And Now For Something Completely Different

There is no wisdom in teaching a young child not to blow out the table candles on the same day you teach him to blow out his birthday candles.    It is best to wait until both types of candles are not present on the table at the same time and have the child blow out his candles.  But be warned, older children apparently get confused in this circumstance as well  and desire to blow out the younger siblings candles and the table candles.   Many a birthday can be ruined by one over zealous sibling with really strong breath.  This is not to be confused with relatives visiting after consuming too much onion or garlic for as we all know this breath knocks out but does not blow out.  Nor is it to be confused with the very talkative visitor he is a wind bag but blows nothing out except others enthusiasm.

Top ten Reasons To Use Caution When Using An Armour set to teach Ephiasians 6

10.  Apparently that helmet of salvation face guard pinches especially hair.

9. The Belt of Truth can and will drop from around the slim waist of the three year old down to his knees or ankles thereby proving you can be tripped up by the truth.

8. No matter how hard you try the shield of Faith is not the breast plate of Faith but when strategically placed can become the backpack of Faith.

7. Everyone wants all the pieces at once thereby giving rise to teaching not to covet, steal and murder.

6. There is apparently a distinction between the BOYS version and the GIRLS version of the Armour of God. The boys is gray with red and the girls is white with purple.  Who knew!  I thought white with purple seemed more regal.

5. When teaching this lesson the three year old should not have the sword and the shield at the same time!

4. It is sweet to see the three year old dressed in the full armour.

3. It is hysterical to see the large 12 year old forced into the flexible plastic pieces of armour.

2. The children might actually learn how to fight practicing on one another

1. Those Shin guards of the preparation of the Gospel of peace are really hard to defend as shoes.  They do not work as shoes or as spats.  It just does not work so there.  :P

Put on the full Armour of God

Recently I purchased an Armour of God set  to teach my children about Ephesians 6
 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+6&version=KJV  
This is where we are to put on the FULL Armour of God.  I got ready to teach this to my kids when I discovered that  this is really a weighty passage of the bible.  
We are up against some serious foes: Principalities, Powers, Rulers of the darkness of this world, and against Spiritual wickedness in High places oh and the wiles of the Devil himself. 
We are given great instructions: withstand the evil day and stand.
Yup that is what all this armour is for so we can stand and withstand.
Well, I was going to teach my children how to stand and we took out the store bought armour distributing it around the room.  We  placed the helmet of salvation on one child's head and the belt of truth on another child.  The shoes of the Gospel of peace turned out to be shin guards of the gospel of peace so the kid with the helmet got those.  The shield of Faith went to the child directly opposite the child with the Sword of the Word of God so he could defend himself.  Some one else received the breastplate of righteousness.
As I examined my children and began the lesson on the Armour of God, I myself began to learn a lesson.  How I distributed the armour in the room is how we sometimes distribute these gifts of God amongst ourselves as believers.  Some of us have salvation, others faith.  Some have the sword of the word meanwhile others must defend themselves from us  with the shield of faith rather that us using the sword only for defence, and those shoes we intended to keep us on the right path are not truly shoes at all but simply good intentions as shin guards making us wonder if we really are on the right path. 

I think where I am going here is that the Armour of God is not for fighting amongst ourselves over trivial inter congregational nonsense. YHWH is our Elohim.  We all love Him and we are all on the same side.  We are to defend ourselves and others by constantly praying in the spirit for them and for the quenching of the darts of the wicked.  I think we miss the most important points from this passage anyway; Pray in the Spirit all the time for All the Saints so they can withstand the challenges that are coming their way and stand on the last day. 

Oh by the way, this passage is where we learn about obedience to parents, to masters and to God.  It is where we learn our place and why it is so important to do the will of God with our whole heart.  We miss so much when we use only bits and peaces of the bible and do not take on the full passage of the Bible. It is a lot to teach my children but I am up for the challenge!
Finally, my bretheren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might put on the full armour of God!  It makes me want to pray for missionaries and you right now! Peace.

