I Almost Didn't Go

The Sunday I went forward to be baptized, I almost didn't go. I was really close to not going. I told my husband I felt like Satan didn't want me to be there and he said "then you should go." He was working that morning and I had to take the kids by myself, in the rain. I'm glad I went.

I almost didn't sign up for Bible Study at our church last year. It was on a total whim. I pretty much thought well, there's free childcare for 3 hours so I'll do it. That first semester I made multiple friends and learned SO much. It was my first Beth Moore study, we did David, it was awesome. One of the ladies in our group was praying about going to work with a friend of hers. I asked her what kind of company it was. Turns out it was marketing, turns out they had a graphic designer about to leave, turns out my current part time job was about to end. Turns out I still work there a year later, it has the flexibility to let me work from home or be in the office, the people are great and I love my boss. I'm glad I signed up for that Bible Study. I could never have found a job that was such a perfect fit if I had looked for it.

Fall came around and I was reluctant to sign up for the Navigator 2:7 series in Bible Study. It wasn't the popular course, but I decided at the last minute to take it. When Fall ended I signed up for another Beth Moore study, but the rest of my group was continuing on to the second Nav 2:7 book. I changed my mind and stuck with my group. We continued on to the 3rd book as well and I've now completed all 3. In the last 9 months we've memorized over 20 scriptures, we've written our testimonies, we've provided basic needs like food to a member of our group in need, we've seen a member accept Christ into her heart and be baptized. We've been so intimate. When we all show up in that room, the Holy Spirit is there and it's the most peaceful place in the world. I've made numerous friendships and mentors I am certain I will keep for a long time. I am really glad I went.

I could keep going. I almost didn't go to the women's conference this Spring, where I broke down in tears the first night because I was so overwhelmed with young motherhood. The sweet ladies at my table picked me back up. I learned about my current season in life and how to handle it, how to be content. I waited until the very last minute to sign my son up for the Spring Break Mission Trip because I couldn't decide if I wanted to pay for it. I'm so glad he had the opportunity to go. It was so sweet to watch all the kids rally around and lay hands on a police officer and pray for him. I'm glad we could experience that day together.

How many things have you and I almost done that we skipped over? I wonder what all I've missed? How many sermons I needed to hear, but didn't because I was too lazy to drag my kid across the parking lot. It's so much work sometimes. But, life is a lot more work without the support of God and my church for sure. Keep it stored away in the back of your mind the next time you're almost about to do something.

If you ever have a chance to do the Navigator 2:7 Series you should absolutely take it. It's kind of a discipleship course. It teaches the daily disciplines of being a Christian without a lot of commentary, just by using the word of God. It will change your life, no doubt.

The Kindle Touch - a product review

I have to say, I really like my Kindle. I asked for it for Christmas this year, on a total whim, and I got it from my in-laws! Both of our parents really spoil us every year. I guess I can understand, because I spoil my kids any chance I get.

The things I like:
- Free books. I've discovered many new authors and books via the Top 100 Free Book List. If I'm shopping on my Kindle I only see a B&W picture of the cover and I'm much less likely to buy the book based on it's cover. I buy it based on it's synopsis and reviews. I have bought a few books, but I've downloaded so many for free I'm not buying many.
- Portability. Your books are good on one iPad, one iPhone and one Kindle each. If I leave my Kindle at home, I can read on my iPhone while I'm sitting at the doctor's office, etc. It automatically syncs up to the last page I read on my last device.
- Easy to put down a book. If I start a book and it's lame, I close it and start another one. I switch back and forth a lot when I'm kind of into more than one book.
- The charger fits into my iPhone charger block.
- Library loans. I haven't tried it yet. Not all libraries participate, but it's worth looking into. The book selection is limited, but it's pretty cool that you can do it!
- The battery lasts forever.
- I love reading on it, it's light and small. I can adjust the size of type if I want and I can even have it read to me out loud.
 
