My friend Rhonda sent this to me...I was a mess afterwards. Seriously you will need a tissue, especially if you sponsor a Compassion child like we do. I think it was so touching because we will be meeting our own Compassion child we have sponsored for 5 years in just a few months when we travel to Uganda! Enjoy...
PS...New post below too!!
Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.
It's been a little creepy around here today! It started when I walked into to teach school today...
Then...for lunch we were mysteriously served spider dogs...
Then...these very yummy and simple ingredients were mysteriously turned into...
THESE...
Today, we had a blast enjoying a little creepy fall fun! My hubby is NOT a fan of Halloween at ALL. But, he can't complain about a little dress up (tonight is costume night at AWANA!) and some spider fun!
My pilot and cowgirl are so excited to take these goodies to their classes tonight. They made them ALL on their own. All I did was cook them and they did all the rest! I can't wait to see all the costume fun tonight at AWANA...I better go get mine on too:)
I read this book a couple of years ago and it ROCKED my world! It is by John Piper and totally changed a lot of the ways I view my safe life. God used it change many things in my life...along with the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. Here is a quote I read on another adoption blog this morning...conviction again...
"Oh, how many lives are wasted by people who believe that the Christian life means simply avoiding badness and providing for the family. So there is no adultery, no stealing, no killing, no embezzlement, no fraud—just lots of hard work during the day, and lots of TV and PG-13 videos in the evening (during quality family time,) and lots of fun stuff on the weekend—woven around church (mostly). This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more, far more." -John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life
*****New Post Below******
Well, since we have been to the apple farm, we have LOTS of yummy apples! Anli loves apples and has done her part to eat her way through many Rome Beauties, but we still have bunches. They are HUGE!
So, on Fridays I try to get up a little early and make something fun for breakfast (Jay does pancakes on Saturdays...so since he is off on Fridays...mom's gotta have a fun breakfast day too!). So, this past Friday morning I made a yummy apple pecan layered danish dish. It features lots of diced apples, gooey pecan goodness, and Grands biscuits cut into little pieces. It was AMAZING! We enjoyed it for breakfast on Sunday morning too!
I have found a number of amazing recipes featuring apples the past few day and can't wait until this Friday to feature another sticky morning treat! Apple pie is coming too...with yummy vanilla ice cream!
I LOVE to bake (not so much loving cooking...but baking is my favorite!) so I'm excited to try out some new recipes with my Rome beauties...for my Woodstock cuties!
After spending a while at the apple farm, we headed to Burt's for some pumpkin fun! We love Burt's and always enjoy some fall fun there each year. There weren't many people there at all since it was a Monday afternoon, so we just took our time walking around and enjoying the beautiful scenery, pumpkins, and weather...all perfect! God is amazingly creative!
Jay and I get our photo taken by our wonderful photographers! It's nice to have kiddos old enough to take great pictures...I may have some assistants on my hands soon!
This year we just really soaked it all in. We walked and talked through all the pumpkins...picking out our favorites, enjoying all the different kinds, and just soaking it in. I am in love with God's amazing creation...it just literally shouts out His glory! So, do these beautiful girls...
Daddy always gives his girls a ride in the wheelbarrows for fun! They love it!!
I got this picture and the girls did great...until...
Dad pretended to tump them over! Precious face on Virginia...Anli never broke her pose...that's my girl:)
There aren't words for how glorious these girls are to our lives...
Each of the girls chose their favorite mini pumpkin. They are all about "little" things!
Virginia did a little dancing with a new friend...how cute!
After a good long time wandering around the pumpkins, we got on the WONDERFUL hayride!
Dad and his girls!
The hayride takes about 20 minutes and winds through breath-taking fall trees! Then, you get to this cute little pumpkin patch...these pumpkin puppets are too cute. They really talk!
The past several weeks we have been studying the sun. This week we talked about eclipses. It was so fun to study and then do a project on this! The girls had a blast...and really got it.
The experiment took a blow up globe with a flashlight shining on North America. Then, we took a small Styrofoam ball (moon) on a string and hung it down in between the flashlight (sun) and the globe. Thus...we had a partial eclipse as they passed the moon cast the shadow on the earth.
Then, we let the moon pass directly in front of the sun and saw a total eclipse.
All the while I was singing in my head...
We have been studying Mexico in our geography the past 2 weeks and we are LOVING it! Jay has been to Mexico on a mission trip so we had lots of fun preparing a Mexican fiesta on Thursday night. We spent most of that rainy day making fun decorations, dressing up in the dresses he brought the girls back, and making the BEST Mexican feast! Talk about a party!!
We had an assignment for making Mexican flowers from tissue this week and we did it as we prepared for the fiesta. They did a beautiful job...and had a ball doing it! Look at these pretty girls!
