Marriage Should Reflect the Gospel

One of the high privileges that Kempton has as a Senior High Pastor is to spiritually nurture, train, & teach students and watch them grow and mature in Christ.  Another blessing is the privilege to officiate the weddings of some of his students.  Yesterday, he was able to do just that!  Josh & Elise were in the 9th grade when Kempton became their Pastor.  We have witnessed them beautifully grow in Christ over these past 6 years.  The spiritual fruit in their lives is radiant.  When I think of them, these verses come to mind:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream,and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Therefore, I wasn't surprised when they wanted to have their wedding outside surrounded by trees.  It was such a sweet occasion!  Whenever my husband does a wedding, he brings the gospel. I love that about him!  Here's a video snippet of his message - 

Many Blessings Josh & Elise!  

♥♥♥

Wondering if I'm the only one...

Who needs this?!?

It reminds me of a previous post.  Now all I have to do is practice what I preach!:-) 

It is Finished!

My daughter & I accomplished our greatest feat of 2013!  She completed her kindergarten year and learned to read!  I completed my 1st year of homeschooling and learned to trust God more! I was carried by His grace the entire year.  Trying to manage the kids, the home, and everything in between, there were so many times that I felt overwhelmed, discouraged, & isolated (this is VERY hard for the extreme extrovert that I am).  But Praise the Lord that He remains faithful even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13).  God is so good & His grace is sufficient!  In the midst of my spiritual growing pains, we were still blessed to do so much and we had tons of fun!  I plan to write a different post about what I learned this past year.  For now, I'll give a recap of Carysse's final two topics of study: Yellow, Bird...nope not the Big Yellow Bird from Sesame StreetJ. We studied Q for Quails and Birds in general.  Then we wrapped the school year off with Y for Yellow.

We made bird feeders.

The feeders kept falling off the tree but the birds didn't have trouble finding them! 

We made Bird's Nest Cookies & took them to the Fourth of July BBQ at our friends' house.  Too bad we didn't have any red, white, & blue M&Ms. 

Little sister diligently working on her feather painting craft.

Me & my girls taking a break to look at the birds.  

I desire to spiritually take more breaks to "look at the birds".


Quail Unit

After Carysse read the book, Herbie Bear and the Yellow Kite, she made a yellow kite. The cloud reads, "If I were a kite..." She wrote, "I would fly to Illinois to see Grandma."  We had no idea that my parents were going to make a SURPRISE visit to see us that week!  It's so sweet that they got to take this pic together.

We also bought a kite.

Daddy had fun flying it with his daughters.

Our yellow craft stick flowers covered with buttons.  

This is a great fine motor activity for little hands.

Carysse happily exclaimed that she made, "Noah's Ark" out of her Eggo Waffle.  We also had eggs & bananas to complete our "Yellow Breakfast". 

We went on a "Yellow Walk" to take a picture of all the yellow things we see in our neighborhood.

I guess it's time to go home now! 

Yellow Unit

Reclaiming the Rainbow Back to its Rightful Place...

Not for the Pride but for the Promise!

In remembrance of God's great promise, we decided to have a Rainbow Party for Kalia's 3rd Birthday!  I ♥ planning kids' parties!  This one was the most fun to plan.  We hoped for an outside party, but 30 minutes before the guests were due to arrive...It started to rain!  Thanks to God, my parents were here to quickly help transform our downstairs into a party room for 15 little girls & their mommies.  I'm so glad I had plenty of party activities planned since we no longer had the outside option.  We had a great time! 

The cute lil greeter

The Lord continued to bless me to find great deals for the party...like rainbow colored tulle on sale at Joann's the week of the party!
Thanks mom for making the tutu!

1st activity - Make a name tag for your party bag using Rainbow Scratch Paper.

2nd Activity - Make a rainbow.

3rd Activity (not pictured) - Make a rainbow necklace with Froot Loops.

Pinterest inspired ideas - Duct tape on water bottles & fruit in a rainbow pattern.  Of course we had to "Taste the Rainbow" with Skittles. 

Carysse enjoyed celebrating her sister's special day! 

Daddy gave a prayer blessing.

Table Decor - Genesis 9:13-16 in an Acrylic frame & Glass vase filled with Gum balls & star wands that I found at the Dollar Tree.

Aren't these cupcakes fabulous!?!  Thanks Aunt Mary!

 Malia, Kalia, & Liza (Malia's sister)

Malia is one of Kalia's favorite friends.  Not only do their names rhyme, they look similar, & they were born in the same month.  

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!