The downfalls:
- I wish the Amazon website would allow me to organize my books into categories. I find the process to be a bit of pain on the Kindle itself.
- No backlight. This is a actually a big plus for people who like to read outside as it reads just like paper. (I have a dream about reading outside. It involves my children playing like little angels and me sitting on the back porch with a book. Like I said, it's a dream.) However, I would like to read laying in bed at night without having to use a book light. Not really a big deal though, if I want to read in bed I usually use my iPhone since it lights up.
- The inability to loan and buy used bugs me the most. I think if you own the book you should be able to sell it used when you're done, or give it away/loan it to a friend just like you can with a paper book. There is some sort of loaning program. I think you can loan once and it might only be certain books. This might be a technology issue and I hope they'll change it in the future. When I go look for a new book and it's $12 to get it on Kindle and $4 to get it mailed to me, it's hard for me to justify downloading it. I might just end up getting it at the library.

I would definitely recommend this product and I think the price is very reasonable for what you get. None of the downfalls would stop me from buying it again, I still absolutely love it! They are all minor details. I read a lot more than I used to and that makes me happy!

It's about to get personal...

I'm working on some blogs right now that are going to be quite personal. While it is hard to put some of these things out there, I feel compelled to do it. Not everybody is gifted in a way that they feel comfortable sharing personal things to help others. Personally, I love it! If my past can help your present then I'm all over it.

I don't mean to brag on myself by saying that it's a "gift." The Bible talks about how we are all members of one body of Christ. There are gifts that I don't have, I am not good at them. Sharing my stories with others, with the purpose of building them up, is something God has given me a desire to do so I'm going to do it. If that's not your thing, don't fret, God has something else for you! It's not something I do of my own strength, but because God made me that way.

If you've never done a spiritual gifts assessment, I highly recommend it. Knowing the areas God has gifted me in has made it much easier to put those things into practice.

I mainly blog for two reasons:

1. To help others. I love to share things that are helpful and things that God is teaching me.
2. To remember. I don't want to forget the precious things I'm doing with my children right now and I know I will. This is the easiest and quickest way for me to get my memories all in one place right now. So some of this stuff might seem silly to blog about, but I'm doing it for me! If you enjoy it along the way it's an added bonus.

Collecting

I'm not much of a collector, really. I don't have the space to do much collecting and I've just never been all that into it. Recently, I've discovered these Schleich toys and have decided to starting adding to a collection for my kids, one by one.

They are hand painted and, as you can see, very realistic (this little lion is even anatomically correct!). I also really like that they are made with materials that keep them from breaking. There are certainly cheaper versions of the same thing, but I decided to collect the Schleich brand because of their quality and durability. I figure this will be one of the few toys I can keep for my grandchildren. It's unfortunate so many toys now wouldn't last that long. I love the box of old toys at my in-laws house.

I always love when we go to a play place and they have boxes of play people and animals. My kids sit and play with them forever. It's so precious to watch their creativity. It's becoming more prominent with my son as he gets older. I have videos of him making stuff up while playing with his toys, it's hilarious.

I'm trying to train my son to listen and obey the first time I tell him to do something. We've started a sticker chart. When he fills it up we are going to the toy store and picking out one at a time. There's a toy store near us that has a large collection and sells them individually. Most range from $3-7 a piece, with a few larger ones that probably go up to $30. Taking Beemer to the toy store was like watching a kid in a candy shop. He probably picked up and decided he wanted/didn't want about 20 different animals before we finally left with the lion (which is what we set out to get). 

 I can't wait to see what he picks next! Of course, I really want him to pick another Safari animal (because I'm OCD like that). But, he has his heart set on two puppy dogs. I guess we'll see when we get there!

Nature Walk

The last couple weeks we've worked into a new little routine. My husband rides the trails, we play at the park. I really like it. When he's finally home for the weekend I am not always thrilled to have him leave for a few hours to go ride. I enjoy going with him, it feels more like a family outing.

