Praises of a Wife and Mommy

Faith crosses all boundaries, Faith in Jesus makes all the difference.  Romans 3:21 -25 The Righteousness of God Through Faith   21 But now  the righteousness of God  has been manifested apart from the law, although  the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—  22 the righteousness of God  through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.  For there is no distinction:  23 for  all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  24  and are justified  by his grace as a gift,  through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  25 whom God  put forward as  a propitiation  by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in  his divine forbearance he had passed over  former sins.

Christmas time is so fun because I love to give presents.  I sometimes like to buy too much for my children but I have done a great job at resisiting this year.  Instead of spending spending on things I know they dont need we are trying to find different ways to bless others.  We are making some homemade gifts and baking gifts!  :) This year our church is buying goats  for families in Haiti!  It only costs $40 per goat and provides a huge blessing to a family!  I am hoping we hit our goal and get enough money to bless many families in need! :) So if any of you reading this wants to help buy a goat please let me know and leave an email addy in the comment section!  :)   What will you be doing to be a giver this year?  How can you be the hands and feet of Jesus?  

DAY 30 CHALLENGE: KEEP ON PLAYING! Today is the final day of the  30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge . What have you learned from this hands on play challenge? I have learned that no matter how busy my day can get I can always make time for 15 minutes of uninterrupted play with my 2 awesome children!  It was very hard at times for me to focus on playing when I knew I should clean this, or cook this, or try to hop on my computer for some me time, or what ever other distraction I have.  No matter what the house will always need cleaning and my children just keep growing too quickly so I was taught to SLOW down and enjoy each moment with them.   I have to admit that during this month I took 559 pictures and most of those are from play challenges!  :)  That was the only technology around that I allowed myself to have during the play challenge.  :)  What can I say... I heart pictures and memories.   I have also learned that no matter what I a...

It starts tomorrow and we are so excited!!!  :)  Come join us for 24 days of fun leading up to Christmas!  :) 

Guest Post Thanks to Roman May: Lately I have been feeling like I mother figure to my little sister. There is nothing wrong with that, but she picked the worst time to need me. Everything in my life right now is so busy. I am trying to get elected onto our Home Owners board. My husband and I have been so unhappy with the current board that I am working all the time to make changes. I am trying to find a good preschool for my little girl. I am throwing two baby showers and one wedding shower this month. To be honest, my plate is completely full. However, my sister is family and I have made time to help her. She is moving into her first house and being the safety freak that she is, she wanted to make sure the home felt secure. She made me inspect all the windows. She found an alarm from  Home-Alarm-Systems.com  and had me pretend to break into her house. She wanted to make sure it would work in a real situation. I did it all and just rolled my eyes. I love my sister, but somet...

The winner of the childrens book, The Journey of the Nobel Gnarble is: AND THE WINNER IS... Entry # 18 Jennie Fiedler-  Follow @Apesjoy on twitter Congratulations! An email is being sent your way now! :) Thanks to all who entered. :)

Day 29: Role Play Play Prompt:    Set up a little imaginative play area based on your child's interest. Set up a shop (store) using a cardboard box or table and find some items to sell in baskets such as toys, play foo played d or shoes. Then take turns being the shop keeper and the customer and play! We have an adorable kids play kitchen so we had fun baking and learning in the kitchen.  Little Titus was even the chef for a little while too. :) 

I am not an interior decorator so I always look for advice and ideas.  I do have friends who are gifted and talented in this area so I should recruit them to help me think of new ways to make my small place feel larger.  What advice do you have to make your small space seem bigger?  One thing I like about my kids bedroom is the rug I found at a rummage sale a couple years ago.  I might not have  designer rugs  but this rug has bright colored circles that divide the room into a play area and works great! I have no idea if I could pull of a rug in the living room area in this apartment.  I am tired of the carpet which needs a good cleaning anyways and maybe I am just trying to ignore the stains with a rug? I just see many beautiful rugs and it makes me want one to see if it will help make the apartment feel bigger?  What do you think?  I am trying not to be envious in this matter either just because I see something does not mean I need...

