1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Our third summer craft project was super easy and super fun! We began by reading our bible verse and discussing it. We talked about why you might be joyful even when your sister doesn't share her toys or when mommy says you can't have dessert. We talked about how God wants us to talk to him all the time, when we are happy and when we are sad, when we need his help and when things are going well for us, when we are angry or frustrated or bored, when we wake up and when we go to sleep and when we sit down at the table to eat. Whenever we want to talk to Him, He is ready to listen. We also talked about giving thanks in all circumstances, thinking of things that we can be thankful for even if life is hard and not going our way. Lastly, we talked about what "God's will" means. I explained that this is what God wants for our lives.

Then we got started on our craft. I had sketched the words of the verse on three small pieces of poster board. Then I pulled out all kinds of tools for decorating the letters. I just used stuff that I already had on hand: dot markers, pipe cleaners, pom poms, paint pens, sequence, glitter glue, yarn, and some glue. The girls loved decorating all the letters differently. They worked together on some letters and did others on their own. It took a while to do each poster, so we worked on it three separate times during the week.

When we finished the posters and all the glue was dried, we hung them up around the house to remind us of what God wants for us in our lives. I told the girls that if they see me not being joyful or not giving thanks, they could gently remind me of this verse. And that I would do the same for them. I think we'll keep the posters up for a while. They have been great for me to remember, and I hope they are working on the girls' hearts and minds as well.

Princess is Seven!

Seven seems so big to me. It's not so big in the span of a life, but when I think about my very first image of Princess, screaming her little purple head off, and look at her now with her big toothy smile and her thin awkward body and her love of high-heels and everything that sparkles, seven is very big.

For her birthday, we tried to keep it small this year. I told her she could invite a few friends to do a fun activity and she chose roller skating. Well, once I found out that in order to bring cupcakes to the roller rink, we had to have a party reservation for a minimum of 8 kids, her little celebration turned into a real, true party. It was still fun and very easy. The roller rink did everything except provide the cupcakes and presents. And the kids had a really great time. One of Princess's friends told her mom, "I'm having so much fun!!!" That was great to hear. I think Princess had a blast and felt really special to be with her friends on her birthday.

Pumpkin's 4th Birthday

Pumpkin's birthday was a lot of fun! She is just now at the age where she has her own friends and she has an opinion about who she would like to invite to her party, so it was fun to make the invitation list with her.

She has been taking gymnastics class at Cypress Academy and loves it, so I thought it would be a great place to host her birthday party. We ended up with 6 kids total (4 of Pumpkin's friends, Princess, and Pumpkin). They spent an hour playing on the trampolines, rope swing, balance beams, vault, bars, and their favorite...the pit! Then we did cake and presents. It was simple but a very fun time.

I think four is going to be a great year. She really not a toddler anymore. She's a full-fledged little girl. Here is a description of Pumpkin at age four: Very independent and quite capable. More often than not lately, she really doesn't need my help. She's great at sharing most of the time, great at entertaining herself, great at doing her chores and keeping her room clean. She also has a great memory, I am discovering lately. She loves to play "little girl" or "hotel" or "school" with her sister and she loves to have friends over to play. She's not very shy and she even loves for me to leave her at her friends' houses all by herself to play. Some days are challenging (usually when she's short on sleep) but most days she is a delight. I love you Pumpkin, my big four year old!

Galatians 5:22-23

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Galatians 5:22-23

Now that our busy June has come to a close, we can get back to our craft-time!

For our second craft project, we made "Fruit of the Spirit Jars." First, I read Galatians 5:22-23 to the girls. We talked about how a lemon tree produces lemons and a grapevine produces grapes. Just like that, we also produce "fruits" when the Spirit of God lives in us and works in us. We talked about how we cannot produce these fruits on our own, but only if we are listening to and following God's Spirit will the fruits come out of us.

After our discussion, we got down to work. I had bought two small glass jars at Hobby Lobby. Then I made stencils of fruit shapes out of contact paper. The girls picked their paint colors and started painting. We used the stencil to paint one fruit on each side of the jars. Then I used paint pens for the details and wrote one of the fruits of the Spirit on each side of the jars and the bible verse reference on the lid.