This week we went back to the same park as last time, but I pointed out to Beemer that there were nature trails. I thought he'd be bored with it, but he loved it! I kept asking if he wanted to go back to the playground and he just wanted to keep walking. We've taken 3 nature walks this week, I could get used to this! It has been some of the more enjoyable times I've had with my kids recently. If you haven't done it, I highly reccomend it

Here's some pictures from our first trip:

We saw a lot of wild flowers and butterflies. Sister is very observant of any kind of "bu", I mean bug.

 

The kids really enjoyed stopping at the bridges and looking over to the water.

 

Towards the end of our walk we cut across a trail to get back to the concrete walking path. Beemer stopped to tell me the ground was breaking. Nature Walks are great learning experiences, we talked about how the ground breaks when it's dry. I love his attention to detail and his curiosity.

 

 

He also wanted to know what this tree stump was, he pointed to the markings on it and said "look a door"!

We made a couple stops off the trail to look at the water. Somewhere around here I noticed the massive quantities of Poison Ivy and started getting nervous. When I was younger I used to get it so bad my entire face would swell up. The last time, I had to get two shots of steroids, one of which made me pass out. Nothing has shown up yet, so maybe I'm good! I watched a tiny little snake and some fish swim in this little hole, I don't think the kids could see them.

 

After walking a while, Beemer spotted this lookout point. I really was ready to go back, but my little explorer had to see it so we made the trek. (Did I mention I had no stroller for Sister, so I carried her through a lot of it. It was a beautiful day, but down in the valley it was really hot!)

I wasn't really sure I should go up this little hill with my recently spranged ankle. But, it was the quickest route and at that point I was so hot I didn't care! I handled it with caution.

When we got to the top Sister reached out her hand to hold hands with her big bro'. It was so sweet!

We didn't get to spend much time up there, but the view was great. Off in the distance I can see the top of the picnic area where we started. It's rare that you get to get out in the middle of nature living in the city. But, I'm discovering that there are quite a few places near me to do so.

I told Beemer to keep his eyes open for birds and butterflies. Apparently that means "make goggles out of your hands."

And one last one of my lil' cutie. I had to get a picture of those adorable pig tails. It's a true battle getting them in!

Why I Took the Towel

I've decided to be baptized. Again.

My church has just started the series Not A Fan. Completely. Committed. Follower. It's based on a book written by Kyle Idleman. It's very challenging and really quite funny. Basically, in the Bible Jesus wasn't looking for half-hearted people who merely believed in him. But, he was looking for people who were willing to follow him. People who will surrender to him, to let him change them.

When I was a little I accepted Jesus into my heart. I grew up in the church and learned at an early age that I was a sinner, God sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and I could never have a relationship without having a relationship with Him. Some time later, still as a child, I was baptized in water. For a long time, Satan has made me doubt my decision because I made it at such a young age. But, as I look back I see how the Holy Spirit has been changing me throughout the years. I've also really enjoyed the realization of this verse recently.

"Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15

I continued to be active in the church throughout my youth. When I went to college, I kind of decided I wanted to do my own thing for a while. I knew deep down that my party lifestyle wouldn't fulfill me. I was really miserable. I suffered severe panic attacks in college and pretty miserable. I begged God to take them away, but I don't really think I ever asked him to walk me through it. I just didn't want to have to live through the suffering. Looking back, if I had that experience right now in my life, I think I would handle it much better. I've learned about asking God to help me through my problems and I've learned about a humility that comes out of desperation when you realize you are NOT GOOD ENOUGH to handle any of it on your own, much less get into heaven. I have my children to thank for that epiphany (and of course, God). It really is a huge blessing when you reach a point of humility and let God take over the problems you can't fix by yourself.

After college I gave up the lifestyle and decided to get back on track with God. But, I still feel like I held back a part of my life from him. I also said I was done dating for a while and met my husband a month later. There's something about quitting trying that makes things happen!

