I am His.

Occasionally E cries out at night for various reasons.  She is half asleep and difficult to console.  Unless I sleep with her the rest of the night.  (I fully realize that this may be a form of manipulation, but seeing as she just wants to be close to her mama, I'll take it).

She is so sweet and just wants to snuggle up and talk all night.  She wants to scratch my back and rub my face.  She wants to play with my hair and snuggle up so close that her electricity filled hair is ever so gently caressing my face.  Countless times I fall asleep and wake to a sweet little 3 year old hand resting across my cheek. 

My cup is filled during these nights.  With everything but sleep.  

I could complain, yes.  Am I tired?  Yes.  It is so easy to look at the negative.  It is so easy to focus on my own selfish needs.

But why?  What is the point?  What does that accomplish?

Instead, I will focus on this: I have a 3 year old that loves her mommy so much.  Even when I fail.  She loves me.  Even when I yell.  She loves me.  Even when I choose myself over her.  She loves me.

Through my precious 3 year old, I am reminded of how Jesus loves me.

In the Jesus Storybook Bible (have I mentioned how amazing this Bible is?), it says this:

"You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love his children - with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.  And though they would forget him, and run from him, deep in their hearts, God's children would miss him and always long for him - lost children yearning for their home."

You see, I run from him.  It's in my nature.  But he scoops me back up and reminds me that I am His. 

You, friends, are His too.

Matthew 11:28:  "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

I pray that I will rest in his arms instead of fighting to get away.
Thankful.  Blessed.

Scripture Memorization

One of my strengths is definitely not memorization of anything...let alone scripture.  It usually takes me two or three reads of a book to fully retain what it is saying.

I was reading Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience, and one of her blog entries was about scripture memorization.

She included scripture cards to put up around your home to encourage the memorization of scripture.

Here is the link to that blog post -click HERE. 

This is something that I want to try this year.  I want to have the words of God written on my heart.  In times of despair, frustration, etc..., I want the first thing that comes into my mind to be God's encouraging words.

There are 25 cards.  I chose to have mine laminated!  Very excited to start memorizing!

Day 4 of Evie's homeschool was today.  I admit, sweet G was up in the night with teething and when 6:30 came, so did my snooze.  E woke up before me and came in fully dressed (minus a shirt...she can't reach them in the closet).  She asked if it was time for school.  :)  

This week's letter is X.  She has been doing a lot of fun projects with the letter X.  Today she used her Dot Markers.  She loves them.  I would highly recommend them!  

I got this cute page from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  She has a letter of the week curriculum for just $15.00.  There are TONS of activities for each letter!  We choose to use it as a supplement to our current curriculum because to follow it directly would be a TON of printing and laminating.  It ends up being more than we wanted to spend.  But, I would highly recommend it.  The content is great!  She also has lots of other curriculum in her shop.  We purchased them all when they were about 1/2 off on Cyber Monday.  Perfect for when the kids are a little older.  :)

Friday is our reading day.  Our curriculum is a 4 day/week curriculum.  Rather than completely losing the structure on Fridays, we are going to snuggle up in our big comfy chair and read.  I am really looking forward to it!

Thankful.  Blessed.

Desperate

"We live in a fallen world that is in rebellion to God and His holiness.  That means my children are self-centered, immature, and demanding; my husband has flaws and is vulnerable to his own weaknesses, temptations, and selfishness; and he is married to a woman whose focus is on herself, her own needs, dreams, and desires.  This reality presupposes that a home and family naturally move towards chaos". 

But there is GREAT news!!

John 16:33 says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world". 

This book, by Sally Clarkson and Sarah Mae has rocked my world.  On every page, I feel that the authors are speaking directly to me and know my situation.  But the truth is, we all have times of tribulation, depression, loneliness, anxiety, and the list goes on.. The ONLY hope we have is in Jesus.  

 Our new routine consists of me waking at 6:30.  This has been such a nice time for me to get ready, read my bible, and read some of my book.  Waking 2 hours before my kids has never been something I thought I would want to do, but it has really allowed me to gather my thoughts and get my focus on Jesus before my children wake.  Once they are up, we have breakfast and then start school.  By the time we are done with school, Brother is napping and Ev gets to have a snack and watch a show.  What a lovely time for me to blog and get my thoughts down for the day.

Thankful.  Blessed.

Not about me!

Part of the reason that we chose God's Little Explorers as our curriculum is that it follows the goes through the bible chronologically throughout the year.  It follows the Read and Learn Bible and the Jesus Storybook Bible.

We have been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible since Evie was a baby.  We love it.  We have recommended it to anyone we know that is having a baby or has kids.  Evie loves it.  And the best part is that EVERY story points to Jesus!  Every one!

"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do.  The Bible certainly does have some rules in it.  They show you how life works best.  But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing.  It's about God and what he has done."

I would highly recommend the Jesus Storybook Bible to anyone.  Adults and children!  

Evie had a great time in school today.  We had to do some adjusting from yesterday.  Things that were too easy and things that we are saving for when she turns 4.  She enjoyed going on a hunt for rectangles today and making her own!

Thankful.  Blessed.

I Need Thee

I woke up this morning and was listening to music as I got ready.



Beautiful.  I do need Jesus.  Daily.  Hourly.

The past year and a half has brought on a lot!

Mostly importantly, we welcomed sweet George into the family on May 26.  (Two months before Prince George.....so, to answer your question...no, we did not name our son after the prince).  You would be surprised how often I get that question.  :)

He is now 7 months and has such a sweet disposition.  Always smiling.  Always talking.  Sleeps all night.  Growing like a weed.  Thankful.  Blessed.


Ev is almost 3.5.  They said time would fly... It did.  She is so smart.  Loves her family.  Loves Jesus.  Thankful.  Blessed.

My husband and I have had many conversations over the past year about homeschooling.  Yes?  No?  We have been going back and forth.  So, we decided to do a trial year.  We are schooling E now for about 45 minutes each morning.  In the fall when she is 4, we will do a couple of hours a day.  She is definitely ready.  She loves it!  Today was her first day.  I am so excited to see my sweet girl learn so many things.  But mostly, I am excited to see her learn about Jesus.  Thankful that we are called to be a part of that.  :)  We'll continue homeschooling as long as we feel a peace about it.  I hope that is forever.  Thankful.  Blessed.

Here are a few photos of day 1.

Our classroom:

 Our curriculum:

We are using God's Little Explorers this semester.  We love it!  If you have any questions about it, feel free to comment below!  :)

We have also added a few supplemental activities (calendar and extra letter of the week activities).

If you are interested in checking it out - http://www.motherhoodonadime.com/kids/gods-little-explorer-preschool-curriculum/

Our school day:

 Sister was telling Brother about our Bible story.  :)

 This is our daily notebook that we do with our calendar time.  We got this from: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/

This is our "Letter X Lapbook."  We got these printables free online.  She'll have a different file folder for each letter to go back and look at.  

Thankful.  Blessed.