Thursday, July 31, 2008

My Deals and Not So Deals


Today I went shopping. Grochery shopping. But I came home with some whopping deals.

First, My strategy:


  1. Go on my lunch break so I take an hour and only an hour (otherwise I'd buy more)

  2. Pre-plan my grochery list and coupons at-the-ready

My first stop, was the farmers market. They were closed.


My second stop was Walgreens. Here is where I was blessed with some great deals. Basically, I bought 15 items, costing me about $0.30 each after coupons and rebates! On my recipet, I paid$17.01 and saved $29.00. Ah ha ha, but that is not counting the $3.00 coupon I received on my next purchase....(bringing my total down to $14.01) or the fact that I have two mail in rebates at $8.78 (bringing my total down to $5.23!). Nice. Thanks God. Here is what I bought:



  • 2 Old Spice D.O.s ($2.66)

  • 2 Herbal Essance Shampoos/Conditioner ($3.66)

  • 1 Pert Shampoo (free after rebate)

  • 2 boxes garbage bags (free after rebate)

  • 2 cans cashew nuts ($0.99)

  • 6 jellos ($1.39)

  • 2 boxes raisens ($2.00)

  • 1 carton salt ($0.50)

After that, I had to go to Walmart for our grocheries. I'm afraid, after all that good deal making at Walgreens, I made up for it at Walmart. :( We had run out of lots of staples (like flour, rice, oil, milk, etc) and they weren't particularly on sale. Ah well. God has blessed us more than enough, and for that, I'm grateful!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Yummy Cookies...short on time

Today M. has a potluck at work. I was a bit short on time, so I tried these cookies. I love lemon, so I think they're absolutely delicious!

Lemon Cookies

1 pkg Lemon Cake Mix (get coupon here)
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together cake mix, oil, and eggs. Drop by teaspoonfull onto ungreased cookie sheet. Dip the bottom of a glass into 1/4 cup sugar, and press down on cookies to make them flat. Bake 5-7 minutes. Frost and sprinkle!

I also have this pretty boquet on my kitchen window sill. Sunday, I had a chance to go for a walk with some nice friends, and I picked wildflowers. How fun! I love having fresh flowers. :)

Book Sale

Look at this fun thing I did last Thursday!

The library was having their annual book sale. My friend and I took our hour lunch from work and went to check it out. We both said we wouldn't get anything.....but we both did.
They had a pretty good selection of Christian books, so I got about 5 for the church library, and 2 for me. Here are some I bought, all for under $7.


I really enjoy using our library, and have for years and years. Here is a picture of the old library, the one I remember from when I was a kid. Isn't this just the neatest building! Now it is a realestate place.

The "new" library is nice too. They are doing a lot of renovations this year, one of which I got to help out with. Since they were re-carpeting, they needed help to move all the books. I went over there on my lunch break a couple times. It was fun.

Just last week I went in search of teaching books. I came home with about 20 probably. I found some great craft books (of which, I can't remember the title...sorry), two fiction books by Craig Parshall, and 3 Dinosaur books. M. just rolls his eyes when he sees how many books I get out at a time!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Teaching Tip

Do not ask kids to do something you aren't willing to do yourself!!
They will listen to what you say, but they will learn from what you do.

Things Kids Say :)

Kid: "Guess what I learned last week?!"

Me: "What?"

K: "I learned the two Hebrew names for God!."

Me: " What are they?"

K: "Jehovah and Yawaeh!"

Me: "Those are really neat! Good job."

***********************************************************
Me: "The younger son sure made a mess of things. He even had to go feed pigs their gross garbage food. Have any of you been around stinky pigs?"

Kid: "Guess what? I have 3 goats. One is brown, the other is brown with white spots, and the other is black."

Me: "That's fun. Do you have any pigs?"

K: "I'm going to take my goats to the fair next week."

*********************************************
Me: "Remember, one of our rules in our class is don't stand on the table."

Kid: "Look at me! I'm sitting on the table!"

***************************************************
Me: "We're going to pray now, and then be done with class. Does anyone have anything you'd like to pray about?"

Kid 1: "Safe travel."

Kid 2 : "Moving."

Kid 3: "Dad not to miss us while we are visiting"

Me: "Would anyone like to pray?"

Kid 3: "Oh, I would!"