We were pretty active in church when we got married. We got a great start to our marriage and years of parenting. But after a while, we started to taper off of going to church. For probably a couple of years I half-heartedly went to church. In fact, I kind of avoided God even when I was there, always fearing what He might ask me to do. I still volunteered and did a quiet time every now and again, but there was no real growth in my life that I could see at the time. This was a huge season of doubt for me. Looking back at my journals, I can still see God's hand and the work that he did in my life through that time when I felt there was no growth whatsoever.

You see, maybe I was more than a fan before college, but through about the last 10 or so years I've really been just a fan of Jesus. I've always thought He was great, always appreciated His sacrifice, volunteered in church, went to church a little, could quote you scripture and tell you what's Bible. I even lived a pretty moral life. But, I wasn't really a committed follower and I wasn't really letting God in to change me in all areas.

Thankfully, we found an incredible church that teaches heavily from Scripture. I quit my full time job and became active in church quickly. Once I started getting heavy into the Word of God I started to notice the change in my life. Previously I had been involved in many Bible Studies, you know the kind where you buy a book and read a couple Bible verses referenced in the book. This is not a Bible Study in my opinion and not a great way to grow consistently. God's Word is what changes you the most.

I've reached a point in my life where my faith has become more to me than just what I grew up with. I've always believed it and have been changed by it. But, I reached a point of humility this year and it was such a blessing because that's when I started to really change. Something about God just became more real. The power of the Holy Spirit in my life became more real.

I'm not ok with being a fan any more. I want to be a follower of Jesus. I can't imagine my life without the peace He gives me from my anxiety, without the insight from His Word, without the ability to overcome anger, bitterness, the ability to forgive. God has also increased my ability to love and help others in need. This transformation has been going on for a long time, but it's really taken off in the last year or so.

Last week in church, they had stacks of towels sitting on the stage. Our pastor talked a lot about baptism and I really felt a tugging at my heart. He said when you get baptized you should be able to say the following things:
1. I'm going public
2. I Choose Jesus (over everything else)
3. I am completely surrendered (baptism is the physical act that demonstrates our decision to die to ourselves and follow Jesus)

So, when they asked if anybody needed to come grab a towel, I did. As a sign of my complete surrender to God and my decision to follow Jesus. I grabbed a towel because I want to be baptized again as an adult now that my faith has become more real to me. It doesn't mean that I think my former confession of faith was not real, it's more of a re-commitment, a total commitment.

I wonder how many of my friends are fans, and how many are followers. Or maybe you don't know Him at all. I hope you'll call me if have questions about becoming a follower of Christ.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23

A Mountain Bike Family Outing

The Officer found a great place to mountain bike that had an awesome park in the middle. While he did two circuits on the trails we played at the park.

Beemer immediately made friends with two other boys his age and was occupied for the duration. One of the boys had a pirate telescope and hat that was a popular item. I love how immediately kids become friends.

Sister wanted to find the opposite direction and run in it. Pretty much the usual.

The entire playground made a big circle around this open area. The loop of the playground had a raised track they kids could run on. Around the circle were individual stations with slides, etc.

That's the kind of pony tail you give when your child is running away from you while you're putting it in. Just get the hair out of the face!

I can't believe Beemer is big enough to go up all these climbing ladder things. He had a great time. Sister even went up the rock mountain thing. Yes, those are the official term things.

 

The playground connects to a raised and covered picnic area. The kids were eyeballing the people eating, so we went back to the truck for fruit leathers, or Foo Baws as Sister calls them, while we waited for The Officer.

On our way home we stopped at the meat market for some great fajita meat and I couldn't resist picking up some chopped beef for lunch. My mouth was watering. We had a nice morning out as a family!

This afternoon the kids and I enjoyed some ice cream outside, again. Beemer wanted to swing and Sister had it covered before I could get to him!