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The enemy is under my feet!!  How about you?  LOVED THIS WORD TODAY!  :)

Have you started any Advent activities?  We have, we are doing the Jesse Tree from Tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com blog.  She has a PDF file with topic, verse, prayer, and an ornament to decorate to make a tree.  We decided to make a book rather then doing ornaments for a tree.  So far day one we talked about creation and day 2 discussed Adam and Eve and sin.  The rest of the schedule looks fun and I might add some crafty projects to them!  :) Starting December 1st I will be joining the creative countdown to Christmas by doing the activities that are suggested through 24 different blogs. I saw the list of bloggers who are involved and I know it is going to be some awesome Christmas fun!  :)  I am excited to share our work.  :)

Disciples... Disciple. Matthew 28:16-20. Jesus last command to His Disciples was  a commission to multiply oneself and increase the territory of the Kingdom in  doing so. Being His Disciple is obeying His teaching and it starts here!

DAY 28 CHALLENGE:                          CREATE SOMETHING                        FOR SOMEONE SPECIAL DAY 28 CHALLENGE: Take a moment to discuss ideas with your child about what you'd like to create and for who. How can you make it special?  How can you make it personal? If Papa is reading this then stop you will be seeing it in a couple days!  :)  Selah's papa is having a birthday this week so it was perfect timing for the play challenge to tell us to create something special.  :)   We created a pop out card for him. If you look you can see it is a birthday cake with candles that pop    out.  The cake is also a confetti cake because it is Selah's favorite.  :)  Selah is coloring the letters.   Here is Selah's hand written message to her papa.   Here is my translation message from Selah...

I remember last year I was pregnant during the Christmas season and it was a fun time!  I truly was a pretty happy pregnant lady...I think!  I do remember getting overwhelmed with the choices a mom has on baby carriers.      I never used a carrier with my daughter but I knew I really wanted one with my son! So many choices out there and so many different brands available.  Do I go with a baby backpack carrier or a baby front carrier ?  Do I go with a familiar brand name or some brand I have never heard of but has good reviews?  I wanted to test each product on comfort, ease of getting baby in, and length of use.   There are some carriers that you can use till your child is HUGE!   I remember hearing some scary statistics about some dangers in different baby carriers.  I know there is a ton of research out there that can help point you in the right direction for what you will use you carrier for.  Sometimes instead of re...

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Day 27: Dress Up! Play prompt: Have a rummage through the dressing up box (if you have one!) or your own drawers and find some interesting dressing up items. Get the whole family to put something on and then make up a story, sing a song, dance, play imaginatively together! Dress up is one of Selah's favorite things to do but we did things a little different today.  We had a lot of running around and hustle and bustle with shopping and Christmas play practice.  So Ballerina's do need a bath so she had fun in her little tutu in the bath tub.  :) I mean what is not fun about dressing up in your bath??  :)  She and her friend did just dress up on Thanksgiving and they had a lot of fun.  :) 

DAY 26 CHALLENGE:                               PLAY IN A BOX DAY 26 CHALLENGE: Spend  [at least]  15 minutes playing with, in or around a cardboard box! Let the imaginations of your children decide what it will be today. Add any elements needed to create it. Since we just put up the Christmas tree it was easy to figure out we were going to play with the big tree box. :)   First we were drawing and coloring shapes.  Then Selah started to draw random things and before I knew it we had a house for her princess's.  :)  I think she was a bit sad when I told her it was time to clean up because we were going to put the box back in the garage.  We live in a small place so the box was kinda blocking our door.  Ponies were on guard. 

The impact of the cross!  

Saturday November 26, 2011-     Devotion for the day out of  Matthew 25, parable of the ten virgins.

