Our Advent Adventure

Immanuel. God WITH us. What an AMAZING thought! If God is with us then why don't we behave like it? During this time of year we should be focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. We should not get "wrapped" up in the commercial aspects of Christmas. However, every time I log on to facebook I see yet another post of what someone's "elf" is doing and many times the elf has done something naughty. (He or she has done something for which we would punish our children.) I'm not against doing elf on a shelf or Santa (although we do neither) but it breaks my heart that the topic of conversation is elves and Santa not JESUS at this time of year. God placed this conviction on my heart a long time ago but this year He gave me a way to put feet to my faith. Thanks to the idea of Abe Hodges, our awesome youth minister, I found an advent devotional to read as a family every night with my children. The devotional I chose for our family is great because it approaches the topic in a way that children understand and it includes fun activities to do to reinforce the topics.

We have absolutely loved our advent family devotional time each night. I'm going to share a few of the things we have done so far. I'll continue to make posts of our Advent Adventures.

We have our own advent wreath. It's VERY simple, but it gets the point across. We will light a different candle each week until Christmas arrives. Our first candle represents HOPE. For more on advent wreaths click here. Also in that picture you see our "Promise Pocket." There are  promises from God in the bag. Each night we choose one and read it. We talk about how God keeps his promises. We initially talked about the promise God made (and kept) to send  the Messiah.

This is our "Names of Jesus" wreath. As we are reading our devotional each time we come across a different name for Jesus we write it on an ornament and place it on the wreath. So far we have two names on our wreath, King and Immanuel.

This is our advent kiss calendar. Very simple to make. Each day the boys cut open a section that contains a Hershey kiss for each of them and a scripture. They sometimes get a real kiss too. :) I read the scripture while they enjoy their candy. It's really neat because many of the scriptures I used this year Jake has already learned in AWANA.

Jake and Merry Ellen getting ready to listen to our devotional for the night. (Jared didn't want to be photographed.)

Jake hanging a name of Jesus on our wreath.  I bought a real wreath and we talked about it's evergreen branches and how Jesus is alive and ever present. 

May the REAL meaning of Christmas be ever present in your hearts and minds.

---Ellen

Cloth Diaper Chronicles....

I LOVE my cloth diapers. At first I was unsure about using them, but as Merry Ellen has gotten older I have fallen in love with them! In fact I am getting brave enough to take her out of the house in them. Up to this point whenever we ventured out we put on a disposable diaper. I had to get her a bigger diaper bag because I couldn't fit her cloth diapers in her current one. No biggie...just a great excuse to buy her something cute. I purchased the Organizing Utility Tote from Thirty-one. It is super cute! Click here to see it!

First, let me tell you about the different brands of diapers she has and my opinion of them. Then I will tell you about my routine for taking care of them.

Most of Merry's diapers are one size diapers which means she can wear them now through potty training which is AWESOME! 

Happy Heinys--These diapers are some of the cutest ones I've seen on the market. Merry has a few of them made from hemp. Hemp is super absorbent. However, the hemp diapers seemed sort of stiff until they had been used enough to soften up a little. They fit Merry okay but they aren't my favorite. These are a pocket diaper. (That means you stuff an insert in the diaper for absorbency.)

Gdiaper--The good thing about these diapers is that they are slim. They don't call babies who wear cloth diapers "fluffy bottoms" for nothing. I also like the fact that they velcro. These are not one size diapers but the medium size will last you for a while. You can just change out the "insert" on these diapers and keep using the same cover. (Unless your child poops...then it's almost a certainty that you will have to get a new cover too. That's not supposed to be the case but I've never had a poopy diaper where I didn't have to change the cover too.) There are disposable inserts that you can flush as well, but they are a  little on the pricey side.

Fuzzibunz--This is a one size pocket diaper. (You can buy sized versions as well.) They are very colorful and are very popular in the cloth diapering world. However, they are my least favorite. They work well but are hard to adjust the size. (There's elastic on the INSIDE of the diaper.) My diaper guru, Stephanie, tried to warn me. I wish I had listened. I think they're sized diapers are probably better.

Bumgenius/Flip--I included these two brands together because they are made by the same company ( I think) and I love them both. Bumgenius is a one size pocket diaper and Flip is a one size diaper (much like gdiaper) with an insert and cover.I have Bumgenius with snaps and velcro. I know the snaps are more durable but I much prefer the velcro. It's quicker when little her little booty is wiggling.

