A few weeks ago we had our annual Fall Fest at church.  It was so much fun to go as a parent this time! The kids had a great time and the children’s ministry team did a great job putting everything together!

Isaac was sitting down on the grass and Miriam came right over and sat down right in front of him like this! They were absolutely adorable. . .and you know I had to get a picture of it! They sat this way for the longest time!

Every year the church daycare sponsors a Trike-a-Thon to raise money for St. Judes.  This year we attended with our kids! Isaac got to ride his bike that Grandma and Grandpa got him for his 2nd birthday.  When he first got it in February, his feet just barely touched the pedals.  Now his feet  can reach!  He needs to grow just a little more to be able to pedal better, but it is so fun to have the visual that Yes! He is growing!!

Miriam got to hang out with the toddler class while they were outside for a buggy ride.  They had a seat with her name on it ;-)

Now that we have settled into Fall (to which I am EXTREMELY thankful – its favorite season!) we have settled into more of a weekly routine.  There are a some really exciting things going on in the church and I am so blessed to be a part of them!  I just wanted to give you a little glimpse of what all is going on this fall. 

Women’s Bible Study

I am so blessed once again to help lead a Ladies Bible Study group.  We are doing another Beth Moore study:  Esther, It’s Tough Being a Woman.  We have TWO groups again this semester for a total of 15 ladies participating!  This has been a desire of my heart for some time  and I am just full of joy over it and so thankful to the Lord.  I felt like my heart might burst this past Thursday night at the beautiful picture I got to see – eight amazing women gathered in my living room studying the Word of God together.  It is in those moments in ministry that keep you going!  I thank the Lord for using me and pray that I will always be continually obedient to his leading and willing to be used by Him. 

Growing Kids God’s Way

Aaron and I have the privilege of learning along with three other couples about how to raise our children according to the Word of God.  We are using a series called Growing Kids God’s Way.  It is an eighteen week course (pretty intense) and we are about 4 weeks into it at this point.  I have to say, for us personally as a family, I am SO GLAD that we are  going through this.  We all want our children to be well-behaved and respectful of others, but this course takes things a step further and asks the question, Why do we want our children to behave in such a manner?  Is it so WE look good?  So we won’t be embarrassed out in public?  Instead our answer to the question WHY should be based on Biblical principles, that we want our children to have it in their heart to obey us and ultimately to obey God.  Our children’s obedience should come out of a heart that desires to obey because they know the moral reason why and not just out of fear of punishment.  This course really helps to lay the foundation of reaching the heart of your child for Christ.  These first few weeks we are really laying a foundation for this and learning the extreme importance that the marriage relationship plays in the family.  As we go along, hopefully I will take time to share little nuggets that I have learned from this.

True U:  Does God Exist?

I have been teaching the Youth Sunday School  class again for a few months now.  I have not been real happy with the curriculum we have been using and have felt like they need something with more depth and more foundational in the faith.  I recently came across a series that Focus on the Family and the Truth Project have helped to put out.  I am so excited about this and pray that the Lord will use it to help our youth become deeply rooted in their faith. 

Last Saturday we had a Ladies Tea and Brunch at our church! It was such a special time of fellowship and renewal. 

As you can tell there was a lot of talent and creativity that went into putting this all together! We have a special lady in our church that is incredibly gifted in organization and planning of special events like this.  I am so grateful she is willing and excited to use her gifts for God’s glory and to minister to others.

A special thanks to another lady in our church that lent the beautiful handmade tablecloths and some of the china!

We had a great group of ladies that came out (a few more came after pictures)

We used this time together to introduce our fall Bible Study.  We will be doing a Beth Moore study - Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman.  We are going to have two groups again!!  One of our precious ladies who helped pull the brunch together is leading the morning group again this fall and I will be leading the evening group.  I am so excited to once again be a part of a ladies Bible study.  I love seeing women grow in the Lord and falling in love with His Word! 

This year we had a great turnout for VBS!  It started on a Sunday evening and went through Wednesday evening.  Our theme for the week was The Incredible Race!  We averaged over 40 kids in attendance each night and almost that many volunteers!! Aaron and I had the special privilege this year to be able to sit back a little and just enjoy it!  There was a great team of leaders that did all the planning, prep work, decorating, and leading of Bible School this year.  Our personal involvement was probably the least it has ever been (on the planning end of it).  It was such a blessing to see the church body work together like it is supposed to and we had a wonderful VBS as a result!!  One child came to accept the Lord for the first time and five re-committed their lives to Christ.   It was a fruitful VBS and a joy to attend.  We had a nursery for the volunteer’s kids and so I was able to go around and take pictures all week and then help Aaron two nights while he did the lesson time.  Out mission project this year was the Race to End Hunger.  The four teams (red, blue, green, and yellow) collected can goods for our local food pantry all week for a total of over 820 cans!! 

  We had a great team of volunteers that worked in the snack area.  Loved the race cars made out of swiss cake rolls!!

One of our storytime volunteers.  (This is Jonah ;)  The kids learned about courage with David, obedience with Jonah, forgiveness with Onesimus’s story,  and being faithful to run the race with Jesus.

