Happy Birthday Josiah!!!

How could it possibly be that 6 years ago today this happened? Josiah came into this world and turned it completely upside down for us. He has been a challenge from the beginning but he has added so much to our lives. He keeps me looking to God for answers, he has a super sensitive heart to all spiritual things, his prayers convict and encourage me, his questions push me, his passion for life is insatiable, his love for his family is fierce! He is God's gift to me!

Okay, so all the mushy part over..let's talk about the celebration we had today! First thing this morning Josiah opened his presents and he and Casey began playing. I was originally planning to have school this morning but they were having so much fun that I decided that we'll have school on Saturday instead (the plus side of homeschooling!).

Why do they always take the best pictures when they are in their underwear?

Excited about the K'nex he got from Nani and Pawpaw.

When we originally asked Josiah where he wanted to eat (much earlier in the week) for his birthday, he said he wanted Indian food, then changed it to Chili's (yes, we have that here) and in the end, we ended up with McDonalds. Aaron and I were less than thrilled. :) But Josiah and Casey enjoyed it very much!

Josiah's meal of choice...McDonalds.

Casey and Papa

After lunch we went to see "Planes". It just came out today so it was great timing for some birthday fun.
Josiah decided he wanted lemon pound cake for his dessert. I made this one, substituted yogurt for sour cream and added a lemon glaze. It was delicious!

Josiah's lemon poundcake

Happy boy!

Birthdays are always emotional for me. I automatically think about how the number of years they will be with us has just decreased. When we were in the US I heard someone say: "The days are long but the years are short.". Isn't that incredibly true? I want to make the most of the few short years I'm given with these two awesome little boys.

My Favorite Things

I'm going to start doing random posts on a variety of current favorite things. Anything goes...as long as it's my favorite! :)

Today I have quite a few favorite things to share with you.

1. My favorite podcast for the boys: Crossroads Kids Club. If you don't do the ipad/podcast thing, you can still watch their video and listen to their music on their website: http://crossroadskidsclub.net/
I've been trying to think of a way to help Josiah and Casey to have quiet time with the Lord each morning. Since they are both pre-readers, it's a little difficult. This podcast has been the answer for us. Every morning they watch one music video and one story. We gave each of them notebooks, so after they watch it they draw a picture about what they learned. Then they show it to either Aaron or myself and we talk about what they learned and pray with them. So far, it's worked out really well...they BEG to watch a new story every morning!

2. I found this awesome website (http://kidsofintegrity.com/) that has complete lesson plans for building Godly character. We are using this as our homeschool Bible curriculum. It's really fantastic! You can tweak and change it to fit any age. There are lots of hands on activities to choose from, Bible stories, memory verses, suggested prayers and more. It's a really great (FREE!!!) resource.

3. Our favorite game: See Spot Spell. I got this for Josiah as part of his Kindergarten activities. He asks to play constantly! You start off reading 3 letter words but can go up to 5 letter words as your child's reading improves. I highly recommend it.

4. Our favorite new recipe: Garlic Lemon Chicken. The only thing I did differently is I peeled the lemon before putting it in the bottom of the pan. I love this meal because it's quick, easy, allergy free and only dirties one dish!

Let me know if you try any of our favorite things!

I always love reading your comments. :)

Calling All Superheros!

Today we celebrated Josiah and Casey's birthdays. Casey turned 4 in July and Josiah turns 6 in August. They wanted a superhero party and I have to admit that I was pretty excited about it! We had such a good time....

I had a lot of fun planning for this party. There are so many great ideas and options online for a superhero party. This is our cityscape, complete with superheros. Printables for the superheroes are here.

This is my favorite...the superhero suckers. It took a lot of time to cut these out but they were completely worth it. My Love drilled holes in an old broom handle and we were able to hang these up. The kids and adults loved them. Here are the printables.

Superman!

We had some dear friends from Pakistan join us.

Casey with the table. By the time we got around to taking pictures, the food was almost gone but this gives you an idea of what the table looked like at first.

Enjoying the pool.

There was so much tape on the superhero suckers that they were rather difficult to open. Ha!

The cupcakes. I am pretty sure that the kids got their yearly allotment of food coloring in just one of these cupcakes. :) I made red, blue, green and yellow batter (think superhero colors) and yellow and blue frosting. I then printed off these superhero symbols, attached them to colored Popsicle sticks and stuck them in the cupcakes.

Look at those chubby hands reaching for a cupcake. It's Casey. How do I know? Because he can't have icing on his cupcakes since he's allergic to dairy. :( Would you pray with me that his food allergies would disappear?