Me: "Ok. Let's remember what we'd like to pray about."

Kid 3: "Ok. Dear God, please help my sibling not be so mean. AMEN!!!"
*******************************************

Wednesday Night Lesson - God Is Love

What a wild class! We had about 11 kids show up, but it sure felt like 20!

Last night, we did our third Character class. We changed a bit, since we were supposed to do God is Merciful, but we did instead, God is Love. (We'll do mercy next week).

Here is what we arranged our class to look like, in order to be kid-friendly.

  • Set up "walls" for a boundary to the class, hung colorful banner for one wall (yellow on the side)

  • Moved small table to one end of classroom for snack time and craft time

  • Put posters on wall

  • Lay down story-time quilt

  • Have stool for story-teller/reader

  • Put craft supplies on easy-access book shelf

Every week we have been making a banner with our word on it and hanging them on the wall. Last night was so crazy we didn't get our banners done, but here are the first two.
Every week, to start, we have the kids pick a sticker to put on the calendar, marking that they are here.

Last night, after that, we handed out mirrors to all the kids and sang Jesus Loves Me. (Our "brilliant" idea was to give the oldest kids mirrors and have them pair up with a younger kid while singing....not sure that worked exactly like planned!)

Next, Keren read Luke 15, the story of the Prodigal Son. She also used Mr. Pig puppet. After a few minutes of rowdy-ness, the kids did settle down and listen.

After story, we moved to the table and had our snack "Mud." We talked about how the younger son was rude and mean to his father, and how he ended up feeding stinky, dirty pigs. (Hence, the mud) We talked about how much the father loved his son, to welcome him back after all that! Then we remembered that God is just like that father, and He loves us that much too!

After snack, we took them all outside for two games.

  1. Balloon Puzzle. We had pre-blown up some balloons with hidden words inside them. The kids were to pop the balloons and find the letter, then re-create the phrase "God Is Love." They loved the balloon popping.....but were too wound up to do the puzzle so we actually skipped that part :)
  2. Ladybug Love Tag. We had sheets of ladybug stickers that we handed out to the kids. The objective was to "tag" others with all your stickers, but not get any on yourself. On the count of "Go," they ran around wildly and "lovingly" tagged each other. We had big stickers for the little kids, and more small stickers for the big kids.

After that, we all sat down and prayed and had crackers and cheese. That was the end of class.

I should note, that we had planned on the kids being wound up a bit, since we new company was coming, but we didn't realize how many kids would come. Therefore, the class was really quite rowdy and loud. We had fun, I think they rememberd the story, but I'm not so sure they got the point that God is Love!

After class, they played some other games while the adults visited. Hopscotch. Tag. Pom-Pom-Pull-Away. and Wrestling.

Looking back, I hope the kids learned something. I definitely did. (See below post)

Next week we will try and do God is Merciful.

Lord, help me teach...

Lord, help me be a patient teacher. Help me understand what a kid is trying to tell me. Help me wait till they can explain something. Help me repeat myeslf with gentleness.

Lord, help me be an understanding teacher. Help me be aware of what kids go through in school and family life. Help me know that each kid learns in different ways. Help me practice teaching in different ways so each kid learns.

Lord, help me be a knowledgable teacher. Help me study Your word and know it by heart. Help me not leave things to the last minute, but apply lessons to my heart as well. Help me ask questions.

Lord, help me be a humble teacher. Help me not try to know it all. Teach me what it means to depend on You. Remind me to seek You out before, during, and after class. Help me apologize to kids, and admit I don't know everything, but humbly guide them in the right direction.

Lord, help me be a wise teacher. Give me Your wisdom in each situation. Show me what to do when things don't go according to my plan. Help me jump on opportunities to use small distractions and moments to remind the kids You love them, and so do I. Forgive me for being too hard sometimes.

Lord, help me be a disciplined teacher. Give me Your strength to be self-controlled. Help me guide and direct kids in a firm, but gentle manner. Teach me the art of a well ordered classroom.

Lord, help me be a loving teacher. You love me. Help me love others. Help me take the time to slow down and show it. Help me put that first in my mind, and not get pre-occupied by other things.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Neat Links

I spent some time browsing web pages this afternoon, attempting to research National Night Out a little bit more. I came across some really cool ones I'd like to share.

