Homegroup fun

Every month our homegroup comes together to share a meal, pray, and study God's Word.(A homegroup is kind of like a Sunday school class, but instead of gathering together at the church, we meet together in someone's home.) We love all the families in our homegroup and we have thanked God many times for their friendship! Our homegroup just finished up a Bible study called The Truth Project, so when we came together last weekend, we had a game night. We played several Minute to Win It games, and it was hilarious!

 

Cup stacking... this is harder than it looks! wink.

David vs. Shonna! We were playing guys against gals.

This was a cereal box puzzle. Talk about intense, ha ha! Thank you Jeff and Laura for preparing so many fun games!

This game involved stacking six dice on a popsicle stick.

Chris vs Bobbey!

I was trying so hard, but David was victorious!

This was the hardest game by far. You had to flick the cup using only a pencil and your partner had to catch it on a pencil.

Sorry, Ruth! I know I was a lousy partner! wink.

Another cup stacking game. I think this is when we stopped keeping store... the guys were dominating!

This was f.u.n.n.y! Using a spaghetti noodle, you had to pick up four penne pasta pieces.

Ruth was a champ at this game!

(This picture makes me laugh every time!)

Patrick and Shonna were attempting to blow their cups off the end of the table using a straw.

Thank you so much, Jake and Ruth, for hosting homegroup this month!

 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ."-Romans 3:23-24

Wordless Wednesday: the leg warmer girls

 

 

 

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,"- Nahum 1:7

a plea to Nana...wink

deAr naNa,
plEasE seNd a liGht sAbeR.
unTiL tHeN, i'LL hAvE to uSe mY siSteRs' cuRliNG iRoN.
tHaNk yOu. i LoVe yOu.
jj

"A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."- Proverbs 11:25

the wintery mix

I heard a powerful quote on our favorite radio station.The radio dj said, "Our God never forgets how desperately we need Him. We are the ones that need the reminding." Wow! That is so very true!

Below are some pictures from our exciting wintery mix this past weekend! We had falling snowflakes for about 15 minutes before it turned into freezing rain. We played in the snowflakes until we were wet and cold!

 

Wubs was trying to catch some snowflakes on her tongue.

JJ kept repeating, "Snooow! Snooow!".

Bella was so happy about the wintery weather!

The children tried sliding all around on the cul-de-sac.

Sweet sisters! I love this picture!

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."- 1 Corinthians 10:13

Friday funny: Hut ball

JJ loves to play football! For the longest time, he would squeal "BALL!" anytime he saw a football. He is almost always carrying a football around our house, eager to kick it or throw it to anyone who is willing to play! wink. David always says, "Hut, hut!" when playing with JJ, and now that JJ's vocabulary has grown, he has a new word for his treasured ball. It is his 'hut ball'! Our whole family now refers to a football as a hut ball! ha ha!

 

JJ was eating a cookie, holding his hut ball. This is his 'cheeeeeese' face! He is so silly!

Bella, JJ, and the hut ball!

"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."- Ephesians 1:16

Freezin' for a Reason

Last Sunday, we celebrated in Kidztown at Faith Baptist Church! The children were challenged to raise $3,500 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and wow- they were SO passionate and excited about raising money for missionaries!  They went above and beyond the challenge, raising $4,576.17!!! (Click here if you would like to know more about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.)We were praising God for His blessing and provision for international missions; we were so thankful that Kidztown could be a small part of His big plan! We celebrated the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering with our 2nd annual Freezin' for a Reason dunk booth! Several of the men who serve in leadership roles in Kidztown joined in the fun and took an icy dip in the water! And burrrr... it was cold outside on Sunday morning, even if you weren't soaking wet! wink. Enjoy the pictures! 

Pastor Ryan, thanking thc children for all their hard work.

 

Mr. Jeff, getting ready to take the plunge!

There goes Mr. Scotty!

Mr. Kip, waiting patiently  for the ball to hit the target.

Mr. Don, dripping wet after his turn in the dunk booth.

