Taa Daa: Prayer Boxes

Today at MOPS, we made a simple craft we call Prayer Boxes for our kiddos.  Simply put, they are just a very tangible tool for guiding kids through prayer.  I had NO IDEA what a hit these would be once I put them in my kids' hands.  They were all about it!  It didn't occur to them to decorate the outside, which I thought would be their first response. No, they set right to work making up the prayer cards to put inside them.  Anna, in fact, fell into tears when I had to interrupt her work to go run an errand, she was so committed to the task at hand!

Anna's cards addressed the following...

(thanks for colors and rainbows, praying for her friend Kaitlin, another card with "letters" which she said meant for God to help her learn, and then, because her heart was so happy, she added another couple cards with just colors, just because.)

Noah's prayer card stash actually had twice as many cards than are shown here.  He really got into drawing God and writing God/Jesus with letters I couldn't make out without his translation.  I helped him whittle those down to what you see below...

(an "I praise you" card, a request for help staying dry at night, thanks for Chewie, a card for praying for himself, my personal favorite that is written backwards that says Dear God, I love you,  a Thank you for the Cross card, a request for help being kind to Anna, and another blank one to fill in with Daddy)

Weather Chat

Growing up in the military, I have lived ALL over this country and even a little out of the country.  I have seen many landscapes, people, cultures, trends, and of course, weather.  This morning when I took Noah to school in some more wild fog, I started listing in my head some weather trends that have stood out to surprise me in my last several, and I do mean several, homes.  I think I'll just start with high school and move on from there...

San Antonio, Texas - You wanna talk about heat?  It is so hot there it would literally suck the air out of your body when you stepped outside.  Miserably dry heat.  HEAT.

Medford Lakes, New Jersey - Do I even need to say it?  Ummmm, Snow.

Lynchburg, Virginia - I think VA'ns think VA is part of the south, but I'd have to disagree.  It's just not hot enough there for that.  Such a nice locale though.  I loved how distinct all four seasons came and went.  Perfect blend of all weather types.

Atlanta, Georgia - Easily, the biggest weather surprise for me there was how stinking humid it is!  It is a very different sort of heat when you add that much water to the air!  Yikes.  I was pretty miserable during GA summers.

Huntsville, Alabama - I was most surprised by how windy that area is.  Did not see that coming.  Lots of wind.

Nashville, Tennessee - As I said above, the fog.  The thick fog here is dangerous!  I have never seen fog like we get here in the valley.  Love it, yes, but learning to fret in it a little as well.  Oh yeah, I didn't learn to fear thunderstorms until the tornado action they also get here.  I am learning to respect the weather now ... a quality I am sure Josh much appreciates. :}

New Purse, New Day

I am really choosy about my purses.  When I find one I love, I run it into the ground with use before I move on to hunting down a new one.  It takes me awhile to find what I know will work for me (and the kids).  But recently, on a whim, I bid on my first high-end name brand purse on eBay.  I am sure it's GTP's fault, but I have Coach on the brain.  Sadly, I got outbid pretty quickly.  So I bid on another and another and both times got outbid again. Those Coach bags don't go cheap, even at secondhand prices. Yikes!  But then, I found this gem and entered the starting bid with pretty low expectations that I'd win. 

I stalked the listing each day, multiple times a day and to my surprise and great luck, no one ever bid over me. I couldn't believe it. I got this bad boy for $30 and I am so pleased with it.  I was sad, yes, to unload my pink Liz Claiborne purse that I am quite attached to, but I know I'll see her again soon.  Until then, I'm taking a spin in a new fancy-pants bag and I love her already.  Now I just need an excuse to go somewhere...  Looks like tomorrow's play dates will have to do. :} Wish us luck on my new purse test drive!

Another Day at the Zoo

We bought a zoo membership around this time last year and have made good on the purchase via multiple trips over the past 12 months.  So when the forecast looked promising just in time before the snow comes tomorrow, we Browns took to the zoo again today and I think this was our favorite trip yet.  

 

The temperature was cool, but not cold; perfect fleece and hoodie weather.  

We had our friends, the Williams, along for company.  

 

We took our time and saw all the sights.  

 

The kids were serious, and I mean serious, about consulting their maps all day.  An exhibit was not complete until they had pinpointed the exact location on their pages. 

