Future Bird Watchers

So this year I wanted to add something to the school year besides the normal things the kids have to learn. In March we do an insect study and we do a different theme every month, but I wanted to do something that there was no time limit too.  If it took a month..good. Two months..great. The whole year...wonderful!

So, I started a bird study unit. The kids are always seeing different types of birds in the yard anyway, so we might as well learn something about them!

The kids are loving this study unit! They are really learning a lot. (and so is mommy)

The first day we did a simple activity of learning the parts of a bird. Simple yet fun! The kids also made a booklet of different types of birds. I made it from a file folder and glued pictures of birds onto the inside, but made it like flaps. The name and information about that type of bird would be glued under the picture of that bird. We made it a game where I would say the name of a bird and describe it. The kids had to point to the bird they thought I was talking about. Then I would show the correct answer and the kids had glue the info behind the correct bird. This made a great way for the kids to study and learn about the birds. The also got a bird's watching book where they had to put stickers of the birds by their name. When they see that bird, they need to fill in the blanks under it to tell when and where and what they were doing when they spotted that bird. We have seen a couple of hard to find birds and we learned that we have a wood pecker in our back yard! There is also an owl that is in a tree in the front yard. We haven't seen it yet, but we sure do hear it come bedtime!

Minnie (me)  working on her File Folder Book

Super Boy showing his book is all done!

We are lucky enough to be down the street from a nature park. Four days after our bird study started I found out they they were doing a bird watching nature tour. So, the kids and I were there for sure! The kids had so much fun and it was funny watching them trying to find birds in the trees and at times being side tracked with spider webs on branches. (yuck)  My youngest was also doing some snake hunting, which I am pleased to say that no snakes were seen!  

The kids were super excited about the bird tour!

On the look out!

Every day we do some type of review and I also add a game to our lessons. The kids love playing bird bingo! Instead of yelling out BINGO, they have to chirp like a bird! Makes for lots of laughs!  We have also made some bird feeders from gallon milk cartons and pine cones that we picked up after our bird tour. The birds are really loving our yard and the kids love watching their feathered friends stop in for a bite to eat!
We also did a fun art project by painting the bottom of their foot brown and then coloring some area red to make a robin. They came out great!

We're on month two so far and it doesn't look like we're ending this study unit any time soon! 

Fun Fridays

Since kids love to do fun and interesting things, I try to make our school days even more fun by doing things where we can be a little silly. This year I decided to do a "Fun Friday" where every Friday we do something fun and silly.  It's only our second week of school, but so far the kids are loving it and we're having fun thinking of fun things to do each week.

Our first Fun Friday was show and tell. The kids were reviewing the "e" and "i" sounds, so I decided to do a show and tell where the kids had to bring in something with the "e" or "i" sound.  Now, being that it's only me and the two kids, show and tell is really funny! My kids act like they are in front of 100 other people!  They smile and hide their show and tell item behind their back until I ask them what they brought in today.  Then they hold up their item and wait for me to ask them questions!  It's so cute and so funny!!!

So for show and tell, Minnie (me) brought in a picture that she drew. She then told the class what it was a picture of (which we already knew) and also stressed the "i" sound of her item. Super Boy brought in his Finn McMissile car from Cars 2.  He told the "class" that Finn is a secret agent and then showed us all the "shooters" the car had.  After each child talks about his show and tell, the whole class claps and cheers them on!

Today was our second Fun Friday. We did mis-matched socks! It was a hit! The kids picked whatever socks they wanted, as long as they didn't match. It was so funny to see them tell me to look at their feet...which had two different socks on them.

I am looking forward to more Fun Fridays!!!

A New School Year is Here!

Well, if you're like me, you're wondering; "Where did the summer go?"  It feels like I blinked and it was time to begin planning lessons and getting the classroom back in order.  I can't complain because I had a great summer, but I'm not ready for it to be over yet.

We had a very busy summer to say the least.. The kids and I spent time in Florida with family and then we moved into a "new" house in July. Thank God my husband moved the heavy items into the house before we got there. Mama just needed to unpack boxes (and suit cases) and make the house more of a home.