Mr. Cody, carefully getting into position.

Mr. Scott, plugging his nose in anticipation.

Mr. Andy was a real crowd pleaser! The children went wild when he came out, all dressed up!

Mr. Ben is SO funny. Oh, the stories we have about Mr. Ben!  The following picture makes me laugh every time...

(He's not really mad! He was just playing around with the children about raising TOO much money! wink.)

Now it's our Daddy's turn! Wubs and Bella thought this was the best part! wink.

Oh no! Almost time to go into the water!

Pastor Ryan, heading into the pool!

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;  knock and the door will be opened to you."- Luke 11:9

Wordless Wednesday: sweet Sunday school friends!

"But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted."- Matthew 23:11-12

saying no

I picked up JJ's sippy cup and I realized it was empty. I started to refill it with water, when I remembered the fruit punch kool-aid packet in the pantry. Oooh, JJ would LOVE that, I thought to myself. I put his sippy cup on the kitchen  table and I went to get the sugar and kool aid mix. JJ came into the kitchen and tried to take a sip from his empty cup.

"More?" JJ held out his cup, after a failed attempt at a drink.

"Mommy will get you a drink! I'm making you some fruit punch!"

"NO!" JJ replied.

"JJ, don't say 'no' to mama. See?(I held up the kool-aid packet.) Mommy is going to stir it up!"

"NOoOoO!"

I picked up JJ and walked him into his bedroom. "JJ you may not talk to mommy like that. No, no. That is naughty." I left JJ in his crib for a two minute time-out. He didn't even protest his punishment; he knew he shouldn't shout at mommy. As I walked back to the kitchen,  I couldn't help but think this was all so silly! The fruit punch I was trying to serve him was going to be so yummy! I finished making the red drink and headed back to the children's bedroom. JJ greeted me with a big smile.

"Saw yee." JJ has the most adorable apology! It melts my heart every time!

"I forgive you baby." I eagerly recieved several (wet) toddler kisses. wink.

 It was then that the Holy Spirit reminded me:

 

Sometimes, I can be just like JJ.  I don't always want to accept what the Lord is giving to me... even when it is going to be much sweeter than I realize.

 I am too quick to say, "NO!". My heart is being refined and my eyes have been opened to see that I don't trust Him enough.

 I want to be quick to surrender to His will; I want to whole heartedly say, "Thank you, Lord and I trust You."

 I am a work in progress, and I am humbled by the grace and forgiveness that God has given to me.

Oh, I am so thankful for the love of Christ! 

 

 

 

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."- 1 Peter 5:6-7

Photojournal: Snow!

We were all so excited when snow began to fall last Thursday night! When the children woke up on Friday morning, they ran to the window to see the blanket of white!

 

 Even though it was only 7am, we began bundling everyone up! (Daddy and Mommy, too! wink!) I think we made it outside by about 7:30am... we wanted to enjoy it before it all melted away!

JJ has never played in snow before! He LOVED it! This is a picture of his first steps on the crunchy snow.

Ta da! Look at all this snowy goodness!

We laughed when we were remembering Bella's first snow experience. She was probably about JJ's age, and she cried and cried! ha ha! Now she loves it!

The cul-de-sac was very icy and honestly, a little dangerous for the children. JJ's car slipped all around while he squealed with delight!

Then, we decided to head to the backyard...

Wheee! The girls tried to slide on the snow.

And I caught David throwing snowballs at the children! wink.

Then it was time to enjoy the snowy swings.

We were all cold and wet when we headed inside.  The girls really wanted more time playing with the snow, so we brought some inside with us!

Dinosaurs and snow, fun fun fun!

Bella was busy burying her dinosaurs in a 'snow mountain'.

Even JJ wanted to play!

This picture was taken approximately 3.2 seconds before JJ decided to fling his bowl of snow across the kitchen. I didn't get any pictures of that, though. ha ha! He's got quite an arm.

We thanked God for the beautiful snowy day! It was such a treat to enjoy the snow together!

"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty."- Zechariah 4:6