Tea Party

Parlor Games

Our Little Ladies

We went to a Civil War Re-Enactment back in the fall. We met a very nice lady, named Mrs. Thompson, who has a passion for tea! She was willing to come and do an old fashioned tea party for our girls.

Our girls traded in their play clothes for some old fashioned dresses for a few hours. They learned about the various types of tea, as well as table etiquette. Mrs. Thompson brought lots of yummy food, and the girls learned all about "fancy" table manners. Some of the things the girls learned were a bit outdated, but a lot of the etiquette still applies today. We finished our tea party with parlor games. Our young ladies had a great time. I am thankful for people who are willing to take the time to invest in my children!

Happy Birthday Anna Grace

Anna Grace celebrated her sixth birthday on February 2. Where has the time gone? How can she possibly be six?

We had a party a few days before her actual birthday. She wanted to have some friends over for lunch. For the menu, she chose cheese balls, Combos, chips, pink dip, hot dogs, taco soup and cake and ice cream. She wanted to decorate her own cake (with a little help from Mom) and she was very happy with the results! She had lots of fun with her friends.

Anna Grace has been asking for a Nintendo DSi for a while now. I told her that if she would read fifty books, we would buy her one for her birthday (with some help from Mamaw). She finished reading her fiftieth book the day before her birthday. She is thrilled with her new pink toy!

Anna Grace chose to go to a Mexican restaurant on her birthday. She wanted rice, beans and a burrito, with chips and salsa, of course!

Happy Birthday Anna Grace. You are a gift from God!

Daddy Dates, Part 2

Mark took Olivia out for the next Daddy Date. He called her from work on a Friday to ask her to breakfast on Saturday. She was so excited! She was up at the crack of dawn, dressed in a church dress.

Mark took her to the Triangle, which seems to be the official Daddy Date destination.

"We went to The Triangle. I got two biscuits and gravy and eggs. Daddy got some hash browns, two GIANT pancakes and coffee and ice water. Daddy gave me some of his hash browns. We went to Sonic and I got a slush. It was really fun-- a great date with Daddy!" --Olivia

Daddy Dates, Part One

Mark and I decided it would be good for him to take each of our children on a "date" to spend some one-on-one time with them. Our kids rarely get time with Daddy all to themselves and they love to eat out, so a date with Dad sounded great to them!

Anna Grace was Daddy's first date. He took her to The Triangle, which is a local greasy spoon type restaurant. Anna Grace ordered a waffle with syrup. The next stop was McDonald's to pick up a Coke for the princess. Anna Grace said it was lots of fun! I love being married to a man who loves his children!

Did Jesus Have a Big Stick????

We have been learning about Theodore Roosevelt this week. Tonight I asked the children to tell their dad who said, "I speak softly and carry a big stick." Olivia said, "Jesus?" Now THAT is some interesting theology!

Snow Again!

I love the pink hat under the raccoon hat look! It looks great with camouflage!

After complaining about our lack of snow last week, a wintry mix hit our area on Monday. We were scheduled to have a Valentine's party with our home school co-op, so the kids were not too happy with the snow! Our party was cancelled, but the children did get to play in the snow a bit before it was gone. We celebrated with hot chocolate and sugar cookies, so the day was not a complete disappointment for the children. I need to be careful what I complain about!

Seeds Family Worship

I started a memory verse program at church last year. I wanted to encourage my children to memorize scripture, and I thought that offering fun incentives would make it more exciting. I assigned two verses each month, as well as a passage of scripture to read each week. I offered to pay the children "Kingdom Bucks" for each verse they memorized. I opened up a "Kingdom Kids" store every month or two to allow them to spend their money.

The first year went OK. Not everyone participated, and those that did often waited to the last minute (our family included). There were many Saturday nights that I was trying to stuff the verses into my children's heads! I knew that was not the best way for them to retain God's Word! I started to wonder if the program was worth it.

Then, I stumbled upon the Seeds Family Worship ministry this past summer, and I was really impressed! They take memory verses from the NIV and set them to music. Now, I know this is not a new concept. We have had several of these type of CDs over the years. The Seeds CDs, however, had more appeal to my children and me. They have a modern sound similar to what you would hear on Christian radio.

So, I changed up our Kingdom Kids program a bit in the fall. I took verses from the worship CDs and assigned those for the memory work. My kids knew them all within a couple of weeks of listening to them in the car. Every family at church received Volume 1 one of the CDs to listen to, and the whole program has gone a bit more smoothly. We are about to start on volume two next month. I highly recommend these CDs as a way to help hide God's word in your heart!