It was a very big day for our family. Austin recently made the decision that he wanted to be baptized. Our pastor talked and prayed with him to make sure he fully understood the decision he was making. Today on the 4th of July our church had a big BBQ followed by baptisms, games and fireworks. Austin was tugging at heartstrings as he told of why he wanted to be baptized. Before the baptism took place our pastor briefly spoke with everyone getting baptized telling them this moment would be an opportunity to share Jesus with people there that don't know Him. I didn't realize how my nine year old son say some profound things.
Listening to him speak to the crowd about how he watched his father make the decision to follow Christ and be baptized and how he was wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. He spoke of wanting God in his life.
Knowing that Eric is shining Jesus in his life in a very real way that even our sons can see vividly is so priceless.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
The way that Austin comprehends things that I never even realize are just taking place in the day to day routine of life. He gets the big picture. He is soaking in all the details, never missing a beat. I'm so blessed that he has both an earthly and heavenly father and that his earthly father is pointing him in the direction of his heavenly father. I think God has big plans for Austin's life and greater things are yet to come!! Today has been a joyous one of celebration!
So I've fallen out of the blogosphere for a bit. Sometimes you just have to do that. Other things needed more priority....but that is a another blog post in itself. So, for now, I'll share some pictures of our first ever camping trip with the boys! Yes, you heard right, the city folks went camping and lived to tell about it. The low point of the trip was having seagulls poop in the hot dog dinner that Eric was grilling up for us. Oh and in the process they pooped on him as well. So needless to say the city folks moved to plan B and opted for pizza at a nearby pizzeria. Being that our first night there the winds were at 20-25 mph, dinner really did work out for the best. We did manage to cook other meals during our camping trip without bird droppings. But, I made a definite note to self that a canopy of some sort is highly beneficial for future camping trips!!! We even had a squirrel adopt us for a couple days.
He came running anytime he heard food bags rattling. Eric even fixed him a bowl of cereal our last morning there. And the squirrel, Sparkey, as we nicknamed him.....climbed up on the picnic table to eat some! All in all the trip was a success. Couldn't have asked for better weather. The boys didn't want to go home and are secretly plotting together on how to get us back out there again. Austin was even brainstorming up ways to raise money so that he can buy another camping trip asap! He is determined!! Going to sleep to sound of ocean waves is highly addictive.....I'm secretly plotting our next camping trip in my mind too..... :)
Austin has been wishing this certain item for about three Christmases!! And now thanks to some of Santa's helpers.....this Christmas.....his wishing came true. Austin even told us as he awoke that morning that he had heard Santa's reindeer landing on the roof in the middle of the night. But, of course, Austin said he made sure he stayed in bed. He was so excited that night before he went to bed because this would be the first Christmas Eve where he slept in a top bunk ever so close tot he roof top! It pays to be the oldest!! Here is the video of Austin opening his special gift. Of course once again....you'll want to pause the music player before you start the video! Sorry people, I'm a music junky!!
My dear sweet baby is officially four now!! I can't comprehend that! Where does the time go? Blink and it's gone! We spoiled him and celebrated his birthday a day early. Sunday is his official birthday, but we have a busy day with church breakfast and program. So we decided to make today a relaxing day of birthday fun! I attempted to make an ice cream cake. It was not an easy process I discovered, but we may try it again sometime! Birthday boy gobbled up his cake! He was quite enthusiastic about it. I think he may have been more enthusiastic about the cake than the presents, at least at first! So in reflecting on the past four years of Wesley's life I poured through his baby pictures. We are very blessed! Wes is our wonderful Christmas gift from God. Each year I remember how special that first Christmas was with him. He is our quirky funny bunny who keeps us laughing. He showers us all with hugs and kisses and tells silly stories. He is the brother that Austin always hoped for. Thank you God for Wesley! He will always be our wonderful Christmas gift from above!
Woo Hoo, I'm excited!!! Finally, Wright on Time: ARIZONA, Book 1 is a book for kids that is a fictional story about a homeschool family. Despite the fact that homeschool is more popular today than ever, I still have my moments where I feel self conscious when others question our choice to homeschool. I can not EMPHASIZE how GREAT it is to have a book like this for homeschool kids!!
