Another week of summer fun

Not a lot of pics this week.  What all did we do?

Well, we painted on our windows, played freeze tag, and the girls camped inside their tent.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the cuteness in the tent.  Today we made twirling paper ladybugs.  I think there were a couple of other things in there.  So much stuff I can't remember it all.  We've had lots of fun and the house is now a mess. I may need to have a clean and purge night after the girls go to bed just to get some semblance of order in here.  My urge to purge cannot be suppressed forever!  Crafting is messy...but we have fun and it's worth it.

Here are a few pics from the week.  The window paint recipe I got from www. mymagicmom.com
and the twirling paper ladybugs were found at www.makeandtakes.com

Have a wonderful Independence Day weekend!  We have great plans made with family and food and ice cream and pool fun and fireworks. 

Doesn't get much better than that!

High Tea

So last night Bear picked a Tea Party as her summer fun adventure for today.  Everything was all good until I looked in my china box and realized I do not own a teapot.  Not sure exactly how I was planning to make tea without a teapot!  So I frantically went searching all over my town.  Again, not sure why I was actually expecting to find one in this tiny place!   I finally got the bright idea to borrow one from a friend.  (big sigh of relief)  I made tea cakes and bought some caffeine free herbal tea.  We played classical music and had a grand old time.  Even Bug...though there were a few times I thought she was going to break the china.


It was very special for Bear to get to use real China.  She asked if it was made in China (no) and then spent the rest of the tea party asking questions about China and when we are going to China because she has never been there and she needs to go. 

All in all, we had a lovely time and I will definitely do this again.  Until then, I will be on the look out for a teapot of my own!

Summer Fun

So Summer is in full swing (as if you can't tell by the sweltering heat outside!)  With summer has come a burst of crafting and sewing for me.  Though we homeschooled last year and school flowed easier into the summer, I am trying to make summer different and special.  We spend most of our time at home and it can get monotonous very easily!  So in my internet researching last week I discovered the idea of the Summer Fun jar!  So I made one of my own:

      Every day Bear picks an activity out of the jar and we do it!  So far we've made clothespin dolls, colored our entire sidewalk, took a trip to the library, colored hot rocks and tomorrow we are sending a homemade card.  This gives her something to look forward to and helps me fill the time.  I also made them some bean bags and colored some rice for them to play in.  So far it's all been a big hit!  And it's helping on these crazy hot days when it's just TOO hot to go outside.  Here are a few pics from our adventures so far and I will keep adding from here on out.  I'll try and give you links to some of the projects that I found online and copied...That way you can try it too!

 Clothespin Dolls

 

What's Up Weekly Board

bean bags!

Hot rocks!

We made our own chalk!

Playing in colored rice!

Jesus and the Three Little Pigs

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.   And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.   And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."  Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)

 My little Bear (5) read the classic children's story Three Little Pigs this week.  She's become fascinated with it and has gone as far as to create pig and wolf puppets and put on a little play.  Of course, we had to video it because she's so cute!

So today I was reading in Matthew chapter 7 and was struck by the similarities to that story in the chapter.  Of course, you have the mention of pearls before swine and the wolf in sheep's clothing in there, but after that Jesus talks about the wise man and the foolish man building their houses.  

Those 1st two little pigs are so like the foolish man.  They just built their houses as quickly as possible so they could play and have fun.  But pig #3 (he's the fat one, according to Anna) took his time.  He laid a foundation, he put on a roof and added a door.  He even had a chimney.  Then when he was done he could rest in knowing that his house was safe.  

I got to thinking about how we can tend to brush over the words of Jesus quickly and not put them into practice or into our hearts.  We take the easy way out so we can play and have a good time.  But then when the Big Bad Wolf comes huffing and puffing, our house gets blown in and we are left running for our lives.

How much better would it be to be like the wise man (pig) builds a foundation on the Word of God, hiding it in his heart, and putting into action the words of Jesus?  For that person, when the Big Bad Wolf comes huffing and puffing we can be like the 3rd little pig, look out our window, and say, "Go ahead, wolf!  Blow your head off!  This is a good, strong house.  You can't blow it down!"

So go ahead, start building your strong house today.