Adventures in La La Land

Week 7: Moses Verse: "When I'm afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3 (NIRV) Moses is a major Bible character. There's way too much to cram into one week, so for this unit we focused on 2 parts: the baby in the basket and the burning bush. Here are the activities we did. On Monday, we read the story of Jochebed putting Moses in the basket and sending him down the river. I looked up The Prince of Egypt   on Netflix to show Lucy a clip of Moses  catapulting  down the river amid hippos and alligators and waves. Not gonna lie. I was fighting back tears watching Moses' mother relinquish him to the river. Can you imagine?! I can't even think about it. We discussed how scared Jochebed must have been, but how she trusted God to take care of her baby. (Verse.) We went on to make this little game. It's admittedly a little morbid, but Lucy was none the wiser. She just thought it was fun. :-) I got this idea from a game Lucy was playing online. Basically,...

I recently came to a sad realization: Lucy is done napping. She used to fall asleep once or twice a week during rest time, but it's been weeks without a wink of sleep and I'm finally accepting that she's outgrown the nap. (I'm not accepting it gracefully, but I'm accepting it as truth.) I love  my kids. (How many times have I made a disclaimer like this?) I love  reading books and doing crafts and laughing with them. But I'm realizing more and more how much I need a little down time during the day. So Lucy is still having an hour of rest time . I let her pick 5 books to take upstairs, put a CD on for her, and tell her she can read and play, but she needs to stay in her bed. Great idea, right? Ugh. She screams "Mommy!!!!" down the stairs pretty much every five minutes to tell me, "I need a new CD. I want to play when I get up. Is it time to get up yet? I don't want to stay in my bed anymore. I think I heard Lena. I see a bird out the window...

1. The day after I wrote in Lena's 9 month update that she doesn't pull up on furniture, she did this: See those very enticing choking hazards (aka bracelets)? That's all it took to get her to pull herself up! Haha. 2. This is her other new trick: (she doesn't really start until 9 seconds in) She does this alllll day. Haha. 3. My mom, Justin, Lucy, and Lena all have nasty colds this week. (This is Lena's 3rd in as many months. Grr.) I've been getting sinus headaches and coughing. It's coming for me. Nooooo!!!! I had horrible headaches most of my teen years and into my early twenties. After having Lucy they all but stopped. Thank you, hormones! Let's keep that going! Having headaches again this week reminded me how awful they are . . . and what a baby I am. 4. Justin and I finally  watched the last few episodes of The Office this week. I loved it! I laughed, I cried, I ran the whole gamut of emotion! (I just love the word gamut, don't yo...

I had a really hard time getting Lena to sit still and smile this month. I wish I could get a picture of her real smile (not her ridiculous open-mouth shriek thing). It's so adorable! But she freaks out every time she sees the camera! Before starting this entry, I went back and read Lucy's 9 month entry to see how they compare. It's funny how I'd forgotten so much, and how similar my girls are! It's also interesting to see how differently I parent. I was so worried about Lucy starting solid foods, started her so much earlier, and had tried so many more new foods with her by this age. We're just kind of moseying along, taking it slow with Lena. Anyway, here's the 9 month update! Routine She has been waking up ridiculously early. Like between 6 and 6:30. She usually plays in her bed for 15 minutes or so before she starts to cry and I get her up. We come downstairs, make a strong pot of coffee and play for a while, but she doesn't last long before ...

Week 6: Joseph Verse: "I will never leave you. I will never desert you." Hebrews 13:5b (NIRV) Last week we read the story of Joseph. We started with his coat of many colors and talked about how unfair it was that Joseph got a cool coat while his brothers got nothing. I asked Lucy if she'd be upset if I gave Lena all the Halloween candy and didn't let Lucy have any. Then we talked about how his brothers sold Joseph and he had to go to Egypt - far from his family and everything he knew. We discussed how scary and lonely that would be, but how God was still with him! (Insert verse here.) That day, we made a coat of many colors out of a paper bag and strips of construction paper. Lucy also painted this picture from the internet:  Joseph's Coat of Many Colors . On Friday, we learned about Joseph's time in jail and how unfair and scary that was. But God was still with him! (Insert verse here.) Then we discussed how God elevated Joseph to a place of powe...

I wrote in my Saturday 7 about my new Bible Study method of dissecting the Psalms line by line. I struggled a little with Psalm 4. It seemed so random at first. But then I started to make connections, and loved the end result. This is one that has stuck with me since I did it, so I thought I'd share it with you. Some of my observations are pretty obvious, but some were eye opening to me. Psalm 4 1. Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.  - Mercy: not getting what we deserve. David asks God to withhold his wrath and hear his prayer. 2. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?  - Reminds me of Romans 1:23 "[they] e xchanged the glory of the immortal God for images . . ."  - Why do we worship anything other than God? Because it's easier, tangible. But they're delusions! They have no power! 3. Know that the Lord ha...