So, now it's September and the new school year is among us. I am sticking to my starting school after Labor Day, and that's exactly what we did!  Even though we were sad that summer was over, we welcomed getting back on a schedule! (even if work was involved.)

This year marks year three of home schooling. We are still loving it and enjoying the fruits of our labor.  The kids love mommy teaching them and love getting their new books. They took a couple of minutes just sitting at their new desks and looking through the books they will be using this year. Minnie (me) is in the First Grade and Super Boy is in Kindergarten. They were both super excited to start a new school year!

My First Grader

                                                                 

My Kindergartener

                                                              

We are still using Abeka, but Minnie (me) is using Saxon Math. Super Boy will switching to Saxon Math next year, but for right now, I wanted to stick with the whole Abeka curriculum to get a routine going before I start changing things around! The kids love all their books and that makes mommy happy!

The first day of school, we always do an "All About Me" worksheet. This year, thanks to Pinterest, we did a cute one! Minnie (me) picked an owl and Super Boy picked a pirate. Arrr!  It's just a great way to see what the kids are into that year and also I can see the progress they are making with their writing!

This year, we actually have a room set up as a classroom, so it's much easier to teach my little blessings! Last year we were using the dinning room, and even though we made it work, I felt like a chicken running around with it's head cut off! I just wasn't as prepared as I thought. This year I am better prepared so all is going  great. I am also one who likes to have things hanging on the walls. Kind of hard to do in a formal dinning room.  So now it really looks like a classroom, which makes it more fun to learn in. (and teach in!)

I decided to have (even) more"busy" learning activities. These activities are to keep one child busy while I am working with the other.  I have a ton of lap books, which I LOVE, and also some other fun things as well.
So far, it's working and we are all happy and content. Some new things we are using this year are Mosaic Magnets from The Orb Factory. It's great because the kids have to use a color code to match the color magnet blocks to the numbers on the paper. When they're done, they have a beautiful picture!  Another new goodie are Learning Links.  It's a great for their small motor skills and also learning patterns. You have to order cards along with the links, so make sure you have both!  We are also using them with our calendar by coming up with a pattern each month that the kids need to follow. The kids place that color link by the date. (so if our pattern is red, yellow, red, yellow...they have to put that color link by the date according to the pattern)  I just love things that have more than one use!

Minnie (me) did a Orb Factory Mosaic.

Super Boy is playing with the Learning Link.

Adventures in Math

Today as part of our math lesson, we had some fun with the geoboards.

Minnie (me) (K) has been doing 1st grade math along with her regular kindergarten math and today she had to do congruent shapes.  (shapes that are the same size and shape) Of course to Super Boy this looked like fun, so he wanted to join in the fun as well.   Geoboards use geobands (aka rubber bands) so, after we put our safety goggles on, we were good to go!

I told the kids what shape to make and they had to make them, but also had to make them congruent, so they had fun making their shapes match!

After we were done, Minnie (me) was working with her counting bears to do her 10 factors. (numbers that equal 10)  She is loving finding out the answers with these cute, adorable little bears! She is getting so good at it, that she BEAR-ly uses the bears!  OK, I know that was bad!

So while she was working on that, Super Boy wanted to do something fun too. Since he had not put his geoboard away yet, I decided I would use it another way! I would say a letter and he had to use the geobands to make that letter. Once in awhile we would have to duck from a flying geoband, but other than that, he did great and had fun!!!

After his geo-letters, he went and started his math puzzles.  These are great because there are three ways of doing them.  You can count the items and then find the number answer, which will fit the puzzle or you can also do addition or subtraction. He did these while Minnie (me) was finishing up her math lesson! It was a great way to keep him busy and also learning some math as well. It's great when you can turn learning into something fun!

 

So we had a fun adventure with our math lesson today. The kids learned their lesson and mommy learned that sometime geoboards and geobands can be dangerous at times! Watch out!