30 Minute Grout Cleaner

Earlier today my friend Anna over at Lasso The Moon posted about cleaning scuffs off of her floor with baking soda. I started wondering if it would work on grout. So, I tried it. It was fairly easy and did an OK job on the grout as you can see below.

You should check out her post and her blog, she's one of the most creative people I know and she has the voice of an angel (seriously, she sang in my wedding, her voice is amazing!). She also sells vintage fabric, etc. in her etsy shop. Go check her out!

http://lassothemoon.typepad.com/lasso_the_moon/2012/04/scuff-marks-a-quick-home-keeping-tip-.html

Here's my attempt with baking soda, you can see it was just so-so for the grout.

 

I had a second thought, Clorox with Bleach toilet cleaner, and as you can see it worked marvelously! The stuff is magic in a bottle.

Before and after.

Before you start, open your windows. Don't wait until you start getting nauseated like I did. 

Update: Also, before you start, I suppose there's a possibility that this could change the original color of your grout. I don't think it did a whole lot mine BUT, I haven't seen that color in years so it's hard to say. If you're worried about it, test an inconspicuous area first. Either way, I'm ok with the outcome of mine.

Use the nozzle to create a thin line of toilet cleaner over all your grout. There's no need to scrub it in, I tried, it actually worked better just to squirt it and leave it.

Take pictures as you go if you're mentally writing a blog while cleaning like me. Don't bother to move the toy puppy or the leashes that your 3yo tied to the cabinets earlier today. (As I'm sitting here writing my husband yells from the other room "Are you already blogging about that?" LOL)

Go sit on your couch for 10-15 minutes and think about how your kitchen is cleaning itself. When you come back, use a damp(ish) cloth to wipe up the bleach. Give the whole thing a good bath when you're finished, especially if you're paranoid about your kids crawling over your floor tomorrow morning. I just used a clean micro fiber and water. Then wiped it all down with dry paper towels.

Let your dog in to eat dinner since he's been locked up a while. Take a picture of the finished product and do the rest tomorrow night!

This entire process took me about 30 minutes and half a bottle of cleaner. I did half my floor for tonight. I'm pleased with how easy and effective it was. It's not a natural solution, if you know of one that works this well let me know!

Enjoying the Weather

I was just thinking how much I like the sand table because the kids can't/don't get in it.

Sisters can't have all the fun!

I also prefer the sand stay IN the table, but he was really insistent upon pushing his truck into the sand.

All that pushing reminds me of something else that happened in my backyard today. Snickers got his latest victim. Both my dad and husband told me to put the little guy out of it's misery. Somewhere in my soft heart I felt like I should bring it in and try to nurse it back to health.

Earlier today, while I thought Sister was napping, Beemer and I laid out a blanket and read library books.

This is one of my favorites from the library. "I Spy with My Little Eye" by Edward Gibbs.

Sister really loves to swing. She skipped her nap today and as soon as I started swinging she got this drunken sailor look. It's not uncommon that she falls asleep in her swing. I tried to push her 'til she fell asleep, but she started saying "all gah" and "down" (which can mean down or up!).

If you have a 3 year old...

Be encouraged, it IS going to get better.

The closer I get to having a 4 year old, the more encouraged I am. I'm pretty sure for the first 3 years of life you see very little of what you've sewn into your children. Then all of the sudden, you start to see little bits and pieces come out. You realize that everything you've thrown at them the past three years hasn't just gone in one ear and out the other. Their behavior becomes a little better. They are more helpful. They are also hilarious and so super sweet.

I've been pretty discouraged this year. It's been rough. Beemer is a very active little boy and hasn't always shown great listening. But, he's starting to and I am so encouraged to get to reap a little bit of what I've sewn.

So, take heart, your little sweetheart will come back to you and 3 won't last forever.

Now I get to start the terrible twos with my daughter at 19 months. I'm sure I'll survive this too.

