Children's Faith Learning

I have been spending more time with the kids talking about prayer and God's presence all of the time, not just on Sunday mornings. Really, I have been doing more for my own benefit than anything else, trying to get myself more grounded in His presence. Because of this, the kids are starting to bring the things we talk about into their everyday world.

Because it's Sunday, I thought I would share an example of each of our boys in their faith growth.

Noah first...that's the joy of being the oldest I guess. As I was going through his take home folder from school a few days ago, I found this.

Can you tell what it is?

During their free time at the end of the day, they are allowed to cut, draw, glue, whatever if all of their work is done.

Noah's creation for the day was Jesus on the cross. He cut it out and drew the picture with Jesus sad because of the nails in his hands and feet, which he drew quite clearly.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this. Yes, there are certainly way more happy stories from the bible that we have talked about, and it isn't even Lent so they haven't been talking about it at church.

But at the same time, the cross is the basis of his faith and I will probably always keep it as a a demonstration of his faith journey.




Aaron's example is a little more upbeat. The other night, when we were saying our prayers, Aaron was completing the last word of each line as I was saying the Lord's Prayer. So I went to get the camera (of course) and he just started saying the whole thing (In Aaron-speak, of course)

Enjoy...





I hope you are having a wonderful Lord's Day.

Huh?

Have you ever found yourself saying something, and then thinking, "Never in a million years would I think that would come out of my mouth"? Yup, had one of those moments last night.

Coming home from Wednesday night church, the boys were pretty wound up. Aaron had been playing running games and Noah had made a craft using the Ten Commandments on a piece of paper, like a scroll.

So, as my two rambunctious boys were getting very wild in the car, a swatting match ensued, using the "scroll" as a "weapon". Even though it was playful, I don't like those kind of games, especially in the car.

So here's the quote of the night...

"AARON, STOP HITTING YOUR BROTHER WITH GOD'S WORD!"

My Sleeping Angel

I am joining in on the photo contest fun over at 5 Minutes For Mom. The contest winner receives a new bedroom set, which would be very much appreciated in Noah's bedroom.

By far, the hardest part of this contest is choosing a picture. I am pretty much addicted to watching our boys sleep and have taken SOOO many pictures of them. Let me tell you why I cherish this picture so much.:















My sleeping Angel is a BIG 6 year old first grader. He rides a two wheeler, pours his own milk for breakfast, and has been known to, as of recently, wipe away SOME of my kisses (sob sob). He reads and writes extremely well and makes sure I know pretty much all the time just how independent he is.

BUT...

For those few hours when my cherub is sleeping, he is still that little boy of mine. He still loves his stuffed animals ("buddies") to cuddle with, and pretty much always sleeps with his arm wrapped tightly around his favorite "valentine monkey". I love his strong arm hold and his hands tucked peacefully underneath his head.

It is during these times when I both relish the fact that he is growing into such a wonderful boy, yet he will still always be my baby.

He is indeed my Sleeping Angel.

The Tackle You've All Been Waiting For...

I know pictures can't really do justice to the improvement in this kitchen. This 50 plus year old house has ickiness everywhere. As hard as I try to clean everything, walls and floors included, it doesn't doesn't always come clean. The walls were so gross that I just had to do something drastic. So, here is the final result of my obsession all last week. I still need to get new valances, which will warm the room up a little more, but at least now it's a fresh, clean feel.


The beam running across the ceiling was a strange sort of plastic/wood board that I had no idea what to do with. A kitchen designer friend of mine suggested just painting it.










I think the painting of the beam made a HUGE difference.












The drop ceiling needs desperately to be replaced but we have neither the funds, nor the know how to do it so we have to be satisfied with the other stuff for now.

This picture was where the most noticeable nastiness was. There were cracks in the walls under and above these windows, as well as several BAD patching jobs in between the window. Once again, with valances, this angle will nice.









The room looks much cozier with this view when you first walk in.











I was fully intending to re-stain the cupboards and put new hardware in, but alas, the funds issue arose again so that will have to wait.