A Boy and Anything with Wheels

I get a kick out of how my son loves anything with wheels! I know it may sound silly because he is a boy after all, but he is really into his toys with wheels.  Not only does he play with them all the time, but he asks mommy and daddy to take his picture with them!  Sometimes he just simply asks us to take pictures of them after he has them all set up! It's the funniest thing!

This is NOT even close to all his cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc, but this particular day he was making them constructacons. For all of you who are unaware of Transformers, constructacons are construction vehicles that turn into robots. And yes, my son is obsessed with Transformers! He has never seen the movies, but has seen the 80's cartoons and has been hooked! It was obsession at first sight!  :)   So he turns his cars into them, if he does not already have that particular Transformer.

Again, these are NOT all of the Transformers he has, but whenever he gets a new one, he will set up all his other ones, add the new one and then mommy or daddy takes a group picture! Ha!  It's the cutest thing. I just love it!

I love how God has made him so special. All his funny phases and all his wild adventures are because the Lord has blessed him to be the boy he is now and the man he will become. He has also blessed mommy and daddy too!!

To end this with the whole wheel theme....as Optimus Prime would say. (leader of the Transformers)

Roll out!

As For Me and My House, We Will Serve The Lord

 

We have a saying in our house:  " As For Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord."  Those are words that not only hang in our living room, but are also in the Bible. Those 11 words are very important to me because it's the foundation of my family. On Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

In the world we live in today, it's hard to stick to your guns and do the right thing. There are people who will nag you and attack you for being one of God's people. But you know what? It's been like that in the past and will continue to be that way in the future and the present. But I challenge you not to give up. Stand strong and rest in the fact that God is with you!

I'm sure you're thinking, "If their saying is As for me and my house......then why is there something different in the top picture?"  Well, that would be smart to think that!  I have it there because it's sort of like rules that go along with that saying.

-We do trust in God. We know that he is with us at all times. With him with us, how can we fear those who are against us?

-We think good thoughts.  As tough as that is at times, we know that nothing good comes from hanging onto those negative thoughts. All they ever do is keep our focus off of God and serving Him. Keep focusing on Him and the things that are important to you.

-We do try to do better. There are days that I go to bed and I think of all the things I could have done better. But praise God, he gives me another day to make right what I have done wrong. I thank Him for those little tests during the day and I pray that He helps me pass them.

-We say we're sorry when we mess up. No one is perfect. Let me say that again....NO ONE is perfect. And the next time you think you are, try walking on water!  When we do or say something wrong, we say we're sorry and we mean it!

-We believe in Grace. How could you not?? It was grace from my almighty creator that saved me! It made me see when I was blinded by own sins! The grace of God is the most amazing thing you will ever experience, well, besides his unconditional love!

-We love one another. Even those who do us wrong, we pray for them and also remember to love the sinner, not the sin.

-We show respect. We show respect to each other and to our children. There is nothing that bothers me more than those who disrespect their spouse and their children. We make sure that everyone knows that they are valued in the home. Our children are taught to respect their elders and authority. Children need to learn that parents make the rules and they are to follow those rules. There is nothing worse than a child who runs the home. Oh help me!

-We never give up!  This is hard to do in a world that beats you up for messing up! It flaunts every flaw you have and never lets you forget it! But I always remember my favorite Bible verse...."I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!" AMEN!

-We always pray!!!!  Before we make any decision, we pray for God's hand in it. We know that nothing good comes from doing things on our own. We must submit to Him, believe in Him, and know that He knows what is best for us. Our future is in His hands. He wrote our life story, so why go against it? If you find yourself talking about it more than praying, well maybe you should pray about it and then talk about how God took those prayers and showed you what to do with them!  :)

The sayings above were a little something special I saw and I apply them to my life. You can find other great saying and the right way to live in an amazing book called the Bible! Let me know what it's saying to you!

Easter.....It's more than a Bunny and Eggs.

As our family enjoyed the Easter holiday, I found myself wondering where in the world did people come up the idea of an Easter bunny who hid eggs filled with candy and other fun treats. Being a Christian,  I am beside myself at the fact that most people think of Easter as just that. A bunny who leaves treat filled eggs.  Not sure about you, but the only "treats" I know that a bunny leaves behind, I want nothing to do with!

