Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A few favorite games
Right now Lucy's favorite game is...COOTIES! (thanks Big Papa and Mimi) Anytime I ask her what she wants to do she says - "play Cooties!" Here she is yesterday morning play Cooties with me -
The children also enjoy playing with pattern blocks . We have the Melissa and Doug's magnetic version (thanks to my friend Christina's recommendation) to make playing in the car easier but inside we can also use a cookie sheet as a magnetic board so that two children can play at once.
We also play Candyland, Memory and some matching games. They also LOVE to play this fishing game -
So what games do you like to play with your children?
The children also enjoy playing with pattern blocks . We have the Melissa and Doug's magnetic version (thanks to my friend Christina's recommendation) to make playing in the car easier but inside we can also use a cookie sheet as a magnetic board so that two children can play at once.
We also play Candyland, Memory and some matching games. They also LOVE to play this fishing game -
So what games do you like to play with your children?
A few of my Favorite Things...
I thought I would share a few of the things my children enjoy right now -partly to remember what they enjoy and at what ages and partly to share ideas with others who are looking for good books and games - here are some things I caught them doing this week -
Reading - Richard Scarry books are some of my children's favorites. The books have busy illustrations and a variety of topics for the books. Samuel's first book was the Cars and things that Go book. We also love the What do people do all day? They both love these books and keep them occupied for while (this was what I found them doing Sunday afternoon).
Another book we love is the Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name - it is wonderful! I can't recommend this book high enough!
Let me know if you have some favorite books your children enjoy reading. We are always looking for new good reads - even if it is something you got from the library and we might be able to borrow it too. I'll get Samuel to tell me some of his favorite and we can share (I'm sure most of them will involve knights, swords and castles)
Reading - Richard Scarry books are some of my children's favorites. The books have busy illustrations and a variety of topics for the books. Samuel's first book was the Cars and things that Go book. We also love the What do people do all day? They both love these books and keep them occupied for while (this was what I found them doing Sunday afternoon).
Another book we love is the Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name - it is wonderful! I can't recommend this book high enough!
Let me know if you have some favorite books your children enjoy reading. We are always looking for new good reads - even if it is something you got from the library and we might be able to borrow it too. I'll get Samuel to tell me some of his favorite and we can share (I'm sure most of them will involve knights, swords and castles)
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Creative Play
As you may know Samuel loves knights and loves to play. When these two are combined with his imagination anything can happen. I like to play with Samuel during his "rest time" when I get the chance and today - this is how it went (this is the short, very short version to give you an idea)
"Mama, you can be the green knights and I can be the red and blue knights. Here is your castle (the police man hat) and your guards (the frogs). I'm going to be the good knights and you can be the bad knights."
"Okay, we are going to do this (pointing to a book about knights in which a band of soldiers were protecting the peasants from the recreant knights - YES, he calls them 'recreant knights') - you will need a raft so that you can float up to the village. Look, according to the book, when the rafts arrive at the village they attack."
Therefore, my raft was a shoe box top. And YES, he used "according to the book" several times to correct the way I was doing things and "arrive at the village" - his vocab is funny at times - he assimilates new words so quickly.
oh, and of course we had to have village people. These were our village people - I tried to kidnap the potato head and bring him back to my castle (AKA the police hat) to be my castle cook and Samuel's knights tried to protect the potato head villagers - though, they didn't need much protecting because I was told they had invisible shields and swords to fight the enemies.
One time when I was attacking his castle I used a ping pong ball as a cannon and he said - "Mama, according to the book there are no cannons in this battle." OK. But then when I tried to bring up that knights don't have "rocket powered boots so that they can fly up to the top of the castle to avoid a sword fight" I was told "Well, Mama, I said we didn't have to do everything like the book because we can use our imaginations."
I love this kid!
"Mama, you can be the green knights and I can be the red and blue knights. Here is your castle (the police man hat) and your guards (the frogs). I'm going to be the good knights and you can be the bad knights."
