Talent

Our church happens to have a lot of talented people in it who use their gift for serving and worshiping God. Here are two of my favorites...thought I'd share because I think they are pretty cool! We want J.D. to take guitar from Lukas. He is coming out with a CD and was in Nashville all summer recording but now is happy serving on the praise team, leading VBS worship, teaching at the arts academy and leading Children's church....pretty cool to have him in our midst. The first Noel and Amazing Grace are my favorites on the YOUTUBE site!


We also love our worship leader Mike Gelderman who also just came out with a "local" type CD. He just loves music and loves to worship God. He reminds us of some of our bestest friends like Rusty Bailes and Jeff Brewer that just love music and love God! The kids get in the car and shout, "turn on Mike Gelderman!"

http://www.youtube.com/user/lukasbracewell

http://www.lukasbracewell.com

http://www.mikegelderman.com

The day in review

Emily's day in second grade went great yesterday. She said Mrs. Smith is very nice. Here are a few highlights:

1. Larkin's mom brought in a cake decorated and in the shape of a school bus for the whole class to share.

2. Emily said her only homework on the first day was to tell her parents about the first day.

3. She said the whole first grade class got confused at pick up and walked over to the first grade pick up line where they are used to going....she was laughing and said, "then we realized we were in second grade now."

4. She said the little girl that we prayed about being nice was "a lot nicer this year!"

5. They went to computer class

6. She said that she saw her teacher from last year, Mrs. Dolly, on the playground and walking around on campus. She gave her lots of hugs.

7. She said they did seat work and that it was so easy. She said she finished it in no time!

8. She said today would be a "normal day" in that they will have regular work, go to extracurricular activities, chapel, and have homework.

9. She said Marissa and her are going to have a "straight hair, curly hair club."

10. Emily instructed me on where to sign her homework page, which folder it goes into and gave me the class newsletter.

11. Emily has already picked out another new outfit for the second day of school and said her shoes were awesome! Thanks Nee Naw for some back to school clothes!

12. She said it was weird that some of the kids were not in her class from last year...she said they all kept getting confused as to who was in what class.

John Daniel really missed his sister. He kept saying "Emily's school is long!" Here are some more pics from today. My battery on my camera died yesterday in the middle of getting some pictures. John Daniel decided to play fort with Molly today with the dining room chairs and a blanket.

Sigh!

I have been bubbling or simmering lately (imagine a boiling pot of water where the lid is teetering up and down)...feeling like if I don't do everything right and miss something my kids are going to miss something important and I will have failed and then everything that I have worked for in raising the kids is for not. That sounds like a bunch of craziness but John will tell you that I have had an immediate sense of need to teach them everything about the Bible, how to act, how to be, etc all at once almost. I feel like I need to make every day count, every minute count. I went to bed last night mentally exhausted because I had just been thinking about it so much. I want for them to know and love Jesus so much! So I had kinda been"poopy" to John before he left for work, mostly because he didn't feel my urgency...it was stupid, I know. I mean the man was standing there trying to shave and get ready for work and I am standing behind him talking about Bible timelines and the essence of God and wanting him to jump on my train that minute! Anyways, later that night, I had just talked to John and told him I was sorry for being "poopy" and told him goodnight. I laid my weary head in the bed and started reading my book "parenting in the pew" again ready to soak up more ideas and to get my marching orders so to speak....God (as he almost always does) put me back in place after the first sentence I read. I called John back (10 minutes later) just to tell him how God had spoke to me through the words in the book....(he said in the last ten minutes all has changed?) I am a woman for goodness sake, my mood and mind can change in a minute! I am going to just write the paragraph down, because I can't say it any better.