Above the cupboards was also that strange wood/board material.











The area above the cupboards is another one of the huge improvements, having that painted.












Somehow, I missed a "before" picture of this angle, but it was again one of the nastiest of walls. It is so much better sitting at the desk typing looking at a clean, neat wall. I like the replacement desk also.










So I know this was overdoing the Tackle it Tuesday a little, but it was a huge tackle and one that made such a difference, that I keep walking into the kitchen, just to look at it. It really does make the hallway and entry ways even worse though, so I imagine I probably will be posting about those soon. Maybe by Christmas, I can have the living room done too...if my family can put up with the messes that painting creates long enough.

Happy Tuesday.

Weekend Top Five 10/6/08

A very down weekend. We are having a rough couple of weeks in our household. It will hopefully be looking better soon. But for now, we are coping just like we always do. As a result, we did not leave the house all weekend (other than church, that is.) So, with a weekend at home, here is out top five...

5. Babysitter interviews.

We have a had a very difficult time with finding/keeping babysitters this year. We have had a wonderful girl who has been with us since Noah was born. She had the gall to go and graduate and desire a "regular" job. How dare she want to actually make money? So, we have been through a string of people ever since. It is very hard to find a babysitter that only wants an hour to hour and a half a couple of days a week. So I posted an ad on Craig's list and had several inquiries. We found a girl who seems to be willing to try it this week and then we'll go from there. She is a married woman though so I don't know how long she'll last. We'll know more after tomorrow, I guess.

4. Piper's Birthday Party That Wasn't

It was my niece's 6th birthday about 45 minutes north of here that we had planned to go to. The boys were pretty excited and even helped to wrap her present (even though it was pink...Yuck!) About 45 minutes before we were set to leave, the kids were playing outside and Aaron came running, crying pretty hard saying he had fallen. He was holding his head and begging to go lay down (totally out of character). So I was pretty worried about a head injury and laid down with him. Within five minutes, he was completely sound asleep. He slept for over two hours, not really time to go to the party. The boys were disappointed, but I am glad we let Aaron get the sleep he needed.

3. A Major Disappointment

This is such typical, air headedness on my part. I know you all remember my camera debacle from a few weeks ago. My camera had broken and I have been borrowing one of my dad's. I have had a difficult time adjusting to it and the old one has been sitting on the counter ever since. I am a bit of a pack rat and don't like throwing things like that away, even though it was beyond repair. Well, lo and behold, when I was performing my overhaul to the kitchen last week, I THINK I figured it was time to get rid of it and threw it away.

DUMB, D-DUMB, DUMB!

Steve comes out to me Saturday afternoon, holding the 3 year warranty that I had purchased (again, out of character). So, had I kept the camera on the counter, we would now be sitting with a new camera in our hands. Instead, we have spent every waking moment since then searching in vain, praying that maybe I didn't actually dump it. I can't seem to stop beating myself up for it.

2. Random Activities at Home

The boys spent much more time outside than usually, which I think was great, and Deb's girls came over for la little while which helped as well. We also managed to do some family crafts, try out new recipes for dinner, and get to bed early. In the evening, while watching the end of the Michigan-Illinois game (UGHH!!!!!!) the boys got a lesson about football and now both want to play when they get bigger.

1. Hand bells had their second performance at church.

We did two songs this week, one alone and one with choir. A few more mistakes than last time, but still were pretty good performances. I am so proud of this group and I am enjoying being their director.

I hope you enjoy this video.



So, hopefully next weekend things will be looking up for us. It is frustrating when you're feeling like everything is falling apart. Steve and I have been thankful though that our boys are so resilient and they really haven't noticed anything different. The only time that it came up was when Noah said, "Mommy, what fun thing are we going to do today?" and I answered "nothing". "Nothing" ended up being dodgeball with daddy, decorating for Halloween, and spending time together with our family. Not so much of a nothing to me.

Please share your top five with me. Have a great week.