We used some of the large flowers to decorate the table...and all the scraps made perfect confetti!
A few days before we had made these self-hardening dough masks while we studied some Mexican art. They had to dry for several days...and then Thursday night we were able to paint them. Wow...
Those beauties now hang on their walls and are awesome! I especially love how different they are...just like my girls. We had a wonderful night...adios Mexico...hello Canada!
Today I am going to share about my absolutely most favorite family focused tip...family nights!!! We have had a set family night for years and it is one of the most critical traditions that we have found at our house...especially as the girls get older and we get busier.
Each week we set aside one night designed only for our family. We don't have people over, we don't watch TV, we don't do our own personal things...we spend time as a family. Our family night has changed over the years and it has looked different from year to year. But, here are the basics...
Dinner - we almost always have dinner at home that night. We try to choose a night where I am able to cook a large family meal with all the fixins. That night is a special sit down at the dining room table together kind of night. We almost always have candles. (the girls love this) and we choose some nice instrumental music. We also work on manners that night too. We also play a game around the table called "high low." Each family member goes around and shares their high for the day and their low. It's so great to hear from each person the good and the bad of the day. Our girls have been able to do this from a very early age. It's something that pretty easy for all age groups to talk about!
Dessert - OK, I love to make desserts...and my family LOVES to eat desserts! So, that night I try to find a fun dessert for us all to eat or, even better, to make together. I look online for fun things that are either seasonal or just plain fun! Family Fun online has tons of great ideas!
Fun - That night we try to do something different and fun together. Sometimes we go out for bowling, roller skating, ice cream, etc. Most of the time we stay home and just do fun art projects, crafty things, family board games, outside things like Frisbee or bike riding or walking, nature hunts, dollar movies, or anything that we want! It doesn't need to cost money...in fact...most of the most fun we have is completely free!
Consistent - We make this top priority in our family. We know that right now the kids love every minute and look forward to each family night and the surprises it will hold. But...as they grow older...we want this to be a consistent way for us to connect as a family. Some weeks it is hard to fit in. But, there is always at least one night that we can find time for a family night.
Now, you may look at your family and think that there is no way that you can do a family night every single week. Well, start with once a month! Make it consistent, make it really fun, make it super special, and make it a priority!!
You don't have to do it like mine. Your night maybe ordering pizza and getting a fun board game out! It might be chicken nuggets from McDonald's and 15 minutes of dancing in the den after bath time in your jammies with your 1 year old. It could be a hot chocolate night cuddled up on the couch watching a fun movie the kids pick. You see? It can be just about anything you do together as a family.
We have found as our family grows and changes...so should our family night. But, it always stays our family night. It is an incredible way to connect with the hearts of our family and to stay connected. Try it this month! Start small, keep it real to your family, and have a BLAST together!
Last weekend we attended a hoe down with the home school co-op group we are a part of this year. It was AWESOME! We were afraid that the weather was going to rain us out...but it was perfect! It was nice and cool and felt like fall with jackets on at times. It was at a HUGE farm of one of the members of the co-op...and over 300 people were there!!!
Look at those western cuties! I could eat them up!
Since it was a farm, there were lots of animals there to pet and play with. The girls were in heaven...especially Virginia!
They had horses for all the kids to ride (there were over 75 families there!). The girls loved getting the chance to ride!
So cute!
Then, there were fun games to play too. They had these saddles that you could get on and try to "rope" a bull! Virginia is riding one handed...giving me the 8 second high five!
All the kids played a western game of good guys and bad guys. There was a cute jail made out of pvc pipes. They spent literally hours playing this game with all the kids!
Then...there was the FOOD! They grilled out some yummy hot dogs and everyone brought different side and they were so good!!!
We also brought homemade chili for the contest. All of them were so good and we tried several. Our favorite was a white chili...that's always my favorite! All the food was in the most precious barn that was decorated and set up for everyone to get their food!
Dad and Anli enjoy some gooooood foooood!
Homemade cookies are the BEST...
The kids loved the tire swing!
Virginia doing some cool moves with the hula hoops!
Virginia found a friend in the pasture. This goat was HUGE! He was really furry and funny too. Jay and I were sitting up on the hill enjoying some time hanging out and enjoying watching the kids play together. I was looking over at Virginia feeding the goat and all of the sudden it made this noise and scared her to DEATH! It was so funny that Jay and I laughed forever! So cute!
Precious growing up girl...
Cutie cowgirl...
We had such a great time! We loved meeting new people and mostly watching the girls have a BLAST with so many children. They just ran and ran and ran for hours. They had a scarecrow contest, hayrides, square dancing, and just lots of time to hang out together. What a fun memory!