The section was titled: Praying for Patience

As we parent our children to love God, we need to guard against charging every situation with a deeply spiritual lesson. Don't judge October apples in June. It is a mark of our own maturing faith in God NOT to try to play the Holy Spirit in the lives of our children. True repentance, genuine spiritual insight and real faith are the fruits of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives and the lives of our children. The apostle Paul reminds us, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Ephesians 2:10. The longing in our hearts for our kids to "turn out right" can cause us to make a mountain out of a molehill in our child's life. Every little scratch, milk spill, childish sin is not an occasion for a sermon or spiritual lesson. Sometimes it is hard to relax with our own kids. It can be difficult to see the humor in their antics, even though we laugh about the same things done by other people's kids. Parenting can be stressful especially if we try to take on God's job as well as our own. It is God's job to be working in the lives of our children. God's work is lasting, wise, patient, and all knowing. We parents, no matter how well we succeed at times, fall short in all four areas. He alone is the perfect parent who loves our children perfectly! We must trust Him to be at work in the lives of our children, even when this is hard to do. We need to trust the Lord with the spiritual growth of our children. I believe that God is writing a testimony in the lives of our children. It is HIS story. He alone sees the end from the beginning. He alone sees the "October apples" when it is only June.

PHEW....I guess I can relax a little! DUH! I'm still glad that I have a game plan but so glad I am not the head coach!

My Big Second Grader!

I can hardly believe that Emily is in second grade. I remember my own second grade...I had Ms. McCarter. She was really strict! She also happens to be my Godmother. Anyhow, Emily met her teacher last Friday. She has Mrs. Smith. She is a little sad that two of her best friends are in the other class but she has one best friend still in her class and Ben Bearden, whom she has known since birth is also in her class. Emily is so excited. The second grade is in the "Big Kid" building and she has number 9 hook for her book bag. She had to have a satchel this year and it is really cute. I made her lunch last night and we prayed about school. This morning we started a new little routine. I wake her up at 6:45 and we have a quiet time with God together. We sat out on our back porch this morning. She writes in a journal as well. She is using a quiet time devotional book that uses scripture and application. It only takes about 10 minutes and then I told her to write down one thing that she learned or observed from what she read. I stressed the importance of her journal writing and that it is special. I cooked eggs, bacon, and toast this morning. We all ate together. It was a little hairy this morning because John had a staff meeting so I had to do everything by myself and have everyone ready to be out the door by 8. We made it though! It was a success! John Daniel, Molly, and I walked her in to her class. All the teachers were all bright eyed and welcoming. The art teacher and librarian were out in front of the school along with the headmaster welcoming everyone in and helping kids get out of their cars. Another reason why I love CCS...even the "top dog" is involved in the dirty work! Her desk was all ready for her. Ben Bearden said "Emily!" She gave her friend, Marissa, a hug. She even gave me a kiss on the lips! I guess she's still not too big for that.

It worked...I parented in the pew

I have been reading a book called "Parenting in the Pew" recommended by a friend that I go to church with. I have really liked the ideas in the book so far and they are fresh ideas that have inspired me to try Parenting in the Pew. First my soap box...so many parents (including myself at times) leave the spiritual awareness and teaching to others...whether it be the Sunday school teacher, the teacher at a Christian school, the youth leader, or children's minister. I do not want to do this!! I think children's church and Sunday School have their purpose but should not be relied on heavily. So many times, parents (including myself) drop their kids off to get two hours of alone time in the pew or have the kids sit in the pew with them only to give them a coloring book and tell them to be quiet. The later was me up until three weeks ago. I would give Emily the bulletin, coloring books, sticker books, etc to keep her busy. Then I started reading this book. She talks about how so many elementary children through college age kids drop out of church mentally at such a young age and then drop out physically due to (in her opinion) the parents lack of helping them learn how to worship and make worshiping "their own" and not something just their parents do. I was intrigued...you mean I can't sit there in the pew, John's arm wrapped around me, feeling all spiritual, and soak it all in for myself? This is the conclusion that I came to...God has loaned these children to me for a very short time..who else is going to invest in them and teach them like I would and need to...no one! I am only half way through the book but here are some of her thoughts.

1. You prepare for worship the day before...set out all your clothes, have them ironed, get the Bibles together and by the door, have a quick but nutritious breakfast planned, play some type of praise music or worship music while everyone is getting ready, have offering money, memory verses, Sunday school materials ready to walk out the door. Pray the night before and get the family in the mood and excited about the LORD'S DAY. Talk the Lord's Day up and make it the most important day of the week! We started this two weeks ago on the Sunday Molly was being dedicated. Sunday went so smoothly. No yelling, no whining. Wonderful!