My routine for caring for them is pretty simple. When I change Merry Ellen I take the dirty diaper to the bathroom and rinse it out. I have a diaper sprayer on my toilet and it is wonderful. It does a great job and is worth every penny I paid for it. It's like a little shower on my toilet. LOL! Then I put the diaper in a pail lined with a laundry bag made for cloth diapers. I try to wash diapers every other day but sometimes life happens and it's a while longer. First I run the diapers through a hot/cold prewash cycle with a little detergent. Then I run the diapers through a normal hot/cold cycle with detergent. Then I run them through a rinse cycle to make sure all the detergent is removed. I don't know this from personal experience but I've read that one thing that may cause your diapers to start smelling is a build up of detergent. There is a way you can strip your diapers but I haven't had to do it yet so I'm not exactly sure how that works. I do know that from time to time its good to let them dry in the sun. The sun is great for removing stains. However, I usually throw mine in the dryer. :) I use Charlie's Soap to wash them. It gets my diapers very clean. Some people say they have issues with it and it gave their child a rash. It has worked great for me though. I think alot of that depends on the hardness of your water.

I hope this didn't bore you to tears and that your learned a little about cloth diapering. If you want to know more let me know and I'll be happy to share. 

 

First Days of School 2012

I'm back!!!! I haven't blogged in a very long time but we have been super busy with many things going on this spring and summer.  In March Miss Merry Ellen made her arrival. Then we spent much of the summer playing baseball. My mom is currently undergoing chemo so we have been going to visit her and spend time with her in south Louisiana too. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of our normal schedule. We can't wait for AWANA to begin again. :) For more information on AWANA at FBC click here.

School is back in session at Perrin Academy and we are busy, busy, busy! I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity and the means to homeschool my sweet kiddos. Sometimes it is challening but it is ALWAYS worth it. Thankfully Merry Ellen is a very good baby and we get alot accomplished while she naps. Here are a few pictures to share our first few weeks of school with you.

My big second grader!

My sweet Kindergarten boy!

Merry Ellen's first day of "school"

The boys working on their calendar binders. This binder contains all of our morning activities. Jake's is a little more advanced than Jared's. In their calendar binders they both have to do things like chart the weather, complete a calendar, make tally marks, work on place value, and work on shapes and numbers (Jake in cursive, Jared in print). Jake has a few additional pages where he has to make the date with money and make up number sentences with the date. Jared's has a few pages Jake's doesn't have. Jared has an "Alpha Art" page where we use his thumb print to make items that begin with every letter of the alphabet. Jared also has a page for sight words (which we will begin after Christmas) and word families.

This is Jake doing workshop. I love workshop and used it often when I taught school. Basically there are task cards he completes independently while I work with Jared. 

This year I am also incorporating a curriculum called "Galloping the Globe." We will cover the seven continents and countries within each continent. The first week we focused on naming the seven continents. The boys made paper mache globes and labeled them. They were fun but they sure were messy. :)

I also bought them inflatable globes to color each continent as we cover countries on that continent.

 We learned about China first. The highlight of the unit on China was spending a great deal of time studying the panda bear. Here the boys (and Merry Ellen) were watching a live panda cam. It was really neat. After watching for a little while we realized she had a baby which is even more extraordinary because pandas rarely have babies in captivity.

The boys and their panda masks!

Well I hope you enjoyed a little peak into our first few weeks. We are off to a great start and look forward to a fun year!

Jared working hard!!!

Jared is working hard today. And yes he doesn't have on a shirt. This is how we do school at Perrin Academy. LOVE teaching my sweet boys and watching them grow! I feel so blessed!

Quiet Time Reflections

Today while doing my quiet time I read two things that really stirred my heart. The first thing I read that stirred my heart came from my Awaken 21 Day Prayer Journal. Here is the sentence that got my attention, "The closer you get to Jesus, and the more time you spend with Him, the more your heart will begin to beat with love for those He loves. " WOW!!!!! The scripture reference to go with this was Matthew 9:35-38.

"35 Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages , teaching in their synagogues , preaching the good news of the kingdom , and healing every disease and every sickness . 36 When He saw the crowds , He felt compassion for them , because they were weary and worn out , like sheep without a shepherd . 37 Then He said to His disciples , “The harvest is abundant , but the workers are few . 38 Therefore , pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest"

If I am quite honest I must admit that sometimes I lose sight of this and just feel worn out serving. I am reminded hear that if I remain close to Jesus it will keep my focus where it needs to be...on HIM!

The second thought that stirred my heart was from the book, Jesus Calling,by Sarah Young. Thank you Stacy for recommending it and thank you Julie for sharing a copy with me. I especially love this book because it is written as if Jesus is talking directly to you. I can barely contain my desire to pick up this book and read my thought for the day. The devotions are brief but very powerful. There are also a few CDs made that were inspired by the book.
I especially liked the following thought because I realize how weak and incapable I am of functioning without seeking God daily or even hourly.

"Though I (Jesus) have all power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are the more gently I approach you. Let your weakness be a door to My presence. Whenever you feel inadequate remember that I am your ever-present help." (Psalm 46:1, Romans 12:12, Romans 15:13)

I pray that these thoughts will move your heart as much as they moved mine.

Our Campout

The boys and I had a campout last night while Raymond attended the Evangelism Conference. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed the quality time with my boys!