"Okay, we are going to do this (pointing to a book about knights in which a band of soldiers were protecting the peasants from the recreant knights - YES, he calls them 'recreant knights') - you will need a raft so that you can float up to the village. Look, according to the book, when the rafts arrive at the village they attack." Therefore, my raft was a shoe box top. And YES, he used "according to the book" several times to correct the way I was doing things and "arrive at the village" - his vocab is funny at times - he assimilates new words so quickly.
oh, and of course we had to have village people. These were our village people - I tried to kidnap the potato head and bring him back to my castle (AKA the police hat) to be my castle cook and Samuel's knights tried to protect the potato head villagers - though, they didn't need much protecting because I was told they had invisible shields and swords to fight the enemies.
One time when I was attacking his castle I used a ping pong ball as a cannon and he said - "Mama, according to the book there are no cannons in this battle." OK. But then when I tried to bring up that knights don't have "rocket powered boots so that they can fly up to the top of the castle to avoid a sword fight" I was told "Well, Mama, I said we didn't have to do everything like the book because we can use our imaginations."I love this kid!
A beautiful mess
Before I turned my back to help Samuel wash his hands...
After I turned back around...
After I turned back around...
A little artistic expression
We painted with brushes
We painted with our eyes closed
We painted with our fingers
Monday, August 10, 2009
First Day of School
It's that time of year again when school bells are ringing...even though it is only the beginning of August and still 95 degrees. Samuel had his requested breakfast of cheese grits and blueberries and then headed off for his first day of 4K.
With one of his buddies from last year - Kenneth (and Lucy in the background)
With one of his buddies from last year - Kenneth (and Lucy in the background)
Sunday, August 09, 2009
The Big One
Here is the story of "the big one"...
The summer we have tenderly cared for our watermelon hill and watched it grow and produce over 25 watermelons. This weekend we ate the biggest of our watermelons - and shared it with neighbors. Jeremy was very proud of the watermelon - it was about 30 inches in circumference and a little over 2 feet long and it had to weigh more than Lucy (maybe even Samuel!
One little redhead especially liked helping in the garden! Samuel liked helping Daddy sell some of the watermelons this weekend to save for a compost bin (and .50 cents for Samuel's piggy bank)
We shared our watermelon with our neighbors down the street and then gave an 1/8th to some new neighbors and 1/8th to Ms. Emma across the street.
Here are the Lucy's enjoying the ripe juicy summer goodness
Pure JOY!
The leftovers from 1/4 of the watermelon.
The summer we have tenderly cared for our watermelon hill and watched it grow and produce over 25 watermelons. This weekend we ate the biggest of our watermelons - and shared it with neighbors. Jeremy was very proud of the watermelon - it was about 30 inches in circumference and a little over 2 feet long and it had to weigh more than Lucy (maybe even Samuel!
One little redhead especially liked helping in the garden! Samuel liked helping Daddy sell some of the watermelons this weekend to save for a compost bin (and .50 cents for Samuel's piggy bank)
We shared our watermelon with our neighbors down the street and then gave an 1/8th to some new neighbors and 1/8th to Ms. Emma across the street. 
Here are the Lucy's enjoying the ripe juicy summer goodness
Pure JOY!
The leftovers from 1/4 of the watermelon.
Archery
As many of you know Samuel loves anything to do with knights, swords or "bow and arrow" men. This Saturday at Jeremy's school, Strong Rock, there was an Archery outreach - needless to say Samuel and Lucy enjoyed the day and here are some pictures to share!
Saturday, August 08, 2009
A reminder of His Faithfulness
From the Heidelberg Catechism
Q. What is your only comfort
in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
^1 1 Cor. 6:19-20
^2 Rom. 14:7-9
^3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
^4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
^5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
^6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
^7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
^8 Rom. 8:28
^9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
^10 Rom. 8:1-17
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Watermelons!!!
Here is one of the biggest watermelons we picked this week - it is huge and weighs more than Lucy!
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