So with God we have.... you fill in the blanks!  :)  I will start with Friday since that is today.   Forgivenday- Friday

I was hearing the Black Friday shopping stories and my heart just broke.  People are crazy and not in a good way.  I heard a lady using mace to secure an Xbox and a guy bringing a gun... REALLY PEOPLE??  I watched a video of crazy Wal-Mart people fighting over $2 waffle makers, but what got me the most is people getting 4-5 of them.  Can we at least limit the deals so they can go around?? This momma enjoyed her family time and my nice warm bed!  You will not see me fighting over a game system, waffle maker, or even an 18 inch doll that my daughter would love. I just have a heavy heart because we celebrate Thanksgiving where I really try to teach my children to Thank God for the many blessings we have.  We made a "thankful tree" we discuss during our meal what we are thankful for.  Then the next day society is telling people you need more stuff to be happy!  Let me be real honest with you... NO OF that stuff will make you happy!  You want...

Day 25: Small World Play Is there really only 5 more days of the play challenge??  :(  Time went to quickly.  Today we created a ocean and made a boat.  We went fishing, swimming, made big waves, and sang row row row your boat, but also acted out Jonah and the whale and let Titus play Jonah.  :)  Some fish she caught! Looking for more fish! Titus thrown off the boat.  Big fish swimming deep in the water below looking to come up!

No worries folks he did eat some turkey, potatoes, and green beans, but he had more fun chewing on this bone!     NUM NUM NUM                Can I have some more please? 

Hi smiley lil boy who brings so much joy to our family, WE love you so much and you are officially 8 months old (on Thanksgiving).  You are still toothless but you think you have teeth because you want to eat what you see everyone else eating.  I keep thinking they are coming but we are still waiting.  You also are ready to crawl but you seem to enjoy rolling all over the place instead.  You get so excited when you see your mama that it makes your daddy a little jealous, but in time I know you and daddy will be wrestling and having lots of fun!  You also really enjoy watching and playing with your sister but you have been grabbing and pulling her hair.  We will continue to watch you grow and we will keep praying for God to use you as you grow up!  

DAY 24 CHALLENGE: PLAYFUL FUN! DAY 24 CHALLENGE: Spend  [at least]  15 minutes getting down on the floor with the kids and have some fun! Start tickling, chasing, or maybe even some safe rough housing! Happy Thanksgiving play challengers! This is a great challenge for today, because you could get multiple members of the family involved [uncles, grandpa, dad would be great at this challenge!] ! So instead of lounging in the recliner after dinner, get some fun in first! The day for us went so fast!  We ate yummy turkey and all the fixings.  Our original plans changed a bit.  My daughter had 2 of her close friends over so their was a lot of playing, giggling, dress up, and floor games.  :)   

Ordinary Inspirations for the everyday Wife, Mommy, & Homemaker: THE BLOGGER THANKSGIVING POEM This was a great poem!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!    Eph. 5:20- And give thanks for everything to God  the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We made a thankful tree to showcase some of the things we are thankful for this year!  It was a lot of fun and we could have probably added a ton more hand prints but we ran out of time!  We will keep it up for awhile. :) We are so thankful for many things.  Here are a few top things: Our family- and restoration that occurred this year!  :) Healthy children Fun family days- to many to mention!  A great church family A caring/loving husband A place to live Yummy food to eat My father's surgery's going well I have made several other Thankful posts that highlight weekly praises!  :) I will try to get back on top of that and sharing more.   Hope you all have an awesome day with family and friends! 

Day 23: Printing with Objects Play Prompt: Take a little box or basket and go for a hunt around the house with your child, looking for some everyday objects to print with. Absolutely anything and everything will do! The more unusual the better. Dip into paint and print, print, print!  We did not go on a hunt around the house looking for random objects this time around.  I have done this activity before and we had a ton of fun but with Thanksgiving tomorrow I wanted to make something for the table.  We made hand print turkeys and we can use them for the silverware!  :)  They were easy to make and my daughter had fun!  First paint the hand brown for the turkey.  Second glue on the eye and 4 feathers on the fingers and don't forget the beak...like me when I took these pictures!  LOL  :) Lastly use toilet paper rolls and cut them and glue the turkey.  Now you have a nice turkey center piece or you can wrap your silverware and napkin in...