Of course many know the true meaning of Easter. It's the most exciting thing EVER!!  Jesus conquered death! Who else do you know did that? No one. And just think about what he did days before that! He died for our sins! He took EVERY sin for EVERYONE!!!  Someone who is perfect and did nothing wrong took the punishment for all the evil in this world? Jesus did just that!!

So how does my family make sure that the true meaning of Easter is taught and remembered?  The days  leading up to Easter, the kids and I did different activities that made us think and focus on the wonderful things that Jesus did for us and how he defeated the grave. It was funny because after the kids went for an egg hunt, I said to them" Now that's what Easter is all about! Finding eggs and eating candy. Oh and who can forget the Easter bunny."  I thought their eyes were going to pop out of their sockets!  They both yelled "No mama! Easter is about Jesus and how he rose from the dead!"  I was just making sure they got the real meaning of Easter!

Sure we do egg hunts, but we don't let a bunny, eggs or candy take over the real reason for why we celebrate Easter. How could we shadow something like our Savior raising from the dead????????

                                             Minnie (me) and Super Boy  finding some eggs at church.

 

Our church did a great job with taking jelly beans and incorporating the meaning of Easter!

RED is for the blood HE gave.

GREEN is for the grass HE made.

YELLOW is for the sun so bright.

ORANGE is for the edge of night.

BLACK is for the sins we made.

WHITE is for the grace HE gave.

PURPLE is for HIS hour of sorrow.

PINK is for our new tomorrow .

Ready for Church!

Our egg hunt at home.

Craft kids did for Easter

March is Bug Madness

So, I may not understand basketball very well, but being married to a sports fanatic, I do know what March means in the college basketball world. It's March Madness! However March means something totally different our Homeschool world!  It's Bug Madness!

What's Bug Madness?  Well, every March, the kids and I do a study unit on...you guessed it, BUGS!  (aka insects)  We have such a fun time learning about all the parts of a bug and what makes a bug, well, a bug! Last year was our first year doing a study on bugs, and we had such a great time with it, that we're doing it again this year.

I have been sneaking bugs into our regular lesson plan to make the kids think they're playing games when they're really learning. Nothing wrong with that right?

The first day of March, I hid some bugs (fake ones) around the house and had the kids take their bug catching kits to catch these six legged creatures. After catching them, the kids had to examine them using their magnify glasses.  We then put them into groups like, which ones flew,  we had to sort them by color and sizes, and then graphed our findings.  We then had to read about what makes an insect an insect and see if what we caught qualified them as an insect.  If what we caught was indeed an insect, it went back into our bug case. If it wasn't an insect, we let it go back into the house. (I had some plastic bats, rats and other nice things that you want in your house...NOT!)

                                                         Minnie (me)  finds a bug on the blinds!

                                                    Super Boy finds one hanging out on the chair!


Once all the bugs were accounted for, we read a bug count down book. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1..no more bugs! Woo hoo!  The kids had a blast counting the bugs and seeing how many different types there are!

I never really look forward to March, because I know what the theme of the month will be, but I am learning to like it more because the kids make it fun to learn about those little creatures that aren't mama's favorite. But there is a rule in our household.  "If there is a bug outside, leave it alone. If there is a bug inside the house, well, that bug made the wrong choice!"   I have been getting a little better though. Maybe because we don't get a lot of bugs in the house, but when one does sneak in, I try to be the better person and save it. (sorry but spiders have NO chance of survival in my house!)


So another fun way we get those little critters in our lesson plan is to make up games using bugs.  Minnie (me's) math missions was to read the number and put that many stickers by the number.  Super Boy had the same mission, but he just had to recognize the number- then do the same with the stickers.  This not only helps them with reading and recognizing numbers, but it's great for their small motor skills- getting those bug stickers off the paper.

  

Both kids really enjoyed the activity.  Minnie (me) is my perfectionist, so she would match the same type of bug, where Super Boy was more concerned about getting the correct number on the page.  My little love bugs are so funny!