Cooking With Kids
This has some fun tips about cooking with kids, along with some neat recipes to try (including a bagel snake and rabbit cake!)

Kids.Gov
From history pages to activities and games kids can do, this site has a lot of links worth checking out.

NCPC
This is the National Crime Prevention site, with safety fact sheets and resources galore.

Eat Smart. Play Hard.
Here is a site with more recipes and nutrion info, plus ways to keep your family active.

Green




Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Fun Trip



It was Grandma's 90th birthday this weekend, so we took a trip down for the big family get together. Plus, made a couple side trips on the way! What a lot of people we saw for the short time we were there! Grandma got a few "special" gifts we had alot of fun with....
Bailey....

And me. :)


On our way down, we stopped to visit some good friends of ours, and they served us this delicious lunch! I had forgotten how many dishes an Indian meal has! Yum!



Late Saturday night, we stopped at Jeff & Becky's pond show....pretty neat!


This is the waterfall they made... And then we sat around the BBQ for a while, enjoying the night.

Saturday night we also went to my Uncle's birthday party and saw the other side of the family and ate some good fruit salad and chicken! It was a filling and fun weekend!

God's Character


The next 3 months, we are doing a new unit in our Wednesday night class.

For 13 weeks, we are studying the characteristics of God. We've had 3 lessons so far. It's been really fun.

Two Sundays ago, about 5 of us went calling down the street where I live. We met all sorts of interesting people, a few of who were interested. We were excited to find out last Wednesday, that a family that had been invited decided to come! That was neat! Please be praying that more families will be interested.

To catch up, here is last week's lesson on God is Just.

Topic: God is Just

Outline:

  • Read Bible story - Parable of the Talents, let kids sit on quilt on floor and play with stick puppets while reading. Encourage them to think about how the king was a just king, by giving the men what they deserved.
  • Have treasure hunt for "lost" coins around basement. (Pre-made, paper coins, hidden by us teachers)
  • Come back to story area, and read 2nd Bible story about Jesus answering the Tax Question. Talk about how He is fair.
  • Object lesson at table: Hand out small packages of M&Ms to every kid, but have different amounts in each package. Allow the kids to complain about the unfairness. Remind them that, while sometimes people are unfair, God is NEVER unfair!
  • Have snack (crackers and cheese) while making craft (popsicle stick frame around memory verse Psalm 9:1)
  • Pray

Coming up tomorrow will be God is Merciful. I will try and take some pictures and get our lesson plan on here sooner. :)

Monday, July 21, 2008

Of flowers and such...

Here are some neat gardens I've seen around town...plus a look at my own "garden" of vegetables :)This house always has the neatest summer gardens. They (an elderly couple) have rows and rows of neatly tended flowers that are almost always in bloom. Sometime I might stop by and see what they do with all those flowers!



Here is Mom's "Flower Bed." It was looking really great until last week, when the rabbits found out about it!

And here is my "Rescue Mission 101." I found these tomatoes rather yellow and the cuke with a cut stem, but they seem to be doing fine! I'm hoping they keep up their strength till produce time....I have 5 cukes coming, and one tomatoe!

My "Pride and Joy."

Tag Along


This nice fellow decided to be my tag along for today. I was walking to work, and turned around and look who was following me!
He's quite personable, and was happy I stopped for him to catch up.
I picked him up and deposited him in a lilac bush, hoping that would distract him, and hurried down the walk.
Nope.
He came pitter-pattering behind me, purring all the way.
Of course, I didn't really mind, but I knew he couldn't come to work, and he definitely shouldn't cross the street. So, I turned around and let him follow me back home.
Then, I went in the back door, shut it behind me, and went out the front! Oh, so tricky!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Just Catching Up

This week has been great.

Tuesday, we had a fun adventure. About 10 of us ladies and girlfriends, took a trip down to see Irindee, who's just moved.
While not far away, it's still enough of a distance that we won't get to see her much. We took her a Welcome Home basket, of coffe, homemade bread, jam, etc, and also a picnic supper.
After touring her home for a bit, we all trooped down to the lake and ate our picnic.

Wednesday was a day off for me. Had some appointments to attend too. It took us from 7am till 4pm to get it all squared away! Then, Keren and Lori came over to plan our church lesson.