 

Noah conquered (kind of) his fear of the spider net at the Jungle Gym play area and then unwound on the beloved "miracle round" as Anna likes to call it.  

Anna dramatically survived a cut in the middle of her hand - even after I doused it with sanitizer by mistake.  Ouch!  It's a good thing she had their good buddy, Claire, along for moral support/distraction.  

Anyway, all that walking, all the fresh air, and certainly all the activity wore us out real good and I'm sure we'll sleep hard tonight.  Thanks go to Cindy for the pics she afforded me on a day that I went off camera duty. :} Was such a pleasant time today!

Hello, Muddah!

I kinda love this!

Real Valentines

Yes, indeed - my hubby got me valentines - flowers and sweets and a card for today.  And in true Brown family tradition, he gave it all early along with the kids' valentines gifts this weekend; we do so love treats by surprise around here. But, honestly, I love the real valentines Josh delivers all year long way more - patience, selflessness, thoughtfulness, helpfulness, support, time, faithfulness, commitment, love, gentleness, attention.  These real valentines show up all the time in things like how...

• He makes it such a priority to be with us. He is very protective of our time together.
• He calls home from work often just to see how our day is going. :)
• He makes Noah's lunch for me sometimes.  It sits ready and waiting for us when we get up in the morning.
• He doesn't mind that I turn the light on to read in bed while he's sleeping.
• He never gets mad!  I think I can count on one hand how many times he's ever gotten mad. In 10 years!
• He does both kids' bedtimes every night.  And he loves it.
• He is always willing to stop at the grocery store on the way home from work.  I keep waiting for him to complain when I ask him to go again, but he just doesn't. Usually, he is the one offering to stop off!
• He is so awesome at his job.  As always, he has a fan club there already because he is just such a great guy and a great worker and a great help.  I am so proud that he is mine.
• He doesn't get mad when I repeatedly interrupt a show he is watching.  He just pauses it and listens and then pauses it again when I pipe back up.  Never impatient.
• He takes care of my honey-do lists. 
• He lets me be a remote-control hog.
• He's become a fan of my considering homeschooling. He's been doing his own research about it, too.
• Even ten years into our marriage, he still doesn't mind making phone calls for me that I don't like to make.

I married a good one, I keep realizing.  I thank the Lord for him all the time.  Love my Josh!  So it goes without saying that we are having a Happy Valentine's Day.  And it goes without saying that we wish the same to you!  Happy V-Day, all. :)

PS - How precious is this picture I took of my valentine last night?

Tonight's Big Deal

I happened upon this verse tonight during my bible study: Ephesians 2:10.  "We are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."  And then I accordingly chose it to be a special teaching memory verse for my Noah to mark tonight's big deal.  What big deal, you ask? Well ...

Tonight, a 6 year old prayer in our lives came true.  You see, it was in this month 6 years ago that we found out that Tania's baby was going to be ours for sure.  So it was at that time that we then shifted from praying for God's will in our lives as it related to adoption to praying, praying, praying for our specific soon-to-be baby boy - praying over and over that as the Lord continued to form his frame in Tania's belly that the Lord would also be forming in Noah a heart bent toward Him.  I prayed it in quiet, we prayed it at house church, we prayed it with all our might because it was all we could do from states away to pray goodness and protection over Noah in utero. We committed him to God before he was even ours and all our 5+ years with him we have put God's Word in front of him and esteemed it ourselves in front of him.

Tonight, he overheard me answering Anna's question about how Jesus comes to live in our hearts and what our role in that happening is.  And, for not the first time, he said he wanted to do that.  He said he wanted to do it now but he didn't know how to.  "I not know what to say. What I say?" he asked me.  We talked again about the decision to receive forgiveness for his sin by way of Jesus' death on the cross.  He agreed he chooses to believe in that power and to continue to seek and obey God in his life.  He asked me to show him what to pray, so I did ... and he DID.

My Noah asked Jesus to be his Savior tonight. 