First, I put them in the tub and prepared our "campsite". Since I am 31 weeks pregnant we chose an indoor venue for our campout. There would be no "roughing" it here.

The boys actually have a tent but I couldn't but my hands on it.

During this time I also prepared our supper. Piggies in a blanket. I know it's not nutritious, but isn't that the fun of a campout????

Here's a sweet picture of the boys eating supper in their tent.

After we ate supper it was time for a movie and popcorn. We watched Despicable Me. I pretended like it was for them but I really like that movie. ;)

After the movie we had our ice cream dessert and then went to sleep. I didn't manage to get any pictures of the ice cream or the boys actually sleeping on the floor but they did! They stayed on the floor all night. However, in keeping with true camping they were up at the break of dawn. No worries...they will sleep well tonight. I will do it again soon, and maybe this time we'll do it when Daddy can participate. While watching the movie Jared made my heart melt. He said, "Thank you for the campout mommy." That was worth it all!

The Cloth Diaper Chronicles

 
We have decided to use cloth diapers with Merry Ellen. Before you think, ugh NO WAY, these are NOT your mother's diapers. They are super cute and quite easy to use. I am going to blog about my adventure with cloth diapers: the good, the bad, and the stinky. There is an upfront cost with cloth that you may not have with disposables BUT it will save you money in the long run which is the major reason I decided to go with cloth. When all is said and done I probably will have spent $300-400 on cloth diapers. I plan to have about 25 diapers on hand. I am in the process of ordering my diapers and getting them in. Then I will prep them for sweet Merry Ellen to wear when she gets here. (That will be an entirely different blog post.) I have ordered quite a few different brands and a few different kinds of cloth diapers. This will allow me to determine which works best for me and different diapers have different strengths. (some diapers are better overnight than others, etc)  I am very thankful for the advice and help of Raymond's cousin's wife Stephanie. She owns a natural parenting store in Baton Rouge called Angel Britches. Check out her facebook page here.  The majority of the diapers I have came from her store. Most of the diapers I plan to use are pocket diapers that can go from birth to potty training. They don't require an outer cover and you can stuff them more for extra absorbency. I will leave you with the websites for the brands of diapers I am using. Click on the name to be taken to their site.

Happy Heinys--These are super cute and I love the way they adjust. They also have an organic diaper created from hemp that is super absorbent. I ordered a few hemp diapers.

Fuzzibunz--These are so soft and super cute as well.

Bumgenius--I haven't actually gotten these in yet but I have ordered them.

Flip--These diapers are really neat. This is not a pocket diaper. This diaper is a cover and an insert. You just change the insert and not the entire diaper. If there is a little leak onto the cover you have to change the cover as well, so I can imagine this might not be my favorite diaper when Merry is little because of the consistency of dirty diapers of babies who are breast fed. (Sorry for the descriptive words...:)

Sunbaby Diapers--I ordered a very few diapers from this company. They are super cheap and I'm sure in the cloth diaper department you get what you pay for. I don't have high expectations for the quality of this particular diaper or it's performance, I just thought they would be good to have on hand for emergencies and those sorts of things. That being said I looked up reviews on these diapers and many of the reviews I read said they were pleased with them. We shall see. :)

So I suppose that's it for now. I begin my cloth diaper adventure. Please comment with any questions or advice you might have. Especially if you have an opinion on how to wash them and which detergent you use. (I currently have and plan to use Charlie's soap. Different people have different opinions on Charlie's soap.)  I don't want to have to go through a complicated process. (I know different things work for different people.)

Happy Diapering!

Catching Up

My goodness how time flies. It has been over a month since I posted last. We were super busy during December so I took a break from blogging. Thankfully we got to spend some much needed time with our families during the hoildays. I will do a Christmas post soon and share some Christmas pictures.

We are excited about 2012. We can't wait to discover what God has in store. The boys are getting excited about their sister, Merry Ellen,  arrivng in March. They even picked out a sweet color to paint her walls and with Paw Paw Ray and Daddy's help it will be done in the near future. I will post pictures when it's completed. I can't believe it is already only 3 months away. I have alot to do to get ready, but thankfully I have some great help.

I don't make new year's resolutions. I just pray every day of the year that God would mold me into something He can use. Anything good in me is all from Him and I shudder to think of who I would be without Him. I am really enjoying seeking God through Louisiana Baptist Convention's AWAKEN campaign. Even if you aren't "baptist" I'm sure it would minister to your heart. It's all about drawing yourself into a deeper relationship with Christ and seeking to impact those around you.  Check out the website www.lbc.org/awaken. There is a short video and devtional for each day. (It is 21 days long.) A book that changed my walk with the Lord forever is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It really challenged me to love God with my entire being. If you haven't read it yet I would strongly recommend it. You will never be the same. ;)

Until Next Time...