Thursday we had a Bible study over at a friend's house. We also had supper, and ate some really good black bean tortillas and canteloupe. We also got to put sprinkles on a chocolate coconut cake. Yum!

Our study was really nice. We sat out on the porch, while the guys were inside. We read through our book, Feeding Your Soul, and then shared some prayer requests. We also each picked out a memory verse to work on this week. Here is our choices:


Matthew 7:1
Judge not, or you too will be judged.
Matthew 6:34
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Psalm 139:23
Search me O God, and know my heart. Test me, and know my anxious thoughts.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Interesting Article

I came across this very interesting survey while browsing the Rebelution blog site. It really caught my interest, since it's survey responses are by guys to girls, on the topic of modesty. I would encourage you to check out the link, and see the responses for yourself!


They covered questions about

  • Layering clothes
  • Skirts/Dresses
  • Shirts
  • Swimsuits
  • Posture/Attitude

and more. Each category has a series of questions that the guys could rate: Disagree, Agree, Netural, Highly Agree, or Highly Disagree. You can see the responses in graph form, and then some added comments at the bottom.


Here are some of the Questions, Answers, and Comments from the survey:


Q. Despite rampant immodesty all around us, girls who choose to dress modestly do make a difference.


A. I don't have to drop my eyes when I see a modestly dressed girl. I can look at her and say. "Wow, she looks nice." Instead of having to look at the ground or the ceiling.

A. Not only that, but their courage inspires me to be pure.

A.If only there were more!


Other comments by the men/boys (quite a range of ages)

If there is one immodestly dressed woman in a room of 50 women and 10 men, I'm guessing that within one minute of her entering the room, almost all of the men know exactly where she is.

Men are vision-oriented. We may not remember what you wore exactly, but we do remeber how you looked.

A modestly dressed girl can still be a stumbling block because of her attitude and behavior.

In high school, the place of greatest temptation toward lust was my church. Girls wore things to church that they thought were fashionable and dressy, but they would not have passed the dress code at my public high school. Church should NEVER be a guy's greatest source of temptation, in any way. Please, be especially careful when picking out your dress clothes for church, and make sure they are modest when sitting and kneeling (if you kneel in church), not just standing in front of the mirror.

Sisters in Christ, you really have no concept of the struggles that guys face on a daily basis. Please, please, please take a higher standard in the ways you dress. True, we men are responsible for our thoughts and actions before the Lord, but it is such a blessing when we know that we can spend time with our sisters in Christ, enjoying their fellowship without having to constantly be on guard against ungodly thoughts brought about by the inappropriate ways they sometimes dress.

I remember, at one point, I was feeling rather "frumpy" and out of date (I guess I was about in 8th grade). I felt bad that, in order to be modest, I couldn't be "in style." And that's when it hit me....I was simply thinking of "in style" as the shopping center/junior misses section of the clothing department. I had pre-determined what "style" was!

All of a sudden, I realized, there were all sorts of "styles," Preppy, Chic, Black & White, Jr. High, Outdoors, Jazz, Classic, etc! I simply needed to choose which "style" would fit me.

I realized, that if I wanted to dress chic, I defintely would have a hard time being modest, at lest with what I saw on the store shelves! But, if I could find something that was generally more modest, I could still "keep up" with being current by simply making wise choices.

At that point, I made a decision. I realized modesty was something important to me, and that I wanted to make it a habit. I also realized I could still dress nicely and be modest. Hence, I started looking at outdoor cataglogues for hiking gear, t-shirts, "natural" outfits etc. I realized a whole new world of clothes I hadn't really thought about before!

While this was a while ago, I still remember clearly how excited I was at firguring all that out. Now-a-days, you probably won't find me in any one particular style, and I most likely don't care from day to day what I really wear. :) But it's something to keep in mind at least!

After reading this survey, I realize there are always areas I can improve on. I know there are a few "favorite" shirts and skirts I still have in my closet that I've hung onto for, oh, I suppose, sentimental reasons. There is really no way that I can 1) still fit in them or 2) have reason to wear them, so I know I should go through my closets again.

I also realize, that my efforts and attitudes should work at cultivating a beautiful spirit inside. Do I have a humble attitude? Am I easy to approach or be friends with? Do I allow myself to get caught in self-pity, worry, or guilt, instead of focusing on Christ? Am I at peace? Do I have a thankful attitude?