We had a busy week! Here are some of the highlights. 1. On Tuesday we went to Schwallier's with some friends. The kids had so  much fun. We let them play to their hearts' content at each little "station" (bunny and goat petting areas, water play, corn play, cow train, etc.) and spent 3 hours there! (Including a little picnic.) We're so blessed to have good friends! 2. I made a meal from Plain Chicken this week: bacon cheeseburger soup . It was much less soup  and a lot more cheesy potatoes with burger and bacon in it. Haha. It was delicious, but not cheap. Do you know how much 2 lbs of Velveeta costs?? I was shocked! ($5.49 in case you were wondering). Also, probably not great for the waistline . . . 3. I think I've written before about Lucy's imaginary friends. She has a whole slew of them, and they come everywhere with us. I actually get kind of annoyed with "them" sometimes. We'll be riding in the car and Lucy will say something li...

Usually when I write these, I get about 4 things, then I stare at my computer screen for an hour trying to think of the last 3. Today I have 8 things jotted down! Woot! 1. Justin taught Lucy how to play Simon Says. Something he's good at is teaching her new things that I would write off as too hard. Turns out he was right - she's a pro! I'm so impressed by her ability to listen and react appropriately. (Now if only we could apply that to obedience in her day to day life! Haha.) 2. Thursday was my 28th birthday. It was such a great day. Niki brought me donuts for breakfast. Lucy woke up with a big smile, saying, "Happy birthday, Mommy!" We had siblings + mom lunch (-poor Lib who has to work all the time) at B.C. Pizza. (Their lunch buffet is ahhmaaaazing!) I discovered new episodes of Bones  on Netfli x while the girls were napping. Justin got home early and took the girls outside for an hour and a half while I took a glorious nap. We went to Olive Garden for d...

I've been on a roll lately with getting these done in time, haven't I? I feel like I have very little to share this week that hasn't already been posted. 1. Lena is becoming more interested in food . . . or maybe I should say more willing. I actually spoon-fed half a jar of squash/pear to her this morning. Success! I like the idea of baby-led weaning, but I just worry about her getting enough variety. I can't figure out a way to get greens into her. She chokes on peas and throws beans on the floor. She did love the sweet potatoes I roasted this week. Although I pulled 3 inches of peel out of her throat. Note to self: peel the sweet potato fry before giving it to Lena. 2. Lena got another nasty cold this week. At first I thought it might be a symptom of teething. She has a couple little white dots on her bottom gum that I thought might actually sprout this week. But nothing has popped up, and she's all congested and coughing. Plus, Lucy woke up this morning cough...

We did it! We made it to the end of the alphabet!! Our friend Esther works at Meijer, and got us a cardboard Z on super clearance. I tried to think outside the bo x a little, but I can't draw a zipper, the number zero looks too much like the letter O, and Lucy doesn't know what a zamboni is. So we made the stereotypical zebra! First we painted the whole thing white. Then we taped it off with blue tape. Finally, we painted over the tape with black. Lucy was really unsure about painting over the tape at first. Haha. Look how cute it turned out!

Week 5: Abraham Trusts God (Genesis 12-21) Verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . ." Proverbs 3:5a This week we read the story of Abraham's call and the birth of Isaac in Lucy's children's Bible. When I looked in my Bible to include the reference above, I realized her children's Bible leaves out a few stories: Hagar, Abimilech, Sodom and Gommorah. Haha. Maybe we'll cover those ne xt year. ;-) We started by talking about how God told Abraham to pack up all his stuff and move. We discussed how scary it would be to leave everything you know and go to a new place. Then we talked about how Abraham trusted God and God always knows what's best for us. Then we did this fun craft/activity I made up, called "Pack the Camel." I printed off a picture of a camel  and a bunch of suitcases .(I got minorly sidetracked by looking at Hump Day pictures when I googled camels.) I added shapes to some of the suitcases in Microsoft Wor...

We're so close to the end of the alphabet, and I'm getting really lazy. This is the only Y activity we did all week. One piece of craft foam, a hole punch, and a skein of yarn. (Hehe. I just wanted an e xcuse to use the word "skein.")   Fortunately, Lucy loved it. She didn't lace a straight line like I intended, but I set aside my control-freak tendencies and let her get creative. :-) Only one letter to go!

The Flood (Genesis 6-9) Verse: Psalm 145:13b "The Lord is faithful and will keep all of his promises." (NIRV) This week, we read the story of The Flood in Lucy's children's Bible. On Monday, we talked about how God sent 2 of every animal to the ark. Then we played "Matching" with some Noah's Ark cards I bought at Dollar Tree last year. We also enjoyed some animal crackers.  On Thursday, we did Noah's Ark counting cards. I printed off 10 pictures of Noah's Ark , glued them to cardstock, and wrote a number on each one. Then I gave Lucy a bowl full of animal crackers and had her put the correct amount of animals on each of Noah's numbered arks. When she was done, I let her choose one card to eat all the crackers off of. Guess which number she chose? Haha. It's a good thing because that might have been her breakfast . . . Later on, we worked on our verse poster. This had nothing to do with Noah's Ark, but I've been mean...