A Love For Books

I LOVE books. I love the library, I love the bookstore, I love my Kindle. Ok, you get the picture. I'm so thankful my mom instilled in me a love for reading. I remember reading a lot of books and going to the library as a kid. It's only natural that Beemer seems to be taking on the same interest.

Here he is at Target the other day, he sat on the floor for about 20 minutes looking at Superhero books. He even laid down for a few minutes. I think we'll do this again. It was really nice to browse the books while he remained occupied (minus my little bit shrieking her head off over every little thing).

I decided I wanted to try reading a chapter book to him, since he does such a great job of listening to books. My husband's sweet Aunt was very kind to give tips for preschool reading. She is a retired Kindergarten and First Grade Teacher. She said that picture books are really important to their learning at this point in life. She also sent me a list of her favorite books and authors which I'll list for you below.

So, we made a trip to the library today. We checked out a few books, came home and read all but one of them, a couple of them twice. I fully intend to turn them a week before they're due, late fines would be pretty steep on that many books!

Here are a few tips from Aunt M:

• Make them understand that the words on the page tell a story that relates to the picture
• They should be learning where the top of the page is, which direction the words go, that you read left to right, where the words are vs where the pictures are
• In teaching letters, associate the letter with something they know. Start with letters that have strong associations (M for Mommy, D for Daddy, letter for their first name, etc.)
• Get a wordless picture book so that they can tell YOU the story. I found multiple on Amazon by searching for Wordless picture books for children.
  

Here's a list of favorites from Aunt M:

• "Where's Spot?" by Eric Hill (or any of the Spot books)
• "No, David, No", "David Goes to School" by David Shannon (or anything by David Shannon) *If you get this, be sure to read the opening about the inspiration for "David Goes to School", it's very cute.
  
• "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", "Chicka Chicka 1 2 3" by John Archambault
• "Brown Bear Brown Bear What do You See", "Polar Bear Polar Bear What do You See" by Bill Martin, Jr (Eric Carle illustrated) *I like reading these with Beemer because it's really easy for him to read these back to me. We also have the Brown Bear game and it's probably the easiest game I've played with a 3 year old.
  
• "Freight Train" by Donald Crews (or anything else by Donald Crews) *Beemer really enjoyed this one, it is such a simple book with a strong correlation from the words to the pictures.
  
• "Farm Alphabet" by Jane Miller
• "Miss Spider's ABC's" by David Kirk
• "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" by Richard Scarey
• "Ten Apples Up on Top" by Theo LeSieg
• "Go Dog Go" by P. D. Eastman
• "Are You My Mother" by P. D. Eastman
• "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle (anything by Eric Carle ) *one of our all time favorite books to read is From Head to Toe, it has the kids do actions for each page and it's a lot of fun
  
• "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins (or anything by Pat Hutchins)
• "The Napping House", "Quick as a Cricket", "The Big Hungry Bear" By Audrey Woods ( or anything else she writes)
• "One Fish Two Fish", "Cat in the Hat, "Green Eggs and Ham". Or any of the easy repetitive books by Dr Suess
• "Clifford" books by Norman Bridwell
• "Jamberry" by Bruce Degan
  
• "I Stink" by Kate and Jim McMullan
• "Good Night Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown ("Runaway Bunny" is a very sweet book too)
  
• "Is Your Mama a Llama? Or anything else by Deborah Guarino
• "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" or anything by Laura Numeroff
• "Knuffle Bunny", "Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus" Or anything else by Mo Willems (His illustrations are so stinkin' cute and I love the way typography)
  
• "Where the Wild Things Are". By Maurice Sendak

Other authors

• David McPhail
• Leo Lionno
• Jim Ayelsworth
• Kevin Henke
• Arnold Lobel
• Ezra Jack Keats
• Mem Fox
• Lois Ehlert
• Frank Asch

Other:

• Color Books
• Number books
• ABC books
• Shape books
• All of the above can be made yourself, she highly recommended doing that from your home printer and putting it into a folder with brads.