2. Help your children worship by getting them to listen and pay attention. She says that parenting in the pew is going to take some quiet whispering in the pew. She said to try playing classical music in the car with the kids and ask them to picture what the music is saying. This helps and trains them to listen to different kinds of music. One idea that I loved was this...she said to have the child listen for a certain word during the music..like Jesus and God and every time they heard it, they should squeeze your hand. I had Emily do this this morning and it was great. I could tell she was listening to the words in the music, even the music the choir sang. She whispered to me once..."do lord and saviour count" and I said "YES!" She also speaks about having them picture a story from the Bible during a song without words like a prelude. I love that this can teach them to appreciate all kinds of music!

3. The next thing she speaks about is trying to hold back on handing the kids a coloring book. In getting them to listen, she speaks of giving them a notebook and having them write down something they hear from the sermon (or if they are too young to write, to draw a picture of something they hear). She also says to open up the Bible and read along and point with them to the words. So this morning, I told Emily to write down one thing that she heard Pastor Mark say. She seemed totally agreeable. She was listening so intently! I whispered to her that she didn't necessarily have to understand what he was saying .... just catch some words or phrases. She wrote down not only one thing but TEN once she got going! This is what she wrote down and how she spelled the words or phrases:

1. hope of heaven

2. phelowship

3. Heaven is God's Dwelling place

4. face to face

5. Joy

6. eternity

7. hope of heaven

8. truth

9. Reserrected

10. Future

If you couldn't tell, his message was on Heaven! Thank you God for showing me that my children can worship you in every way that is important and thank you for showing me that I can be used by you to teach them! Now the next hurdle is having two kids in the pew with me and doing this with both of them! Our church does do Children's church but not every Sunday. We most likely will let them go to Children's church some Sundays and then sit with us on the other Sundays. That is another point she makes...your children should always sit with you and not their friends no matter how old they get. I'm so happy my eyes have been opened to this method. John was always the one that wanted the kids in church with us but I just didn't get it. Now I do! I can't wait to read the rest of the book.

Sisters

One of my favorite traits in my big girl Emily is the love she has for her siblings and her need to take care of them! Emily's greatest quality is that she cares for other people, she is compassionate, and treats everyone nicely! She prayed tonight for a little girl in her class this year (we won't speak of the name) that she said is bossy and not nice to everyone. She will always get John Daniel a snack or even make him breakfast if she is getting something for herself. Her best breakfast is cheese toast! She loves her little sister so much. She really is a second mommy. I don't or at least I try not to constantly ask for her to help with Molly. It is necessary sometimes but I don't want to over do it. But Emily loves to hold her, carry her around, play with her, bathe her, and get her to smile. She will even change a diaper without me asking. I had this idea last week when I was going through a box of CD's. I found all of Emily and John Daniel's music CDs from when I had them in a baby music class called Kindermusik at Stubbs music. I asked Emily if she would want to be Molly's music teacher....she said with excitement "oh yes!" I helped her remember the music classes that she and John Daniel took when they were babies and how the teacher played instruments with them, read books, played with scarves, used rhymes to help them talk, played music for them etc. All of this Emily loves to do and I knew she would be great at teaching Molly. We got a big box of instruments from Nee Naw's house (Nee Naw has everything) and found some scarves, the baby CDs, and some baby books and set up a "studio" for Emily and Molly in Molly's room. Emily decided that every Saturday she would do a 20 minute music class with Molly. She sits her in the bumbo seat and they do all of the above. It is great for me, lovely for Molly, and Emily loves it! I've decided that Emily will teach Molly all of her extra curricular activities and then I don't have to pay anyone else to do it :)

Summer comes to an end

So our summer has come to an end. It has truly been a wonderful summer filled with time with family, friends, serving others, camps, swimming, singing, playing outside, etc. The last couple of weeks have been busy busy. To wrap it up we have been skating, gone to Thomasville to see Grandma Gay, been to Splash island water park, taken dinner to Granny and Granddad Thornton, shopped for school supplies for the Migrant Worker's Children, shopped for our own school supplies, visited Emily's school and met her teacher, taken lunch to the Bradfordville Beginning Steps ministry teachers during their teacher planning week, visited with Family from Jacksonville, Celebrated Daddy's Birthday, Dedicated Baby Molly to the Lord, hosted a "Tiara Club" meeting (more on this later), practiced math, visited Books a Million, Have Read and Read and Read, cleaned the house and had a couple of play dates...wow I'm tired :) I can't tell you how much fun I have had with the kids this summer! I have been truly blessed to get to know each one of them better and got to maybe make up some time with them that I lost around this time last year because I was so sick! Our S.O.S. service projects went really well and the kids really got used to it and loved it towards the end of the summer. When we were taking lunch up to the teachers one day at the school at our church...John Daniel said "this shows them that we love Jesus." My only goal with this is that I wanted them to see and feel (put hands on it like a hands on experiment) that what they were learning in the Bible was doable, real, and relevant. The only thing we didn't get to do was to do something for the PEDS floor at TMH but we will work on that!