I pray that I will continue to grow! And you too!

"Therefore let your light shine before all men, so that they may...praise your Father in heaven!" Matthew 5:16

God bless,

Emily

Monday, July 14, 2008

July Holidays

I think it's about time to check out the holidays and special days this month! Here is a list that I find fun:

July Is...
  • National Blueberry Month
  • National Hot Dog Month
  • National Ice Cream Month

15th Tapicoa Pudding Day
15th Cow Appreciation Day
19th National Raspberry Cake Day
20th Moon Day
20th National Ice Cream Day (Sunday)
22nd Hammock Day
23rd National Hot Dog Day
23rd Vanilla Ice Cream Day
24th Cousins Day
26th Aunt and Uncle Day
27th Take Your Pants for a Walk Day
27th Parents Day
28th National Milk Chocolate Day
29th National Lasagna Day
30th National Cheesecake Day

Of Course, most of these are food items....but I find it stimulating my creativity for our weekly menus!

Here's a peek at August Days too...

2nd Ice Cream Sandwhich Day
3rd Friendship Day
3rd Watermelon Day
7th National Lighthouse Day
10th National S'mores Day
13th Left Handers Day
17th National Thriftshop Day
30th Toasted Marshmallow Day

Friday, July 11, 2008

Humor from Kids

Some things kids have said about the Bible:

  • The fifth commandment is to humor thy father and mother.
  • The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
  • Moses died before he ever reached Canada.
  • Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.
  • The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
  • David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar.
  • He fought with the Finklesteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.
  • Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
  • Noah built an ark, which the animals come on to in pears.
  • Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.
  • The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.
  • The epistles were the wives of the apostles.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Snacks

I thought these snacks looked good and were worth a try....I'll have to let you know later if they really were or not! For more ideas, check out this Real Simple link.


Triscuits, PB, Honey, and fresh strawberries

Whole wheat, cheddar cheese, tomato slice and caraway seeds...toasted

Pita bread, parmesan cheese, oregano...broiled.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Ingenious


It was raining.

And I forgot my umbrella.

And my coat.

So I came up with a wonderful hat. And walked home from work just like this.... except I'm not pink and fuzzy.
Only one word can describe what people thought as they drove past me:
INGENIOUS!

4th of July Weekend


Here is what we did over the weekend:




Picnicked







Ate slushies






Watched the fireworks






Had friends over for supper and played apples to apples






Picked strawberries






and Watched the parade


It was so nice to have the days off and to have Christians friends to spend time with!


Happy Fourth to you too!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Strawbery Season

Strawbery season is finally here! Mom told us about a patch that opened up down highway 71, near Dragonfly Gifts.
We went on Saturday with a couple friends, and got three nice bucketfuls. Strawberry smoothies...here we come!


I'm hoping to make a couple batches of jam, plus freeze some for smoothies and also have some to give away. Hopefully they don't overripen too fast!
What do you like to do with strawberries?

Thursday, July 3, 2008

God the Creator

Last night was the beginning of another 3 month program at our church. This time, Lori, Keren, and I are teaching all ages of kids on Wednesday nights, about the characteristics of God. For the month of July, our topics are:

  1. God is our Creator

  2. God is Holy

  3. God is Just

  4. God is Merciful

  5. God is Love
Last night was lots of fun as we learned about all God created!

Before class, Lori and I snuck into the back room to blow up balloons for our "Orange Fish" craft (below)
First, we did an object lesson about how God can create everything from nothing:



  • Have a bag of legos. Pour out on table and ask, "What can you make with these?"

  • Let kids respond.

  • Have 2nd bag (empty) and "pour" out on table and ask, "What can you make with this?"

  • Allow responses.

  • Talk about how God is so powerful and great, that He can make something out of nothing.

Then, we told the Creation story in sign language, while the kids colored fins for their fish. We also had a mystery bag of objects for each day of creation. Lori sat next to Megan and pulled out an object as I told the story, to keep Megan interested.


Then, we went for a walk down to the Lake.
While we walked, we played the game, "I Spy" but with a twist. It went, "I spy something God created on the 3rd day of creation!" (plants and dirt, etc)





We ate our snack while we walked.


Our memory verse for this month is, Psalm 9:1


"I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done."

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