"Jeremiah's Lessons..."

This Fall- I have been trying to be more intentional about doing some "lessons" with Jeremiah- especially on the mornings when we are home- like when Katy is around! These are loosely called "lessons" as the kid is only 2 1/2 but it is neat to see children beginning to learn and wanting to do things with their Mommy! Jeremiah's favorite activity by far is reading- I think we read the same book over and over again (which sometimes gets old- I think his favorite this week is Stellaluna). But we will keep reading to him! Through some encouragement of a mentor friend and some great moms I know- and using some of Christy G.'s ideas too- Christy had to put in a plug for you if you read this- we have been working on mainly numbers and ABCs. And of course- he tends not to remember the letters yet but we are working on it slowly. We are trying to do a letter of the week- I think we are up to letter L and then some weeks we stop and have fall fun days- like painting and carving pumpkins, jumping in leaves, making little turkey crafts for thanksgiving or a thankful tree! It is teaching me to be intentional with Jeremiah while not putting too much pressure on myself right now which is great! Though sometimes I do feel inadequate to teach my kids- I don't feel as smart as say my Ph.D. husband- I pray the Lord would use me for His glory to train these little hearts and minds! Our plan for the day is usually a time of reading our alphabet book- singing the song and having a letter like J- and collecting things that begin with J in our bag. Then we usually read some books that I get from the library that begin with J. Then we sing songs like Jesus Loves Me, I'm in the Lord's and my God is so Big! And sometimes we will do a craft- I particularly liked the J week- with Jello- I found a J cutter and we cut out J out of jello to eat! We also made an igloo for the letter I and for the letter K- we made a crown so Jeremiah could be like a King.

Fall Pumpkin Fun...

We have been enjoying some fun Fall Activities lately! One week- we did a lot with pumpkins! We made a "lion" Jack-o-lantern and we painted smaller little pumpkins! One of our other favorite fall activities is to make chocolate acorns that we love to eat- hershey kisses with nutter butter bites glued on with melted chocolate chips- very easy and yummy; they do look like acorns! We even got to put a candle in our pumpkin on Reformation Night!

A Sick Boy...

Jeremiah has conquered yet another stomach bug this past Sunday. Yet this time felt different for me. This time it just seemed sadder and harder! This time he could communicate better telling me over and over that his tummy hurt and it made me sad. We stayed home from church and watched lots of Curious George to try to take our mind off the tummy. And we did lots of loads of laundry! He was asleep in his bed by 12pm but awake by 1:30- thankfully by that time most of it had passed. We are praying the Lord will keep the rest of the fam from getting it as we prepare to travel soon to visit my family.

New Things...

New things I am learning this year- knitting and canning... We learned how to knit in our Thursday Morning Moms class and I am trying to finish my wash cloth- though it is slow in coming. And my sister-in-law Laura is helping me can this fall. With her help, we have canned peaches, pears, jams, applesauce,and apple pie filling. Last year, I only canned 5 jars of applesauce- so this is huge for me. I will have to say- canning is not my natural inclination- I would much rather throw it it in the freezer than can- but with Laura's help and spending time together- it is so much more fun! I only had one disaster so far when I did it on my own- I exploded 2 jars when I sat them on a hot burner- why do I always do that! So here is to more canning- I think- though I still may throw it in the freezer!

Cousins...

Cousins- trying to get all 4 kids to look at me even when I was making funny faces is almost impossible! Especially with 2- 2 year olds! Some pictures of the girls too- Anna and Lydia. These pictures do make me laugh if I look closely at the progression of what the kids are doing. :)

Music Class

We are still enjoying going to our Music Class on Fridays. A few weeks ago- she did a costume day where everyone wore their Halloween costumes. Even though we do not go trick-or-treating, we still like to dress up and have plenty of outfits that have been passed on to us! Aunt Beka- Jeremiah loves his lion costume that you got us last Christmas! He particularly likes the tail and was running around saying- Don't touch my tail! :) Lydia- she is our little Duckie- quack quack! Lydia is there with her friend- Audrey Samad who is a cute little mouse! And Jeremiah's friend is Jack who is the cat!

Tents...

Jeremiah has been in to making tents lately! He loves to make a tent with Daddy when he gets home and they take a flashlight in and read stories in their tent. On Reformation Night- I tried to make some special gluten free calzones and we built a tent and sang- A Mighty Fortress... And after the kids went to bed, we watched our annual movie- Luther- such good reminders how the Lord was at work in the church!

Our little friend!

We have been enjoying this fall watching our little friend Katy. She is a little over 18 months and usually comes to visit us on Tuesdays and Thursdays all day- sometimes Wednesdays. It has definitely given me a better workout during the day pushing 3 kids around! And the kids love dressing up in each others hats. Our weather here has suddenly turned cold as we had some snow on the ground today- we may need those hats! We are enjoying having Katy in our home- though I admit- I am glad I don't have 3 kids under 3. And for those that do- I admire you so much more! :)

Fall Fun!

We have been enjoying some fall fun- playing in the leaves and taking lots of walks before the winter cold weather hits! Along with the fun and beauty of fall, we also have hit a few challenges this week. We have seen the stubborn will of our son in battling with food issues. Monday night- he sat at the table for a very long time while he blatantly refused to eat even a bite of his broccoli and the food set before him. It was a battle of the will- and thankfully my dear sweet husband fought this one after a long day of work. I honestly don't know if I could have fought it after a long day I had had with a whiny boy and a very fussy baby. It is amazing how a child can stand his ground in these ways. Seeing glimpses of stubborn rebellious sin in your child is not pleasant. It is a reminder to pray for these little souls and a reminder to preach the gospel to them daily! They cannot obey on their own without the mercy and grace of God! We are great sinners yet we have a great Savior! Praying our children call out on the Rescuer- the One who can redeem them from their sin!