has her screaming! The caretakers moved into the business center but Lily continued to scream. Hotel workers kept trying to help but we were not handing her over. Trust me, she was not a happy camper! She was screaming, pushing us away, arching her back, and hitting our faces. I left to try to get paperwork done so we could go to our room and Nate did what he could. He soon prayed that Lily would have peace and she konked out in his arms. Praise God! We switched so Nate could do his part of the paperwork and ran up to our room. Why they did not get a meeting room reserved so this did not have to be done in the lobby is beyond me!

After we went to the room, she slept just a little bit. She woke up, opened her eyes, saw me and started crying all over again. This time did not last nearly as long but she kept pointing at the door. Broke my heart to see her so upset! Nate was holding her at one point and I started playing with the toys. She kept watching me out of the corner of her eyes - seeing if she could trust me. After awhile I offered her a little Asian doll we had brought. She grabbed it and that was the breaking point. Nate sat down with her and she continued to watch until I got a little ping pong ball out. I rolled it to her and she threw it back! I almost cried I was so happy to have her interact! Then the cheerios came out and she started feeding Nate and I and herself some. Then we got this.....

The first smiles after an hour and a half of pure crying and screaming! She thought Nate was hilarious when he would make sound effects when eating the Cheerios.

Feeding BaBa some cheerios! I got some too! She even started saying Mama and Baba when she fed us! Praise God!

Playing peek a boo with a little people girl, the ball and smarties. She even started saying Peek a boo while playing! She loved dumping everything out of the cups and even stated stacking them herself!

Loves her bag and puts it on her shoulder after I showed her what is was. She liked to hide things inside and find them again.

We were so happy to have her interacting and smiling and laughing! She ate some noodles with us, and an entire huge orange. Oranges are apparently a favorite according to her nanny. We managed to change her diaper and put her in pjs. We ended up hiding her clothes from her because she started getting a little upset after we got them off. I think she sort of realized she was staying when the clothes came off. We decided to not attempt a bath. Too much good happening and we did not want to upset her again.

The doll that made the breakthrough - she is kissing and hugging it now after putting on her pjs. We did attempt the teeth brushing and she loved it! After we stopped, she asked to do it again. After 30 min of brushing teeth, I took the toothbrush away and she was mad! She started hitting my face but I would tell her "no" and "gentle". She kept doing it so I said a firmer "NO". She looked kind of shocked and then cried. But, she came right to me and I was able to comfort her very quickly. I think she might be used to getting her own way......

We skyped with the boys and she just watched. Andrew was calling her by her Chinese name -he is so sweet! He took a picture of us on Skype to take to school for show and tell. The boys want us home now so they can really meet Lily! I think she is going to give them a run for their money! She is definitely going to hold her own!

She was getting very tired so about 8:30 we hopped into bed (all of us in our bed), she fussed for less then 30 sec, rolled over, put her thumb in her mouth and fell asleep! It is now the next morning at almost 7 and she is still asleep! Praise God!

Some things we are really thankful for today:
Lily is walking with a slight limp but able to get up and down by herself and walk around independently!
She is using both hands and has great dexterity in both. I have not measured but the difference in the lengths is barely noticeable in her arms
She is babbling and repeating tons of words! We would have never thought that she would be repeating English SO quickly! And using some works appropriately already!
Though the screaming is hard, we know that means she was attached to the orphanage worker so we are actually glad for the screaming!
LOVE the smiles and laughs!

Continued prayers please.....

Lily will have to see her caregivers again today to do more paperwork. This time we will be in a meeting room thankfully. But, we know this is going to be hard and upsetting for her. She will not understand when we have to leave the caregivers again and we know she will be upset and cry again. We pray that we will be able to comfort her quickly!

April 12

2010-04-11T23:21:00.002-04:00

We just arrived in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia a couple hours ago. We are settling into our hotel room and trying to make ramen noodles for lunch. It is 11:20am right now and we will meet Lily at 3pm TODAY! We are anxious and excited all at the same time. We will update as soon as we can!