My amazing firstborn. This boy makes my heart skip a beat. I.LOVE.HIM.

So the day was a success! Tonight as I was putting the boys to bed, Josiah asked if he could pray with me. He prayed "thank you for my sweet Mommy who worked so hard on our party today". Made it worth it all!

Every birthday I am reminded of the amazing miracle of these two boys lives. I could never express how thankful I am that God gave me these gifts. I am blessed!

Thanks for reading! I love reading your comments too. :)

Why I'm Quitting Facebook...For Now

Living overseas can be tricky. Our lives are here, our home is here, our kids know nothing else but I still feel that constant pull toward home. That place where the people I love most in the world are, where I feel most comfortable, where life is just a little easier. Daily I catch myself being drawn to the world of Facebook. A way for me to live here and still be involved in the lives of everyone at home. You could say that I am doing my best to live in two worlds. But the reality is, it's exhausting to try to live in two worlds at once. And honestly, I don't have the time for it. I know that it isn't what God wants for me either. So, I think it's time to ditch facebook for a while and get back to the blogging world (so I can still keep my family at home up to date). So there you go...I'm quitting Facebook.....for now.

My blessings...

Here are some recent pictures of the boys:

We recently moved into a new neighborhood. There is a park with cement elephants that the boys like to climb on. 

Casey and Nani getting ready to have some pie. 

Casey loving on Pawpaw

 

Josiah and Papa at our favorite Mexican restaurant

Sharing a strawberry shake

I made banana chocolate chip muffins and Casey really enjoyed them!

I love this sweet face

He's a cool dude!

 

 Josiah and I went on a date and I took him to this chocolate fondue place. He chose grapes on a stick and put them under the chocolate fountain all by himself. We had a great time!

He melts my heart

Giveaway at Raising Homemakers!!

Raising Homemakers is giving away a Kindergarten/First Grade Combo kit of the Veritas Press Phonics Museum. I'm hoping I win!!

Book Review

My friend, Krista, asked me to do a review on the book (for her blog - Prayer of Hannah) “Every Child Needs a Praying Mom” by Fern Nichols. I thought I'd share that review with you. Fern is the founder of Moms In Touch International - which is a really great resource for Christian moms. I recently read this book and I have to tell you…it has changed my life. Maybe I’m on my own here, but I have days when I’m pretty sure that nothing I’m teaching my children is getting through. Days when I go to bed and feel like a complete failure. Days when I am not proud of the way my children acted or the way I reacted to them. Days when I feel completely defeated…

Prior to reading this book, I was having one of those weeks where I was really struggling with wondering if I was doing the right thing with my boys. Then God brought Psalm 127:9 to mind. “As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth.” As I began to think about this verse I thought about how arrows are aimed at a target before they are let go. Obviously, for our children this “target” would be a life that glorifies God. But then I started thinking about the person holding the bow and arrows - us as parents. What if we lose our focus and our eyes are not fixed on the target? When we let go, we’ll more than likely miss. What better way for us to stay focused than through prayer? That is why I picked this book off the shelf to read and I am so glad I did.

Reading this book has made me realize, more than ever, that we as Mothers have another role to play in our kids lives. Caring for our kids, disciplining, discipleship and showing love are all so important but what about prayer? There is a very real battle going on over the lives of our children. If we believe that, why are we not consistently on our knees fighting for them?

Fern encourages all moms to pray for their children as well as their husbands. She reminded me what a privilege it is to be able to bring my family before the Lord and uphold them in prayer. I love how she really emphasizes praying Scripture for your family. She also gives some very helpful prayer charts and scriptures in the back of the book.

Fern says “I found that if I’m to keep my zeal and passion for God, I must “plan to neglect” anything that would hinder me from prayer. Like anything that brings about great results, prayer requires discipline.”

She also says “How often are you coming into God’s presence? The privilege, the power, the authority is yours. Do you think that Satan could be running rampant in your homes because you are not bringing your husband into the Holy of Holies as often as you should? Are you taking your children in, claiming the Word of God for them?” Ouch.Talk about convicting...

I found her “Four Steps of Prayer” (which are basically taken from The Lords Prayer) so helpful. I think that sometimes I get stuck on one area of prayer (usually asking for stuff) that I forget to praise God and give thanks. 

I believe that every Christian mom should read this book. It offers hope and encouragement as we fight this spiritual battle over our homes and our families. I know you will not regret it.