And Now For Something Completely Different

In a large family when two or more conversing adults are gathered together many small children will surround the adults and speak loudly preventing all intelligent conversation. It is guaranteed or your children back.

Top ten reasons to hunt Black Widows

10. These spiders lay 200 eggs at a time and they are not permanently moving to my neighborhood.
9. Small children gravitate to places these spiders love
8. It is a great excuse to remove all the trash from the yard
7. There is no time like the present to give that garage a good clean
6. I want to organise my garden stuff and put it all in sealed plastic bags
5. fingers boy I like those fingers
4. It is like this terrible wild life safari except the wild poisonous animal lives in your home.
3. think of the children
2.Vacuuming them little critters is fun
1. It is a great excuse to clean the whole house!

Black Widows

It was a beautiful day outside today. A beautiful day to hunt and kill Black Widows. Did you know not all Black Widows are black some are a creamy brown with black knees.
Here are a few sites that tell a lot about the spiders:
http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu/bwidow.htm
http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/IPM/BrownWidow.htm
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.skysight.net/cgi-bin/genesis/web_pages/BeeyondSight/Weird_Nature/black_widow_nest.JPG&imgrefurl=http://beeyondsight.xanga.com/617121137/item/&h=408&w=500&sz=65&tbnid=RU-VhC3UqKdUuM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblack%2Bwidow%2Bnest%2Bpictures&usg=__wjQ4JSGN3-kKxcn9BHSuSwkDawk=&ei=QTcCS5LzMJO4lAfd3u3kAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&ved=0CAkQ9QEwAA
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Danior-36314-Daane-Black-widow-spiders-CTGC-2007-as-Entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/

Identifying their web is important. They make funny messy webs. If you teach your kids what to look for you can prevent the bite.

I am so glad to learn there is a treatment for black Widow bites. It is better to be safe than sorry. Call your doctor or visit the emergency room if you suspect a bite.

And now For Something Completely Different

It is with the greatest regret that I am to inform you that I am not feeling funny today. You will not get anything remotely silly out of me. If you try you will be terribly disappointed and I will be forced to prove to you that there is not even the remotest possibility that there could be even the slightest chance that there could be even a snicker, laugh or tickle to be given. Nor will you find a snort chuckle or ha. Tears will not roll down your cheeks nor will you find any surprises in your shorts. Nope, nothing funny here. Now move along.

Top Ten Reasons to Letterbox with 6 kids

10. This is suppose to be secretive and every one knows 6 young kids can be very stealthy.
9. Looking for hidden treasure is fun dude
8. I really wanted the ink all over my clothing...it is decorative.
7. The boxes are where there are cool things like snakes and spiders.
6. It actually gets us out of the house for a good reason
5. It is a reason to go to the craft store and buy custom stamps!
4. Memories Dude Memories
3. Every one must decipher what the clues mean = school on vacation!
2. treasure hunt!
1. This is a reason to visit parts of America I had not considered and get to see the wonder of god while spending quality time with the gang.

Recently we took a sabbatical for Home Coming complete with bon fire, and a visit to the school mascot. While there we visited as many museums as time would permit. Boy, were we worn out! Boy, did we have a good time! We also received a private tour from a professor friend of the new science facilities!! My future scientist were really impressed. Then we letter boxed across campus. We collected many stamp impressions and had a good time trying to find them. We were really disappointed when we could not find a box or two but finding a few made up for it.
To learn more about letter boxing go to http://www.letterboxing.org/index.php
We also went camping at a modest camp site with cabins. There was room for all 8 of us. We petted miniature horses and watched peacocks nest in the tree in front of our cabin. We also got really cold but we had a great time. Now back to school!

And Now For Something Completely Different

Why is it that when I go to my quiet place to think it is only after I am completely engaged that I realize there is no paper on the roll?