Here's Beemer outside the library, poking the man in the eye. He also pet his dog, which was "precious".

I think you can figure out the ending..,

These things happen you're a mom.

You make a pizza.

You lay out a blanket in the floor for the kids to eat pizza and watch a movie.

You go to the kitchen to bring the pizza in.

You go back to the kitchen for scissors to cut up the 3 year old's food because he wants it like his baby sister's.

You come back to find your little one has an entire ice cube in her mouth.

The cold gets to be too much and she spits the ice cube on the blanket.

You realize she put her hand in your drink to get the ice.

You put the spit-out ice back in your drink.

You're too tired and/or lazy to go back to the kitchen for new water...

"Sister, remember the Bible says share."

After much convincing, and reminding Beemer that God tells us to share, and talking about his memory verse about sharing, he finally caved and played nicely with Sister. And then, those hilarious and sweet words came out of his mouth. "Sister, remember the Bible says share."

I'm convinced that there is no parenting book, no parenting blog, no "best parenting article I've ever read" that has helped me more than teaching my child God's word.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"

Seriously, it doesn't get much better than that. Teaching? Rebuking? Correcting? Training? It all applies.

The internet has provided us with mass confusion as parents. Should I organize my toys in pretty little bins, with labels. Or, maybe it's better to leave them all in one big bucket. I've got too many toys. No, maybe I don't have enough. Or, they just aren't they right ones. I don't know. There are too many blogs, books and sermons for me to keep track of them all (so here I am, adding another). I've just taken bits and pieces of what works for me. But, my favorite discovery is memorizing scripture. Sister isn't old enough for it yet, but Beemer is excited for it and does it so easily! We tried when he was closer to 3 and it didn't go well. But, around 3.5 he was willing to try.

There are multiple sites on Pinterest and the web that list easy scriptures for kids. If you think it's too wordy, just shorten it and keep the meaning.

So far we've done these two:
Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away anger.
Hebrews 13:16 Remember to do good and share with others.

I think "Children obey your parents" might be next.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

If this is something you're interested in, I highly recommend looking into an Awana program. They are run at local churches (generally Baptist or Bible) and very inexpensive. I did this as a child and I can't tell you how many scriptures come to my mind from my youth. They teach a little lesson each week, they get to play games, they memorize 1-2 verses per week, learn about outreach, etc. There are incentives for completing portions of the book (badges and there's some sort of points system for shopping in the Awana store).

Just a Sprain

"Thank goodness it's 'Just a Sprain'"

If it's not broken it's Just a Sprain.

I've heard those words. I'm sure I've said those words. I'm here to tell you those three little words make me feel like a huge weenie while I hobble around the house today. If you've ever had Just a Sprain I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Just a Sprain's HURT!

When I got my first Just A Sprain, I simultaneously found out I was pregnant. I thought to myself, I'd better take a test before I have any x-rays (even though I was weeks late, I KNEW I wasn't pregnant, HAH).

All that to say, I am really glad it's Just a Sprain. I really wish I'd sprung for CareNow and not the ER. But, I seriously thought it was broken! At least my Just A Sprain is only a minor inconvenience compared to a Broken Ankle. And, I'm especially grateful my mom has been here to take care of my crazy toddlers while I RICE (that's Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate if you're wondering – compliments of my wonderful Bible study leader).

(I'm still watching the mail for my Mom-of-the-Year award as Just A Sprain occurred while I was playing soccer with my oldest. I'm sure they haven't had time to mail it yet. Maybe I received demerits for trying to play soccer in a pair of cute flats).

The Dyson - a little humor, a little product review

A few weeks ago my husband called to tell me our current vacuum had lost all sucking power. Somehow, he talked me into a Dyson. I was pretty reluctant. I mean, maybe it's all just great marketing.

