Still Kickin'

We just survived our annual sick week.  Only this time it was two weeks.  I'm glad it's over (for now, anyway). 

No flu, thankfully.  Just colds and a handful of ear infections and sinus infections and a good round of pink-eye.  Lots of antibiotics too.

In the midst of all of that fun we were having, I needed daily...um, hourly...reminders of this quote:

"Don't think survival; think Kingdom."

It comes from Tedd Tripp's book, Instructing a Child's Heart. I admit that I have not yet read the book, but in browsing a friend's copy, I discovered this very appropriate admonition.  And although I haven't done it yet, I fully intend to post it in a prominent spot in my kitchen.

So many of my days as a mother of young children - and a homeschooling mom, too - are spent at home with little contact with the world at large.  I'm not complaining; I truly prefer to be at home.  But the seasons of sickness especially lend themselves to becoming seasons of survival in my mind.

I need a good reminder to be diligent in using these more difficult times as opportunities to minister the gospel to my kids and to speak truth to myself instead of just trying to get back to life as "normal." 

Valentine's Day Cookies

I'm not much for lots of helpers in the kitchen. Unless they're this cute, of course...

P.S. Their brother is welcome to help, too, but he made himself scarce this time.

Bibbity-Bobbity-BOOM!

That pretty much says it all.

A new find

Just last night I discovered three books written to help us pray better and more faithfully for our families.

You can find them here -

http://hismagnificence.com/index.php/view/Content-Main/page/books.html

Water of the Word,

Prayers of an Excellent Wife

and

Setting Their Hope in God

are all written by Andrew Case.  Each book consists of prayers specifically based on scripture passages that we can use to pray for our husbands (or they can use to pray for us wives) and our children.

I downloaded the free versions for now and briefly browsed through them, but I would urge you to take the time to read the Preface (especially in Setting Their Hope in God).  If you're on the fence, it just may be enough to tilt you towards using this book, or at least working at praying more diligently for your children's salvation and welfare.

Note: The three books are essentially the same prayers, just adapted for each version to be prayed for a wife, husband or children. So just one book could be used.

Snow days

We haven't had nearly the snow totals this year that we racked up last year, but last week about 6 or 8 inches fell 'round town.  We took a snow day on Thursday since Daddy was home from work.  He did some sledding with the boys then, but I have no pictures since I stayed home with Cupcake during her nap.

We did go sledding as a family on Sunday afternoon, though.  It was so much fun!  AND I managed to capture a few shots to share...

This last picture probably says a lot about what kind of sled-driver I am, and it surely shows why my daughter preferred to sled with her daddy.  Closing my eyes probably wasn't my brightest idea ever.  Thankfully, that ride only ended with a tumble into the snow and not a crash into any stationary objects.