A 6-Year Old in the House!

Last week, my baby turned 6 years old! I can't believe how big she is. She has been seeming very tall to me lately, so I pulled out the yard stick and measured her. She has grown 3 inches in the past year!! And she is 2 inches taller than her older sister was at this age. I knew she looked tall!

For her 6th birthday, she wanted to have her party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Drummer Boy and I tried our best to change her mind, but she would not be deterred. She told her Nana, "I am having my party at Chuck E. Cheese, and that is it!"  Well, okay then.

So Chuck E. Cheese it was. It actually wasn't too bad because we had the party at 4PM on a Tuesday and hers was the only party at that time. So there weren't a ton of crazy kids running and screaming everywhere. Pumpkin invited 5 friends plus her sister and cousins, so we ended up with a total of 12 kids. Pumpkin very generously agreed to collect food pantry donations from her friends in lieu of presents. I'm so proud of her, and I hope this is something we can start doing for all our family birthday parties.

After the party, all the family met back at our house for presents, cake, and ice cream. Pumpkin wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles, with her name in pink. And that's what she got. It isn't the prettiest cake I've ever made, but it was exactly what she wanted. And as long as the birthday girl is happy, everybody is happy!

Truth Camp

One morning last Spring, as I was running through my neighborhood, a new idea popped into my head and began to develop. My idea involved helping kids memorize bible verses through fun crafts and activities, which is something that my girls and I have been doing the last couple of summers. The "new"part of the idea involved inviting the neighborhood kids to join in. I decided that I would host a 2-hour bible verse memory lesson once a week throughout the summer. I would invite my friends to drop off their children, and the kids and I would memorize bible verses, sing worship songs, do crafts and activities, eat a snack, play together, and pray together. The idea was for this to be a fun time for the kids, and a nice break for the moms. It would be my family's summer ministry project. I decided to call it Truth Camp.

I discussed my idea with one of my friends, and she was so excited about it, she offered to help plan and host. I am so thankful for her ideas and organization!

We have done 2 weeks of Truth Camp so far, and the kids have memorized John 3:16 and John 15:13. The first week we made gospel bracelets. And the second week we crafted these beautiful crosses using oil pastels and water colors. The kids did a great job!

So far I am getting good feedback from the kids and the moms. Actually, my 2 girls said the first meeting was boring, but they really enjoyed the second one. I hope they continue to enjoy it because I have some more fun ideas for hiding God's word in our hearts!