And of course my kiddos had a great time as well.  Here they are doing one of their favorite activities . . .snack time!!  (These were little jell-o cups with gummy fish at the bottom for the day we learned about Jonah.)

If you will notice the orange cones in the top left corner of this picture. . . ALL WEEK!  Isaac would go over there and say “clean up!” and he would stack the cones one on top of the other.  I would tell him he didn’t have to clean these up and put them back around the tree.  I wouldn’t even have them spread back out again and he would say “clean up!” and start stacking again! . . . I guess I should be thankful ;-)

Isaac is 28 months

Miriam is 11 months

Monday

I always have the hardest time getting going on Mondays.  So this past Monday I took the morning off and rested :)  I pulled a couple of things off the shelf for Tot School and we just hung out and played and then watched "Oklahoma” together.  It was Isaac’s first time.

As you can tell he enjoyed it very much :)

I also brought out the animal lacing cards. 

These are new for us.  Miriam even got in on it too :)

Circle Time

We also started our daily Circle Time on Monday!!!  I am super excited about this and have been working towards it for a few weeks now.  I recently got a Melissa and Doug set of musical instruments and we will be using these along with our Songs for Saplings CD. Which I LOVE!! (I unexpectedly had the children’s class on Wednesday evening and taught them the first two songs on this CD.  After service was over I heard them singing God’s Word as they were leaving class!!!  I LOVE IT!!    (NOTE:we came back from camp that evening so Aaron could take care of the service)

  Right now in our Circle Time, we will be focusing on our memory verse (via Songs for Saplings), Bible story, and learning other songs (hymns, worship choruses, etc) Then in a few weeks I will be introducing our calendar time!!  I have been so excited about starting Circle Time with my kids.  Miriam will be joining us for this and then will normally go down for her morning nap after that.  

Both of our kids LOVE music!  When I brought out our musical instruments on Monday they had a ball!

I was originally planning on being home with the kids all week while Aaron was at Senior High Church Camp.  The A/C went out at our house Monday (why does it go out when it is one of the hottest days of summer ;)  So the kids and I packed up and went to camp.  Thankfully there was an empty room off the gym we were able to stay and I had plenty of room to put 2 pack-n-plays for the kids and we were able to keep with their normal nap routines. 

Tuesday - Friday

Tot School in a Bag

When I knew we were going to be at camp for a week, I packed a bag for Tot School.  This bag served two purposes:  to try and keep some consistency with what we had already started and to have things to occupy their attention during service time or any other time they needed to be quiet.

What’s in the bag….

• Our Farm Lapbook (I downloaded this free lapbook from Carisa at 1+1+1=1)
• Toy Story Drawling Pad (Wal-Mart)
• Coloring Book and Crayons
• ABC Flash Cards
• Magnetic Board (got this from Wal-Mart for $6 with ABC magnets and pics to go with it.  For this trip alone it was worth it!)
• ABC Magnets
• 123 Magnets
• Melissa and Doug Lacing Shapes (these were a huge hit! Both of my kiddos loved these! For Miriam I went ahead and put some on one of the laces and then tied the ends together so she wouldn’t loose them ;)
• 2 Mother Goose story books
• Chicka Chicka 1 2 3 by Bill Martin Jr
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear  by Bill Mart Jr and Eric Carle
• Letter A Ant Matching Cards from Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler
• Goldfish Colors Snack Crackers (Isaac and I had fun playing and eating these.  I would hold out a handful and have him pick out the color I called out.  We also worked on counting with these)

I am so glad I put this bag together for my kids this week.  It worked great for us. I’m sure I will be doing this again whenever we travel! 

Other Pics from this Week

Miriam just gets cuter and cuter!  She is such a little sweetie.  She was much more content this week at camp than last week.  I think more sleep might have been a part of it ;)

Isaac playing with two other pastor’s kids.  They were too funny to watch both weeks of camp.  They were like magnets!  Whenever they saw each other they had to be around each other. 

Say Cheese :)

Another pastor’s kid.  Us PK’s have to stick together ;)

Just hanging out while the youth were playing one of Team Challenge games.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous this week!  The temperature was not too hot, it wasn’t too humid, and there was a nice cool breeze blowing.  It was great to see many of the teens we have come to know through the years as well as my cousin who is a pastor and others from different churches.  Even though I was looking forward to the week at home with the kiddos, I’m so glad it worked out for me to go to camp again this week. 

To see what other moms are doing in Tot School this week, check out the official Tot School site!

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to ride in a BIG truck!  One of the gentlemen that attends our church works for a big trucking company and had one of the trucks for the weekend.  He took us, along with another special family, for a truck ride.   It is amazing the technology that is now available for truckers, including cameras that act as side view mirrors.  Our friend J rode in the co-pilot seat while his parents and our family of four ride in the back part of the cab!  There was plenty of room! 

The kids loved it, especially Isaac.

The expression on Miriam’s face cracks me up! She looks like she’s not quite too sure about this.

Isaac studying the wheels.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening with these two families and ended it with a delicious steak supper.  Yum!