Now for the "Tiara Club" explanation....Emily has been reading a series of books called the "Tiara Club." She has also been watching Kit Kittredge the American Girl Movie. This spun the idea of having her own club. This child of mine is super imaginative! While John Daniel is doing the practical she is making up movies and songs and clubs. So in my effort to encourage her reading and to teach her work ethic and social skills..I had an idea. I told her that if she was to continue reading the books, get ideas from them, write invitations, plan the party or club meeting, speak in front of the others, write down her thoughts and make lists, create her guest list, plan the menu, and earn money by working for me to help pay for the party then she could invite all her friends and they could have a "Tiara Club" meeting at our house. She was so excited and started planning in late June. She made lists, had a folder of ideas, we picked out cheap invitations at Target, she started really working for me, and she started writing the invitations. I was actually pretty impressed by her attention to detail especially since she can be a little flighty at times. The only thing she ended up getting a little slack about was writing the invitations (she got tired of it) but she did invite 18 people and I told her she had to write every one. I made a deadline for mailing and she completed them with some gentle nudging :) We had the meeting this last week and it was great! All 18 kids showed up and all the moms thought it was a great idea, some even wanted to continue the club meetings. Emily had them all bring a backpack, their favorite book, and a small notebook. She planned two crafts...one was a bookmark and the other was a decorated ice cream bowl. She planned a scavenger hunt where the boys hid some stuff animals and the girls then had to find them in the yard, and had everyone share a picture, sentence, or a theme that they especially liked from their favorite book. Then we had snack which consisted of an ice cream sundae bar with all the toppings! The kids did great and participated nicely. It was a little crazy having 20 kids in the house at once but it was neat seeing the older kids help the younger siblings with things. All these kids are the greatest! I love Emily and John Daniel's friends!

skating

We took the kids skating this week and boy did it bring back middle school memories. It was so fun! More than I expected actually. Emily had only been one time before and J.D. had never been. I think he hit the floor more times than we can count but he was having fun. John even put on a pair of those old lace up brown skates and went around with them!

Privacy

I am not usually an overly cautious person or worrier but I have become concerned about people reading my blog that I don't know. I only do it for family members and friends to look at. I really do not want people that I do not know looking at it. So I am changing my privacy settings. This makes it harder to look at. You have to become a member or follower with my permission to view it. I know most of my family and friends that look at it but if you are a "follower" and want to be able to view it, let me know and I can add your email to the account. I think this will allow you to look at it. I do need feedback though because I am not really sure if this will work. Let me know. I am changing it tomorrow or maybe tonight. Mom....I have not had any weirdos on my blog but I heard in the news that some mother's baby's picture was used in a adoption scam because the weirdo copied the mother's pictures of her baby from the mother's blog! YIKES!

