Chris & Abby (and family!)

One very important part of the time we spend together as a family is our Family Worship Time. This time consists of us praying together, singing worship songs together, and memorizing Scripture together. Lately, we’ve found some very useful videos created by SeedsFamilyWorship which the kids love to sing along with, which helps them to memorize Scripture. Years ago, Abby would make up her own songs as she taught the Bible to the kids, and I found her tunes helpful myself, as well!

I recently ran across and old video of Abby testing our oldest daughter on some of the verses she had memorized.  Amber was 2 years old in this video.

Sometimes we’re more faithful to the practice than others, but we always come back to it.  The Bible tells us to train up a child in the way the he should go, and when he is old he will not part from it.  We definitely think this is true, so it’s never to early to start teaching the Bible to your kids.

One of our favorite drinks this summer has been Monkey Milk (milk, frozen bananas, and coconut creamer in the blender).  Today Amber spotted the PINK milk (I think strawberry flavored) in the grocery store and thought it looked super yummy.  Well we made our own pink milk at home and we named it Strawberry Shortcake Shake.  It is a lot like monkey milk only we used frozen strawberries, milk, and vanilla creamer.  It looks super pretty and the kids thought it tasted great.  I thought it tasted okay but not as good as our original Monkey Milk we make with frozen bananas.

A firefighter visited VIPS when Amber was attending to talk about fire safety and show the kids what a firefighter looks like in all his gear.  He said children often hide in closets or are scared of firemen when trapped in a fire.  These two things can be a huge hindrance to your little one being rescued if they are ever trapped in a fire.  Barney has a fire safety video that the fireman recommended for the very young child.  It is available on Netflix instant watch right now.  I have also linked below a YouTube video that I thought was EXCELLENT.  Watch it first to see if you think it is appropriate for your child.  6 months ago I think it would have been too intense for my overly sensitive Amber.  We watched it today though and I think it did a good job  warning and educating without being too scary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7xlSW6KT5I

So much has happened in our family since I last posted here.  For starters, we’ve increased in number!  We had a baby girl back in February.  She’s four months old now, and she really wants to start talking.  So we’re giving her a chance to share her wisdom with the world through her very own vlog.

If anyone would care to translate for her, I would very much appreciate it.

6 Categories of thankfulness with 5 things listed in each category. Feel free to copy and paste and share what you are thankful for. You won’t have bad luck if you don’t participate but if you do participate you will have a thankful heart and a thankful heart is a happy heart!

5 Things you can’t buy I’m thankful for:

1. Salvation
2. Chris
3. Family
4. My church
5. Watching my children play together

5 Experiences I’m thankful for:

1. Births of my children
2. Throwing parties for the residents in a home long term psychiatric patients when I was in youth group
3. Living in America- where you bathe in drinking water and generally live like a king compared to most the world
4. Kayaking in the Ocean with Chris- Scared me to death but I smile when I think about it!
5. Getting involved with the activities for seminary wives at the seminary

5 Expensive (to me anyway) things we own I’m thankful for:

1. Vitamixer (our blender- yeah I’m excited about a blender)
2. Dyson Vac
3. Chris’s Camera
4. Our house (well we don’t technically own it yet)
5. Our big screen TV that is used as a computer monitor

5 Made things I’m thankful for:

1. My “pretty book” (its my planner that is made with a three ring binder that I put scrapbook type pages on the cover of and change them out periodically with updated photos of the kids and our family)
2. Meals at family get togethers- we got some good cooks in our family
3. Amber’s artwork- it gets more creative everyday!
4. The websites Chris makes
5. Our striped couch- Mom covered the cushions and someday the wood part is going to get a makeover too!

5 places I’m thankful I’ve been to:

1. Arthur, IL and Liberty, KY (Amish shopping)
2. St. Louis Zoo
3. IKEA
4. Trader Joes
5. All the Parks in Nokomis, IL

5 true statements I’m thankful about:

1. John 3:16, 17
2. My husband loves me and works hard to make sure I know it!
3. You can learn almost anything with Google
4. Blessing others makes your heart happy
5. A rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.