Redefining Grades

It is report card week.  (I can't believe there are only 12 more weeks of school!)  The kids both brought home very good grades.  SweetDoll had lots of E's and S's.  She told us that S was for super!  We thought that was pretty cute.  Thankfully there were no N's or U's, but we thought of some euphemisms for those too!  Humor at the educator's house!

When you are at a small school, you have to wait until the big boys are pretty much done with practice and games before the little dribblers can start their season.  So here we are ready to anticipate baseball and we are just beginning basketball.  Just another adjustment, and we can handle this one!  Here is SweetBoy in action!

Scripture Memory 2010 #4

How are you coming on our challenge?  If you feel like you need some extra time on a verse, take it.  Do it again for another two weeks.  The goal here is to get His Word in our hearts so that we can operate out of that truth.  So give it time to go deep and do the work!  If you just decided to join us--come on!  Here is my verse for this time around...

John 17:3 (NIV)
Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

This is in the middle of one of Jesus' prayers that is so rich.  This verse jumps out at me because it defines one of the core ideas of Christianity--eternal life.  God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), so part of being human is desiring something beyond our existance.  We seek it in vain in many different ways, and it is not just the benefit of Heaven.  Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God.   I heard Beth Moore teach one time that all the warnings and judgements of God are written in the Bible, but it is the wonder of God that we can never find the end of!  I love that!  I love it when I hear people who have been studying the Bible for years talk about what they have just learned and discovered about God.  That is eternal life in the here and now!

Another time I heard Beth teach on Proverbs 3:5-6 (this is another great verse to memorize if you are looking for one).  It says:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

She said you will lean on someone's understanding--your own or God's.  His is more stable to lean on!  "...in all your ways acknowledge Him..." Acknowledge right there means to know. So in all your ways, whatever situation you are in, know Him there. 

Finances tight?  Know Him there. 
     Kids acting up?  Know Him there.
          Achieve a goal?  Know Him there.
               Laundry about to bury you? Know Him there. 
                    Work tough?  Know Him there.
                         Grieving?  Know Him there. 
                              Tough to love someone right now?  Know Him there?
                                   Celebrating?  Know Him there!  Get the idea? 

Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

Snow Days update

SweetDoll got to play today!

We had a great time building two more snowmen today.

My three kids!  (I know, I know--today it is NO coats!)  It is warmer today.  At least the sun makes it feel warm.  We have enjoyed the snow, but the sun is glorious today!

Snow Days

Yesterday I was looking at some of our pictures, and we have had a lot of snow this year!  We played in the snow at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The drift in our drive way that happened Christmas Eve lasted almost a month!

The last patch of it melted and we got snow again!  Then last weekend it iced and snowed that closed area schools for two days!  Our power was on and off for 3-4 days.  Thankfully it was on enough to keep us warm, and we helped it out a little.  We had the windows in our room covered with blankets, and put up a tent for the two big kids with a massively thick palat on the floor.  Then SweetTate slept with us.  Everyone was toasty warm!  We didn't even know the power went off in the middle of the night.  We found lots of entertainment...  (Warning: PJ days usually mean no fixing hair either, so there is a scary hair warning before viewing these pictures!)

playing the DS

wrestling with Dad

Shutes and Laddars anyone?

SweetBoy played DJ for SweetDoll and SweetTate--too cute!

Finally, this week we got another snow that was wet and perfect for snowman making.  (And we had power, so we could come in and warm up!)  Unfortunatly, SweetDoll had a tummy bug and stayed home from school so she couldn't go out and play.  But according to the forcast, I think she might have her chance in a few days!  The boys and I got out and built snowpeople.  (Dad even helped a little!)

Snow angels. 

I can hear Mom and Mema now, "Zip that child's coat up!"  I know.  Sorry.  It didn't seem all that cold, but I had my coat zipped up.  :)

It was perfectly wet snow! It made huge balls in a hurry!

SweetBoy was bound and determined to get the biggest snowballs.  The second one, he started far away from the other and then when it was the size he needed, he still had a long way to roll it to the base and it grew with every roll!  By the time he got them together there was no lifting it on to the base.  So he came up with plan B...

This is what happens when your stomach is bigger than your eyes.  Or your eyes are bigger than your muscles.  Something like that!  So we have a cowgirl diva and a lazy laying down snowman.  (Does that sound like anyone else's house too.)  I won't even go there!  From the look of the maps, you may be having snow too. Have fun!

Scripture Memory 2010 #3

It is amazing to me that we can have a major ice/snow storm with random power outages, and still manage to get the laundry done!  Because you know it is never ending!

I have not been able to get two brain cells to cooperate lately--just ask my kids how I did playing games while the power was down!  It was not pretty!  Anyway I have a thousand things bouncing around in my head, but I wanted to pop on here and sign in for our 1st and 15th Scripture memory 2010 challenge.  I'm still trying to catch up on my verses from January, so this one is simple, but very timely for me.

2 Corinthians 3:12  (NIV)
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

Many of my verses for last year talked about hope.  Now I need boldness in that hope.  I'm starting a new Bible study group this week, so I'm praying I will be bold in a new group.  (A prayer for me Thursday morning would not be wasted!  Thanks!)  You can pick my verse or your own.  Can't wait to hear from you!

I can't be lazy and just let my kids walk home in the ice and snow, so I better go!