After that,  Noah wanted to pray it again, so we reviewed what he just prayed and he said it facing Anna and said that she was saved now, too.  :}  I told him that's not quite how it works.  Then he wanted to know how there could be two Jesuses.  How could Jesus be in his heart and then Anna's?  Then he wanted to know where his heart was and why he couldn't feel Jesus in there.  Then at bedtime, the newly born again evangelist told Daddy he wanted him to pray to be saved himself.   :)

Anyway, Noah probably doesn't get why his decision tonight gets me and Josh a little sober and weepy.  He doesn't quite get why we wanted to pull him close and kiss him more than normal.  But I do know he gets that he made an important choice tonight.  And I know there is so much more for him to get.  Here is where the training and discipleship gets a little more real.  And I'm so excited to be the one to continue to help him understand more about salvation, eternity, his Creator, and scripture.

Thank you, my God.  Thank you for your faithfulness in his life that has led up to tonight.  I beg you to snatch up and guard his precious little heart more and more and to continue to grow it in your ways.  Thank you, God!

Footloose Footage

Anna + Daddy

+ Cake as big as her face

 + gymnasium with lots of room for swinging, twirling, dancing, jumping, clapping, and getting bead necklaces

= Best First Daddy-Daughter Date Ever!

 

Prepping Valentines

Noah and I sat down tonight to get his valentines ready for his classmates.  He picked which cards to give to which friends, I wrote their names, and he signed his and selected which candy to attach.  As we went down the list of names, Noah kept identifying each person as his best friend, which made me giggle.

We got a children's book for Mrs. Miller to add to her class library and big fat bar of chocolate, too.  

Daddy-Daughter Dance

There's just something about daddy-daughter stuff that pulls at the heartstrings, no?  I just sent two of my loves off looking all spiffy for their special date tonight. 

They are headed for Chef's Market for dinner and dessert and then hopping on over to Delmas Long Community Center for the Daddy-Daughter Dance.  Can't wait to hear all about it!  Fingers crossed that Josh gets ANY pictures while there!  :}

The Lacuna

Just finished a book that was a little difficult to wade through, but I feel good having stuck with it and having at least enjoyed it once I got past the halfway mark.  My favorite quote from the book was, "Memories do not always soften with time; some grow edges like knives."  Here are the new words I gathered along the way of The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, an author with whom I am always impressed.  My favorites are marked in bold.

gallinaceous
cotching
maguey
nostrilice
calabash
sockdolager
portmanteau
peonage
somnambulant
dentrifice
posit
confabulations
inglenook
betwixt
haint
grippe
aerie
impecunious
polyglot
caul
inimical
cadre
gorm
occlude
situ
peplum
effete
cupiditas
catafalque
cortege
balbriggans

Next up in Kimmie's reading queue is a book about Zipporah - timed just right to coincide with where we are in our chronological bible readings.

Getting a Jump on V Day

Josh gathered some Valentines goodies for the kids and left them out for them find this morning.   It was too, too sweet to behold their reactions to their treasures; they were so surprised and then so excited.  Noah got a blue Lego Ninjago (that he's already assembled all by himself), some sweets, and a musical card that plays a song he has stuck in his head from some friends at school, Who Let the Dogs Out?   Joy.   Anna got some play jewelry and barrettes, some sweets, and a musical Disney princess card that she holds out in front of her and begins dancing with.  It is entirely precious how her faces goes sober, yet dreamy, as she starts to sway and then lift her feet to.  It's just the right music for my girl who CANNOT WAIT for her dance tonight.  She kept gasping and saying things like, "Dis so wuvwy! Dis is so beautiful!" as she unpacked her bag of goodies.  She's also enamored with the pink roses her daddy got her to go with it all.  Noah, all excited by the morning's surprises, commented what a special day this is ... and then tried to explain that he should get to play his Wii early as a result.  Nice try, I said. 

It's snowing outside and very cold, finally.  I'm excited at the prospect of hunkering down for the day at home - except for Josh who has a date with Noah to go see Star Wars in 3D at the movies and then a date with Anna tonight which I will blog about again later, to be sure.  Anyway, the morning is bright, according to me, and I am in such a good mood.