Another favorite activity we enjoy is labeling the parts of an insect.  They can still tell you the parts of an ant from last year.  "An ant has three main parts. The head, the trunk and the metasoma."   They will also go more in detail..."The ant has feelers, pinchers, sharp claws, a stinger, a poison sac (which is located in the metasoma.")   They are bug pros!  A funny story about them is, the other day they were chasing each other around saying "I'm going to get you with my metasoma!" I just had to laugh out loud!  As long as they use their learning for good not evil right? (hopefully they were telling an invisible "bad guy" they were going to get them and not saying it to their sister/brother!)

So, today we were learning the parts of a butterfly!  They were really good at it and enjoyed a little workbook I put together for them. We had to take all we knew about insects and compare it to the parts of a butterfly. And you know what?  A butterfly is a insect!  We were playing little insect detectives! 

 

                                                                 Labeling our butterfly

                                                                      Minnie (me's) work.

                                                              Super Boy was a busy little bee.

So after our labeling was over, which is great for phonics and of course Science, we moved on to Math!  The kids got really excited when I did a bug twist to a game that we love to play to help us learn our math problems.  

So the kids had to fill in the colored areas with the right number of bugs. After both areas were filled, they had to slide those little bugs down into the last area and add it up!   It was fun to use bugs with our Math lesson.  They were really getting those addition problems done!

                                           Getting the bugs ready to figure out the answer.

Slide the bugs down to the answer area......

The answer!!!

We played this game over and over! We were buggin' out! Sorry, I  know that was bad!

Those  Dollar Store bugs sure came in handy today!  They will get even more usage since it's only the beginning of March! Now you can see why we call it "Bug Madness"! 

I got the adorable "Add It Up" game from confessionsofahomeschooler .

Learning Begins at Home

If you were to tell me five years, or more, ago that one day I would be homeschooling my children, I would have called you NUTS!  Why in the world would anyone want to do that??? 

I'm sure my first opinion on homeschooling was like many others out there. I thought only of the "bad" things I thought about homeschooling or the opinions of the world.   To be honest with y'all, I have NEVER even heard of homeschooling until I moved to Florida and was in a church where most of the parents chose this type of learning.  Thank the Lord one of my closest friends opened my mind to the whole idea. If she hadn't,  I would have never experienced the joys I've been having the last two years.

So why write about it? Easy, because I know that there are parents out there who are thinking how I once thought OR are wondering if homeschooling is for them. Maybe they need that key to open that closed mind. Now of course, whatever you decide is best for you child(ren) is your choice and I'm not saying homeschool is the only way to teach children or that it is for everyone. I am saying that maybe it's something you should think about and really pray about!

My reason for homeschooling is: right now it's what's best for my family.  DISCLAIMER: * I think this world is a mess and not getting any cleaner. What are "we the people" basing our faith and trust on these days? Not the right things I can tell you that!  Public schools WILL NOT get their hands on my kids. There's just no way!

Sure someone told me, "Well, you went to public school and you survived."  Well that was a choice that my parents made and it seems like schools are getting worse and worse as the years go by. I was never taught about gay history. (yep, in California that's a subject!)   And school bullies are out of control! I mean kids will be kids, but it seems like bullying has gotten out of control. My heart aches for the families of kids who took their own life because of a bully. I pray that one day it will stop. We are all made in God's image, so why do some think they are better than others? Differences make us special not weird and strange. And when did kids start bringing guns to school? Really???  I know I can't keep my kids in a bubble and they will be bullied at one time or another, believe me I've seen it happen to my kids at a place we like to go to because of the kids play area. But if I can keep them from having to deal with it everyday, you bet all the money in the world that's what I'm gonna do!  I just think public schools have just gotten a little out of control.  Parents NEED to be parents, not the schools. I could go on and on, but this is not a blog about bashing schools!  :)

I think that teaching my own children is so priceless, even on difficult days.  I get to watch them learn and I can monitor what goes into their precious growing minds. It's so rewarding to hear your child read their first word, to add their first addition problem and to ask questions that shows their minds are yearning to learn.

