The fastest 12 months ever!

I really can't get over that my little Caleb (aka Baby Bear) is One Year Old!!!  I so vividly remember that beautiful 1st day of summer when we welcomed him into the world.  When I was pregnant with him, another mom of 4 told me that, "Having 4 kids is like drowning in a lake and someone hands you a baby!"  I totally get her point, it's pretty busy and CRAZY most of the time.  But the truth of the matter is, God is the life guard who's always there to help and His Word is definitely the life-line.  I have to constantly meditate on scriptures like...

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 
Psalm 46:1

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:11

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb 4:16

Praise the Lord that I'm never alone to mother on my own.  My heavenly Father is ever present to help, strengthen, lead, & carry me each minute. hour. day.  

Lord, help me to trust and rely on You more than I do. Thank You for your faithfulness even when I am faithless.

Now, back to Caleb.  I found this great idea on Pinterest for capturing his monthly pics by using the same backdrop and prop.  I really like this idea because his changes & developmental stages are more noticeable.  I plan on making a collage for display.

Pure Pleasure Follow-up

The title from yesterday's blog post reminded me that I never gave a follow-up to the Pure Pleasure Gathering.  Your prayers were answered in mighty ways; more than we'll ever know.  More than 800 men showed up that Saturday morning to worship the Lord through singing, praying, and hearing of the Word.  I praise God that he greatly used my hubby for the advancement of God's kingdom as it pertains to sexual purity.  We both have a sinful sexual past, so to be used by the Lord in this way is a sweet grace.  We Praise God for the power of the cross and the forgiveness of ALL our sins!  You can view the sessions below.

Session 1: Kempton's Story and God's Story

Session 2: Sanctification, Sin-Killing, and Satisfaction in Jesus

Porn or Pinterest

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 
2 Corinthians 4:4

"Satan gives steady flows of “energy” and “power” to do any and every thing (good or bad) that will keep you disobedient to the gospel and blind to the beauty of Christ.

Whether it’s cocaine or cookies, porn or Pinterest, alcohol or Apple gadgets, suicide or social media, “the prince of the power of the air” will do anything to capture your will, desires and thoughts so that, according to Ephesians 2:3, you “lustfully carry out the desires of your body and your mind...in the passions of your flesh” until you reach death and judgment without Christ."

Excerpt from Kempton's Sermon last Sunday titled "But God!" 

You can view Part 1 & Part 2.

Summer Activity of the Week

The other day, an older mother mentioned to me that she vividly remembers how hard it was when her kids were all little.  She said she understood how "one day could be like a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:8b).  Raising these blessings from the Lord is a wonderful privilege but the days are SUPER long!  In the summer, you feel every bit of it since the sun rises around 5:30am and doesn't set until 9:00pm!  So, how do I entertain 4 little ones with no TV and limiting their video watching to 1 hr a day?  I decided to try to introduce a new activity a week.  Some activities will be more elaborate than others and sometimes I'll just share a simple idea...all for the sake of helping the day not feel so much like 1,000 yrs!J

Summer Activity #1

Sandbox on Wheels

I really like that it can be covered & stored in the garage away from rain & rodents.

*60 qt. container with wheels from Target - $12.59

*1 bag of sand from Menards - $1.50

*Hours of constant play with toys that we already had - PRICELESS!

May School Update

Boy, do I have some catching up to do!  We've completed 8 units of study since our last school update.  During our long winter, we were "milking" kindergarten for all it's worth.  Then when spring slowly showed it's long-awaited face, we were so ready to be outside but had to painstakingly endure many rainy days inside.  One good thing about that is we were able to get a lot more school time in.  So, here's a brief catch-up of the units that we've completed and a couple of other activities.

Carysse is showing off her paper plate creations during our
Homeschool Group's Project Night.  

Horse Unit

Elephant Unit

 Penguin Unit

Kangaroo jump comparison

Kangaroo Unit

She really enjoyed this marble painting activity.

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Zebra Unit

Sink or float activity

We were "rock & rolling" with many of these great ideas & these too.  

Rock Classifying 

Btw, You know you're a homeschool mom if...

the neighbors are wondering what you're doing in the rain at 7:45am while you gather rocks from your landscape.J

Rock Unit

Each May, the Aquarium has it's Homeschool Week which offers a super great discount.  We went as a family and happened to see my close friend, Sarah & her son, there.    

Jewel Unit

We made these special butterfly treats for her Butterfly birthday party.

Butterfly Unit

Our Homeschool Group hosted a Track & Field Day
at the end of the school year.  

I helped coordinate the kindergarten girls group.
We had such a fun time until it rained.L

She got the 3rd place ribbon for the Broad Jump;

And the 4th place ribbon for the Softball throw!

Thank you Jesus for all these sweet blessings!