Happy early Valentines Day! :)

Stuck

I feel stuck in a frustrating situation right now.  Like, I am really getting worked up over it!  And I don't want to be so bothered, but I can't stop it from bothering me, and that is very .... bothersome, for lack of a better word.  I'm awake when I should be sleeping, though not for this reason alone.  Still, it's taking up space in my head and I'm trying to find the right way to proceed.  And the thought occurs to me to yield (thank you, Beth Moore and your James bible study).  To let go of my grip on this issue.  To let go.  And then the line from an old song comes to mind, "I will hold loosely to things that are fleeeeeeeeting..."  I feel like this stupid thing that is bothering me is not worth the bother.  So I will just yield.   Anyway, the lyrics to that song that is now stuck in my head...

Hold on the Jesus by Steven Curtis Chapman

I have come to this ocean
And the waves of fear are starting to grow
The doubts and questions are rising with the tide
So I'm clinging to the one sure thing I know

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior
And I will hold on with all my might
I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting
And hold on to Jesus
I will hold on to Jesus for life

I've tried to hold many treasures
They just keep slipping through my fingers like sand
But there's one treasure that means more than breath itself
So I'm clinging to it with everything I am

Like a child holding on to a promise
I will cling to His word and believe
As I press on to take hold of that
for which Christ Jesus took hold of me

Hold on for life

Is This Some Sort of Joke?

I totally just texted Josh a legitimate shopping list that had him calling me in seconds to ask if it was for real or a joke.  I hooted with laughter at his response because I knew he would think I had lost my mind.  But, no, dear.  Today, there really is cabbage on the menu.

Today's grocery wild goose chase for Josh included:  chopped cabbage, chopped green onions, sunflower seeds, Biscoff spread, vanilla almond bark, and two new bulbs for the living room lights. 

Planning Ahead

I am a little in love with how Anna commandeered her daddy and his closet this weekend in order to select the perfect tie for him to wear for their upcoming Daddy-Daughter Dance date.

She's also looking forward to getting some "wuvwy" shoes to match her dress today, too.  I am in love with her feminine heart that is carefully planning tiny details of her evening out. :}

Sugar and spice, I tell ya.  Sugar. And. Spice.

Best Bud

Today Noah had his good buddy from school, Owen, come over to play for several hours.  It was an exciting thing for him to anticipate ALL morning long.  They played Legos, played with Chewie, ran around, rode Noah's four-wheeler, and of course, played video games.  Little boys are just so cute and have such happy, rambunctious hearts. It was fun to see their excitement at being together outside of school.

This is the first time Noah's had company over that was not mommy-driven/selected.  Owen is a sweet boy, but Josh hovered over them just about all morning in effort to pounce on a few choice words of Owen's that we don't want Noah adopting.  Just something about "dang it" and "what the crap?" coming out of a child's mouth that makes our hair stand on end. I think Josh might have come on a little strong with Owen after the second or third time he said it.  He said Owen seemed a bit startled at his sternness.  :S  What to do, what to do...  These are new waters we are navigating.

TN Mornings

When I think of the drive to Noah's school each morning lately, I think of this.  THIS is the lovely TN landscape I have come to love these past three years. 

I only wish I had taken this shot myself.  A friend took it instead, but I respected her enough to tell her I was going to steal it.  :) 

Haywire

My kiddos went straight haywire today.  Maybe it's the cockamamie weather we're having?  I have been having to use the AIR CONDITIONING in January and now February.  Really, folks?  Really?!

This evening, Noah was all weepy and emotional - until he got hyped-up and wildly silly.  Anna was all compliant and loving - until she got disappointed and then just plain furious.  

Noah can't stop laughing and joking about passing gas.  He even - get this - went and let one rip especially in Anna's room and then came back to make sure she smelled it upon her return.  Then he tried to sniff it out some more and cackled his way back to his room very pleased with his work.

Anna dropped something in the bathtub and in all seriousness said to herself, "Oh, fiddlesticks," as she bent to pick it up and put it away.  WHERE did she learn that word?  I am mystified by this newest vocabulary add.

Noah got a good and loud stern scolding today about the ugly words he keeps coming home from school with that better stop coming home and coming out his mouth or else!  Today's offending buzz words were doo-doo and chicken butt.  2 more reasons to bump homeschooling right on up the to-do list.

Anna threw not one, but two fits today that included yelling at the top of her lungs in fury and throwing herself down in the floor to express her malcontent.  Strangely, both outbursts still seemed subdued somehow - like her heart was not really in it.  I guess that is a good sign?