Being a mom and a teacher is a very tiring job, but it's the most rewarding job out there! It's a 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year job. And if you're thinking you're not qualified to homeschool, let me ask you this, Are you a mom? Do you love your kids? Do you want the best for them? Well then, you can homeschool!!
I know you can! 

Teaching my children is my calling. I am called by God to be the mother of my children (1 Timothy 2:15) Keeping my home, including training my children and managing our family's resources, is a responsibility on which our testimony hangs. (Titus 2:3-5)  I do not take this lightly at all. I am not only concerned about test scores or concerned if they don't remember every date in history, I sure don't. I'm not going to stress on perfection. I am after a great goal: character, not acclaim, wisdom and understanding, not mere knowledge, work ethic, not riches; service, not popularity; godliness, not grades.

                                                          SuperBoy on the first day of school.


You won't get a paying paycheck, but what you get is worth more than millions! I am working for something much more valuable than a paycheck, a house, electronics, or social status.

I love being able to plan our day and add more activities than what's "expected" of my children. My kids are able to learn at their level and even learn more than they're suppose to. My son is not even suppose to be in school, yet he is almost done with Pre-K4. He even picks up some things from his older sister, who is in Kindergarten.  (and doing 1st grade math!)

                                                        Minnie (me) on the first day of school


This is only my second year of homeschooling, and it's been a been a wonderful learning experience....for the whole family.  <3

Oh- to answer the question of "Why would you want to homeschool?"  My answer is "Why wouldn't you want to homeschool?"

Cheese and Chocolate

January 29th marked 7 years of the happiest years of my life. It's the day that I married, not just my soul mate, but my best friend.  I remember that day like it was yesterday! One thing that I can still hear in my ear is the part of his brother's speech that said "May you love each other more over the years than you do today." Well, he was speaking the truth!  Every second of the day my love for him goes stronger and stronger!

So, to celebrate this wonderful occasion, we went out to dinner and a little shopping. Now there is more to this story, so just stay with me for awhile!  :)

About a month before our anniversary, I decided to surprise Kevin with a nice dinner for just the two of us. I knew my parents would be in town and that our actual anniversary date, I would be on the road heading to Florida for a much needed vacation! Anyway, the one place we have always wanted to go to was The Melting Pot. So, I made reservations and we were good to go!  I told Kevin that I had something planned for our anniversary and even though he tried to get it out of me, I did NOT tell him where we were going.

Fast forward to the weekend of our dinner date.  We were talking and for whatever reason, he was calling around to see what other places were free the night. To our surprise, that weekend was Charlotte Restaurant Weekend! (can I get a woo-hoo)  So everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, was booked!   He was bummed because he said he even called The Melting Pot and they had nothing free all weekend. So, I had to let the cat out of the bag and I told him that we already had reservations, so he was beyond thrilled! Yes we kept them and went and let me tell you, the place is amazing!  And the extra bonus is- our anniversary falls on Charlotte Restaurant Weekend, so we are always going to have the best deals no matter where we eat!! Amen!

Let me tempt your palette a little.....

First, if you have never gone to The Melting Pot, please go! They do have family tables if you want to make it a family night out and private tables for just you and your sweetheart, so you'll have a great time either way!

They ask you to pick out a cheese choice. Now I'm thinking two or three, but NO. They have a mixture of so many wonderful cheeses! And it's not just cheddar, swiss, this or that. It's blended cheese that they make as you're sitting there! So then you get your dippers and dip away! Even the dippers, as they call them, are so good. Breads, chips, apples, etc.

Next is your salad, which it's funny to hear me say, but it was the best salad I ever had! It was fresh and the dressing was homemade and just plain old amazing.  After salad was your "meal". You have a choice of two, but the choices were filled with so many yummy things! I had two types of steaks, chicken,and shrimp. Kevin had some surf and turf meal. Both were very good. Oh- and you have to pick the type of oil that you "cook" your food in. We picked something with a little kick. (our cheese choice had a little kick too. See the theme?)

After the main meal comes my favorite part. You guessed it- dessert.  OK- just brace yourselves!