So far, I've found one thing the DC33 struggled pick up, Chex cereal. I'm really not sure why I bothered getting it out to clean up the entire bowl of cereal my child dumped on the floor. The minute I pulled out the vacuum, both children started eating the cereal off the floor.

On a side note: I took my 3 year old to the mall the other day and looked over to see he was eating something he found on the floor.I thought I might throw up. But, it turns out that was nothing compared to what happened 20 minutes later when his little bum fell in the toilet water of a PUBLIC TOILET. There's just not enough soap for some of things.

Anyway, if you're thinking about getting a Dyson and wondering if they're worth it, the answer is a clear YES. We got ours at Costco and it saved us about $100 off the price of the same machine at Target. I read review after review online and most every one was great. They didn't lie.

Here's the ups and downs:
- Picks up pet hair (we have two dogs, we did not buy the Animal machine which is much more expensive)
- Does excellent on hard floors and easily switches back to carpet. I have almost not used my broom in weeks.
- Easy to use and empty. My 3 year old can empty this machine. Also, a plus if you suck something up on accident. No cutting apart a yucky bag. (That would have been super useful when I sucked up my college roommate's bra 10 years ago).
- True to it's reviews, this machine will turn you into an obsessive little cleaning machine. It's addictive.
- I only have one problem with it. The handheld attachments are a little bit of a pain. However, I CAN stand on the floor and clean around my ceiling and ceilings fans without a stretch. They also did fabulous on my car. The handheld hose is the same hose runs up the back of the machine for regular vacuuming. Therefore, you have to disassemble the machine a little to use it, making it harder to quickly switch back and forth. You also have to have the cord completely unwound to take the attachment out. The sucking power is so strong that you're fighting sucking power to keep the hose pulled out while you're using the handheld. You end up pulling the machine around when you want it to stay in place, it's hard to extend the hose very far.

That said, I'd still buy it again and it's worth it for the cleaning power. I'd show you a picture of the amount of junk we came up with the first time, but you'd probably never want to step foot in my house again.

The Book That Took Me 3 Hours

I haven't yet jumped on the Francis Chan bandwagon (despite the fact that I've jumped on the bandwagon of may secular book series). So, when I saw that three of his books were free on Kindle yesterday I decided to get them. I was immediately intrigued, and more than a little freaked out to read his (and Preston Sprinkle's) book about hell.

Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up

Sounds fun, right? But, as they say, we can't afford to be wrong on this subject.

The truth is, I've kind of avoided the Francis Chan books for fear of extreme conviction. Admittedly not my smartest move.

I couldn't resist picking the book up at close to midnight last night and finished it this morning. I think that might be a new record, that's faster than I read The Hunger Games (to be fair, it is MUCH shorter). Chan and Sprinkle make many great points. The American church conveniently glazes over the parts in the Bible where it talks about God's judgement. It's not comfortable. It's terrifying to say the least. But, it should drive us to change. To live right and to tell others about Jesus. To quote the book, "I really believe it's time for some of us to stop apologizing for God and start apologizing to Him for being embarrassed by the ways He has chosen to reveal Himself".

If you haven't yet gotten your free digital versions of Erasing Hell, Crazy Love and Forgotten God you should do it today. I don't know how long they will be free from the Amazon Kindle store, but they are right now! Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_12?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=francis+chan&sprefix=francis+chan%2Caps%2C237

Go get it, and read it. And then do something with the information. Personally, I'll be praying that God takes this knowledge of hell and uses it to motivate me. The best place to start, my home, I have a tin,y little captive audience who is willing to listen and learn. As we watched three episodes of Disney Jr. this morning I couldn't help but think about what a waste it was. My kids are young, they don't yet know God, they are my mission field.

You might know what you think about hell and eternity. But, I challenge you that it doesn't matter what you think. You and I don't get to decide. God has given us the truth, what are we going to do with it?