Once the jars were complete, I told the girls that I would be looking for the fruits of the Spirit demonstrated in them. Each time I see one of the fruits demonstrated, I will write it down and put it in their jar. Once they have all the fruits of the Spirit in their jars, we will do a fun fruit-related activity like make strawberry ice cream or something.

So far, Princess has demonstrated love, kindness, and goodness, and Pumpkin has demonstrated love and joy.

I had another teaching opportunity with Princess the other day when she was being really sweet to Pumpkin. I told her that I had seen goodness in her and I was going to put it in her jar. She had a big smile on her face and she said, "Mommy, I didn't even know!" I told her that it's only really a fruit of the Spirit if she's not doing it to get a reward, but doing it because she has goodness in her heart. If she's doing it so that I will notice and put it in her jar, then it is selfishness, which is from our sinful nature, not from the Spirit. I think she gets it.

Omaha, Nebraska

When I told some of my friends that Drummer Boy and I were going to Omaha, Nebraska for a mini-vacation, I got some confused looks.

Them: What's in Omaha?

Me: The College World Series!!

Them: Are there other things to do there besides baseball?

Me: Does it matter?

Drummer Boy and I ate, drank, and slept baseball for 3 days and we loved it! We watched 4 baseball games, experienced a crazy storm with 75 mph winds, chatted with the locals, ate some yummy-to-my-tummy meals, sat through a 2 1/2 hour rain delay before they finally called the game, and cheered like crazy for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Unfortunately, Vandy lost the game that we attended, but they aren't out of it yet. They beat UNC twice and now they face Florida tomorrow night. We are back in Houston now, but we've got our gold pom-poms ready to cheer from home!

Me and Sonny Gray, starting pitcher for the Commodores

Yummy Breakfast at Amato's

TD Ameritrade Park (I love the designs in the grass)

Participating Teams in the CWS

The crazy storm with 75 mph winds

Matthew 6:20-21

"Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where theives do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."

This summer, I have planned several craft projects (because my girls and I love crafts) to help us hide the word of God in our hearts. Each craft project will help us illustrate or discuss or understand a bible verse, and I hope that in the end the girls and I will have a tangible item and a great memory that will help us to memorize God's word and put it into practice.

So, for our first project I picked Matthew 6:20-21. The girls are already familiar with this verse because it is put to music on one of our Seeds CD's and it is one of the girl's favorite songs on that CD. I bought a couple of inexpensive wooden boxes at Hobby Lobby and the girls painted them. Princess painted a heart on hers and Pumpkin put happy faces all over hers. It was so cute!

Before I let them start painting, I read Matthew 6:20-21 and we talked about what it means to store up treasures in heaven and why it's better than storing up treasures on earth. The girls were both so excited to do this craft, it made me feel like a good mom for once!

Anyway, after the paint dried, I painted the words of Matthew 6:21 on the top of each one.

Then, the next day we read Mark 10:21, "Go sell everything you have and give to to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" and 1 Timothy 6:18-19, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." We talked about what the bible says about how you store up treasures in heaven. Then I had each of the girls write down at least three ways to store up treasures in heaven and put those in their treasure boxes. Pumpkin wrote about giving a meal to someone, sharing her toys and helping out someone with a broken car (we stopped to help a lady whose car wouldn't start on the way home from Mimi's today). Princess also wrote about sharing and helping out someone in need.

I think it was a great craft. The girls enjoyed it and I think they understand a little bit more what it means to store treasures in heaven. And they each have a cute little treasure box to keep in their rooms. And, last but not least, they loved it so much, they can't wait for the next craft! I heard several times during this project, "you are the best mommy ever!" A smile on my face.

Cover Girl

Princess recently starting taking art classes at a nearby art studio. Not suprising...she LOVES it! And, she's really good! I am quite impressed by the creations she brings home. Here are a few of her creations:

After a couple of classes, the instructor asked me if I would be okay with Princess being featured in a magazine. The magazine is a local one that services our neighborhood and two others. The art teacher took a picture of Princess and sent it into the magazine staff. A few days later, I got a call from the magazine. They had received her picture and thought she had so much personality, they wanted to put her on the cover!

It was so much fun! We went to the art studio and they did a photo shoot and then asked us a bunch of questions. They did a great little article about Princess and her love of art.

Six years old and already a published artist. What's next?