My Cleaning Machine

I want to start this post off with saying that I am NOT exaggerating at all! John Daniel is my cleaning machine! He has done all the laundry in the house for over a week now and actually is driving me crazy because he is so on top of it that I can't keep up with the folding! This morning, not too soon after breakfast, he yells to me...."Mommy, I'm going to do a load of whites now!" Are you serious????!!!! He is very interested in how anything works...he loves to know about why things do what they do, what happens when you do them, why they work that way. If he was strong enough, I know he could mow the grass! He loves to work! He can clean the bathroom ( I do have to go behind him some), he can unload and load and start the dishwasher, he can do any load of laundry, he can sweep, mop, put his clothes away, he can vacuum, he can wash the dog. He even knows what can and cannot go into the dryer. It is all because he asks questions, I tell him the answer, show him how to do something, and he remembers. Even with cleaning the bathroom...if I say "we really need to mop in the corner over by the toilet", he remembers that for next time I have noticed. He has learned to be thorough. It really is amazing. The laundry thing flips me out. Today when he told me he was going to do a load of whites, he was concerned that there was not a full load, so I showed him on the machine where you put the knob in the middle to make less water. Well that has now stuck with him and now he discusses with me if the load is a "full load" or not. He is hilarious. I asked him today why he liked to clean so much, he said because he liked to make money and was saving it to buy the bat cave at Target (a toy that costs $40). I do give him money for all this but it ain't much. I am beginning to think he is worth a lot more than I pay him! He is amazing....a little bizarre...but amazing...his memory is incredible! But, he doesn't like cleaning his room...go figure!

My favorite age!

I think I finally, after three kids, have figured out what my favorite age is.....4 months! Molly is absolutely adorable (at least in my eyes)! She is so full of joy, smiles, and chuckles. She smiles whenever she sees someone she knows and even smiles at strangers every once in a while. She is grabbing things, loves to play with her feet, loves to be on her tummy, is trying to crawl already, laughs at her siblings, sleeps through the night (for the most part), is on a great nursing schedule, has the cutest chubby thighs, takes three good naps, notices her surroundings, and thinks her mommy is the best!!! How could you not just love that! I just can't get enough of her and she is growing so fast. I have so enjoyed my wonderful children this summer. They have really been a delight and we have had such a great time together. They have been a great company to me during the day and evening! I love them so much!

Happy Birthday John

Happy 33rd Birthday to my most wonderful Hubby! John didn't want to make a fuss out of his birthday (this is so John) but I had to do something special so I made him a "made from scratch" carrot cake. I shredded the carrots and everything. It was complete with cream cheese frosting. I must say that it was very yummy! I surprised myself. We celebrated with cake, candles, and a couple small presents...just the five of us.

Some Happenings

We up and decided to go to Wild Adventures on the spur of the moment last Tuesday. It was great fun. The kids had never been to a water park before. We spend four hours at splash island. Molly was awesome through it all but fell apart when we got home! Emily went on the largest ride out there, the CYCLONE. She was absolutely terrified but had a great time. John and I rode with her. John Daniel would have gone but was not tall enough. Fun Time! I think John had as much fun as the kids did!

Dedication

Molly's baby dedication was this past Sunday. It was a special day for us as a family.. The whole family joined together at church to be a part of the big day. It is really a day for John and I. Baby dedications don't mean that Molly is going to heaven. Hopefully, she will make that decision one day. But the dedication to me means that John and I as her parents are dedicating her to the Lord. For me it means that I am acknowledging that God gave her to us to take care of for a short time. It is our duty to love her, train her, and bring her up to know God. We cannot make that decision for her, but promise before our family, friends, and church body that we will make every effort to teach her about God and let her know how much He loves her. Pastor Mark did an excellent job of challenging us as parents when he spoke. We all went out to eat afterwards to celebrate the dedication day and John's mom's Birthday. Fun Day! Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Our Trip

John and I had a wonderful time together in Amelia Island. It was fun exploring and just relaxing together. Molly also had a great time being with her parents all by herself. We stayed at a bed and breakfast that was built in 1857. There was a huge oak tree that the building was built around that was 300 years old. We ate great while we were there. We tried king crab legs at the Crab Trap, had Grouper Po Boys at the Marina restaurant, had blackened Mahi and leg of lamb at Joe's 2nd St. Bistro, and Pulled Pork at The Happy Tomato. Oh, and don't let me forget the homemade fudge at the Fudge shop! All my walking and jogging certainly went down the tubes. We visited Fort clinch, the marina, shopped on Centre Street, and watched the Sunrise on the beach. Molly loved riding down the street in her stroller. We met some really sweet "grandparent" couples at our fancy restaurant. We were so worried that Molly was going to cry and mess up their nice expensive dinner but instead all they wanted to do was talk to her and look at her and make her smile! J.D. and Emily had a marvelous time at the Brewers. I am not bragging at all but Ms. Harriet said that they were angels and that she didn't even know they were there. She said she would have kept them longer! We had a great time and it was fun being with my sweet hubby!