Top Ten Reasons to Play Rebus Games with the Kids On the White board

1. They act like they do not understand what I am trying to say anyway let's go with that.
2. They will stare at the white board for hours.
3. Blank stares and Doe in head lights look for some thing other than a lecture
4. Making them think outside of school :)
5. Life lessons come in all shapes and sizes some of them are mbscabel (scrambled) or sdrawkcab (backwards) and definitely confusing
6. Makes them want to know how to spell correctly
7. Demonstrates the principle that Mom and even Dad do not have all the answers
8. It is another reason to use the giant 8 foot X 8 foot white board in my breakfast area
9. Interrupts fights at the swipe of the pen
10. I get to challenge my husband using my superior teinllect! {intellect}

GAFUNMES...FUN IN GAMES

This evening we had a little fun at dinner and had the kids try to solve some Rebus puzzles. A good link for them is http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/braintpics.htm . An example
HEAD
HEALS

Answer: Head over heals
Some of them can be quite tough. We made up a few of our own and tried to remember ones we had seen.
CHMADEINA
economy

Answer: Made in China and Growing Economy

Now to get them to clear the table and do the dishes!

And Now For Something Completely Different

All reports state that nothing truly funny happened today. A case of slightly funny was thought to have been observed only to discover that it was not truly funny at all.
..............................................{long dramatic pause}
In lesser news, honey ants have invaded the kitchen. The children observed that when the ants lap up the liquid poison their bellies swell and much to the delight of the children the ants then explode.
.............................................{longer dramatic pause}

Top Ten Reasons To Use M&Ms Chocolate Candies in Math

1. Lots of bright colors
2. It belongs in their mouth so who cares if this counter ends up there
3. I do not have to store them
4. Easily replaced
5. Chocolate yummy!
6. The kids naturally group them by color
7. Addition becomes an easy concept
8. Subtraction is natural
9. No one looses these counters
10. Children beg to do math

M&M ex-change

Today every child received $.60 in change. They each had 10 pennies, 1 nickle, 2 dimes, and 1 quarter. I played the merchant selling M&M's. Each child counted out pennies and M&M's. Occasionally, I made them count by 2s. They also had to figure how much the different groups of coins equaled. It was funny just how fast they figured out what those coins were worth when they knew they were receiving M&Ms. Oh they had me buy back and sell the M&M' over and over. As I began to stop the game they naturally began to divide the M&Ms by color groups. I think they would still be at it if I would have let them. This activity was inspired by the books The M&Ms Brand Chocolate Candies Counting Book by Barbara Barbieri McGrath and a great Jelly belly book about making change. Later when they eat the M&Ms we will add and subtract the groups and we will graph the colors to see which color there was more of. They sure had fun and so did I. They learned a lot too. Maybe next time we go to the store they will not struggle to figure out the change.

And Now For Something Completely Different

It is always important to put away the brown clay if you have a cat. When visitors see the baby pick up a small roll from the floor and put it in their mouth they always assume the worst.

Top Ten Reasons I Stay at Home With My Kids

1. Who else will kiss their hurts?
2. Money is nice but snuggles are priceless.
3. I would rather remember their stories than the bosses expectations.
4. Who would teach my kid morals and values? By the way, what morals and whose values?
5. I do not have to ask I know just what kind of day they had and what they learned.
6. Chocolate milk and gold fish enough said.
7. I am a friend and a parent to my kids.
8. Did I mention the snuggles
9. It is a privilege and an honour and I'm not sharing.
10. I want my house to look lived in.

What can we do?

What can we do in this small span of life for our childern? Should we fight to hold on to the values that our forefathers fought so hard for or should we change into a new society with it's constantly changing value systems? Should we hold on to our children's hands and guide them through the snares and traps of life or should we just let them fall prey to the pitfalls that surround us all and hope for the best?

I think we should hold on to what is dear to us and teach it to our children. We can make a difference in their lives if we take one moment at a time. No one knows your child better than you do. No one will love your child as much as you do. These years go by so quickly. It does not take a village it simply takes parents.

God bless,
Janie