My son was so excited about this book. He DEVOURED it. I was thinking we would stretch the book out over the course of a week and incorporate it into a reading unit for our homeschool curriculum. My son Austin didn't quite make that possible as he sped read this book. He really enjoyed the story. I think he is actually contemplating if we as a family can pull off an RV adventure much like the characters in this book!
One of the things that really made this book stand out for him were all the details about minerals and gems that the family is exploring for. You see, this summer we took the kids gem mining in the mountains of NC. Austin still had all the details from that family activity fresh in his head. In fact, he still had the mineral chart from our trip. He quickly pulled that out as he was reading through this story. He still remembers the details and names of certain rocks and minerals and it's been several weeks since he read this book. When he remembers certain details and continues to remember and talk about it several weeks later, that's how I know he enjoyed the book.
This story begins with a family of four setting out on a cave exploring adventure. There are mysterious details in the story the really help build the reader's interest. The author Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley has written a fantastic book that kids are definitely going to enjoy. The story leaves the reader itching to get started on the next book in the series to continue unraveling the mystery!
One big plus that I really liked about this book is the glossary of terms in the back. When Austin needed to know what a word meant, he could simply flip to the back to read the definition. This book has such great educational qualities, but the kids won't be complaining because they'll be having too much fun reading and discovering to notice. I really do believe that's when the best learning takes place!
The illustrations in this book are some of the best I have seen done in a chapter book. I always feel like the pictures become a little boring as children progress into chapter books. Not the case for this book. Tanja Bauerle's illustration work in this story are wonderful. They are very eye catching. No matter how old kids grow, they still love illustrations.
The book costs $12.99 and is put out by Write On Time Books. That's about average price for a paperback chapter book. The book is also available on Amazon.
When we first got the details about this book I checked out the website to find out more. I was shocked to learn of the number of families that are living out the RV adventure. My husband definitely started running through the scenarios in his head. We could envision one day doing an RV adventure as a family. We already know full well that our boys are on board for that idea! So thanks to this book, we have a new family dream to add to the To Do List!
This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley and/or Wright on Time Books for this review.
My three year old and I are having a delightful time with the book Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth N. Taylor. The book is geared towards children ages 3-7. Right off the bat my son spotted the bright red ladybugs all over the inside cover of the book. It becomes a wonderful game when we read through the book. Wes tries to find all the ladybugs hidden throughout the pictures on each page. Sometimes he grows bored of stories, but this activity really helps keep him invested in the story. Each page has a larger than life brightly colored letter from the alphabet. This is another feature that my son really likes. He was calling out the letters each time we turned a page. The illustrations are just so much fun. The pictures are so brightly colored and filled with tons of details. Little ones are sure to spark up a conversation with each page. This is more of an interactive book for children. Each page has questions related to the picture and an extra question to help the child personally relate to the scenerio. I am a huge fan of life application of scripture and this book does a great job of showing children how to apply God's word to daily life. One of my favorite highlights of the book are the scripture quotes and reference at the bottom of each page. The one thing I noticed about the book is that some of the terminology feels a little odd to me, for example the words "perhaps" and "dear me!" Those are just not words in my regular vocabulary. On the other hand, it's an opportunity to introduce some new vocabulary words to my son. He didn't seem to notice or mind. This is a repackage edition book. I was amazed to learn that there are a million copies in print in thirty languages. What a great book for missionaries to share with little ones in foreign countries! This is a book we will continue to read over and over. The book is a nice hardcover with a glossy texture. The hardcover retails for $14.99. That seems to be an average price for a book this quality. It is a timeless book that is sure to stay in our collection. I can even imagine that in years to come my children could one day read this book to their own children.
Ages 3-7
Hardcover retails for $14.99
* Mama Buzz, and reviewers, were provided with a complimentary copy of this book for blog tour purposes*
I am a wife and a mom. Being a mom one of my greatest blessings. Having kids is one of the most rewarding things in life! On that same note it's also one of the hardest things at the same time! My boys are so cute! Did I mention I also have a really good-looking husband? He's my hero! :)We have a super cool dog too! Border Collies Rock! :) We also have cat who thinks he's in charge, but I love him anyway. I love to cook and bake and try out new recipes. I have dreams of both publishing my own cookbook...and writing/illustrating children's books. I like to dream big! My boys are a constant source of endless ideas for storybooks. So who knows....maybe someday I can turn these ideas into real books!