They don't just ask you to pick dark,milk or white chocolate. It's more like what chocolate choice do you want....the turtle (which has all the yummy goodness of a turtle type ice cream-minus the ice cream).  There was another choice of caramel and nuts, some others that I can't remember but the one that we choose was AMAZING!!!!  Now if you really know me, you could say which one we picked without me even telling you.  Yep- milk chocolate with crunchy peanut butter.  The Lord is SO good!!!!    Not only was the chocolate wonderful, but this is what you had to dip into that magnificent blend of milk chocolate and crunchy peanut butter:  A piece of cheese cake, bananas, strawberries, brownie bites, and red velvet cake bits. Ohmyword....I have never eaten so much in my whole life and loved every second of it!

After two or more hours of eating, the only way we could keep all that yummy goodness in was to walk around and do some shopping! We had such a great time!

Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you more than words could ever say!

                                                      Our Wedding Day - January 29, 2005.

                                                     Our Anniversary Date at The Melting Pot. 2011

Amazing Grace

There are two things that are really on my heart today. Things that I already knew, yet for some reason, they are more clearer than they were before.

My husband just came back from a two weeks missions trip to Kenya, Africa.  As I looked at picture after picture, I just fell in love with the people there, especially the children. If you're anything like me, the mom in me wanted to just love on them and bring them home with me! Most of them were part of the orphanage there, so they had a real want to just be loved on. I know the people that work there love them, but it's nothing like the love of a parent.

My husband, who is the smartest person I know, has this amazing gift of remembering things that I would have forgotten in 5 minutes.  :) He told so many stories and shared so many details about this beautiful country that it made me feel like I was there with him. Now I have been to a third world country before, so I know how it compares to America.  Americans have more things than we really need, yet we still hunger for more. Funny how we hunger for things that we can't take with us when we die. Things that are only materials, objects that mean nothing. Wouldn't it be great if we hungered for the right things, not the things of this world? I mean why are we here anyway?  To get and have more things? To brag and flaunt these things? No way! We are here to tell others about our Heavenly Father. To share the gospel. Get it? Got it? Good!

Which brings me to something else that has opened my eyes (and heart) a little wider.  I just read this book, in two days, called "Heaven is For Real."  It's a  amazing story about a not yet four year old who went to Heaven and saw God, Jesus and other amazing things! If you haven't read it yet, read it! It will give hope to those who doubt and give comfort to those who believe.

I could go on and on about this book, but I don't want to ruin it for those of you who will hopefully read it. But I will say this, throughout the entire book, this little boy continues to share how much God love US. Especially the children. Of course I already know this because the Bible tells me so, but it almost confirms it. I know it sounds a little weird, but this came from God's lips to this little boys ears! God kept telling him how much He loves us. Almost like He wanted to get that point across. I mean who else would send His ONLY son to DIE for OUR sins? That's how much He loves US! And then while His son was dying on the cross and going through all that pain (pain that WE deserve), He had to look away. Not to "reject" Him, but because what parent would have not stopped their child from all this suffering. God knew that this must be done so that WE could live with Him forever! Let that sink it for awhile. I will never know how it was that day on calvary, but I do know that without it, I would be dead in my sins. Not too many people I know would die for me. Sad how the one that saved US, many still deny Him.

Don't you just want to jump for joy knowing that no matter what we do-even when we sin- God still loves us! A popular phrase my kids say when something wonderful happens is "Praise the Lord".  I know they would shout it out if I told them how much God loves really them, (they already know this because we talk about it in Bible study) but just to almost confirm it. "Hey, God told this little boy just how much He loves YOU!"  Exciting huh?  I have not yet talked to them about this book, because I'm not sure if they would comprehend the fact that this boy went to Heaven and then came back. Of course when I think they're ready- I will be delighted to share it with them!

I'm not sure if there is really a connection. Two weeks, two days, two things that God has put into my life and gave me such a passion to work even more for Him.  Just something I wanted to share because that's what I'm here for. To share and spread the good news of everlasting life!

                             Jesus Loves the Little Children. All the Children of the World.