Sports chair.

Oh, not everyone has a chair by their back door for sports equipment?!!

Work at the house...

Our aerobic system had to be removed and replaced - the kids had lots of fun watching the men dig a HUGE hole in our yard. In the midst of this, Wyatt flushed his Batman and Spiderman's motorcycle down the powder bath toilet. After Tommy tried to unclog the toilet with Wyatt watching, he asked what had been flushed... we had to have the plumbers come pull the toilet off! 

By Audrey:

"Family fun I love mi family it for joy"

Coloring with Cinderella

Before "midnight."

Wednesday

Tuckered out! Our first Wednesday of 2014 back to ELO.

Buster

has learned a few of Ranger's poses. They now both want to sleep in a laundry basket when they are inside for the night. The boys got the underground fence put in and it works GREAT! The dogs enjoy their room to run and play.

4 boys + 1 tube =

FUN!

Cousins.

 Luke, Wyatt and Teagan playing ball.

Kaylan and Audrey coloring.

Cookies

Our first batch of flourless chocolate chip cookies... they were devoured!

My warrior.

Cinnamon Sugar biscuits

from SCRATCH!

Learning

to embroider and making a dinosaur for Wyatt.

Our playground.

Wyatt and Dade.

Lunch.

Dade's tuna salad. "For appetizer, this would win it all."

Miss Sarah.

We were beyond blessed to get Dade in with Sarah, a college student from California, for guitar. We ADORE her! This was Dade's last lesson before she left for Christmas. Unfortunately for us, she is traveling this semester so we've had to look elsewhere for a teacher... 

My girl.

CFA Wednesday.

Most Wednesdays after our homeschool co-op, a LARGE group goes to eat at Chick-Fil-A.

Disciplemaking at Home :: A Book Review

Disciplemaking at Home: Raising Kids to Follow After God

I thought I would share with you my "CliffsNotes" for this book {I will be referring back to these often}! Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NKJV) 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. You can break these instructions into three principles - Build Relationships, Share Scripture, Practice Faith View your family as a mission/ministry opportunity When reading the Bible to your children, you want them to know that it's different than any other book. At the end of the story, take a moment and ask, "What's the lesson learned?" The Bible is God's message to us. Heb 4:12 The Word of God is living and active... When you regularly pull out the Bible in family life, you teach children that the scriptures are our authority for life The reason you want to purchase age-appropriate Bible for your children is to communicate that the scriptures are for them now, and apply to their lives Kids need to see faith as relevant in every day life The family is the place God designed for children to become disciples  Explain your convictions behind your family rules to reveal how you're living out faith in daily life... for example, you keep your house clean in order to be good stewards of what you've been given  To teach children about the value of integrity... talk about the Integrity Package. The I.P. contains several benefits. If you're honest, you get them. If you're dishonest, you lose them. It contains 4 things - 1. the benefit of the doubt, 2. trustworthiness (a person who is trustworthy receives extra privileges or opportunities and allows a person more freedom, extra autonomy and a more independence), 3. the privilege of privacy, 4. internal peace knowing you've done the right thing Children need to know how to process offenses, how to respond to guilt, and how to receive forgiveness.  Here is the model Turansky and Miller call the Positive Conclusion in a correction routine - 1. "What did you do wrong?" 2. "Why was that wrong?" 3. "What are you going to do differently next time?" 4. "Okay, go ahead and try again."  {Practice Faith} One dad had his watch beep every hour for a while. His kids asked him why he was doing that. His answer was, "I want to remind myself that my time is God's time so every time it beeps I just say a short prayer to God, thanking him for this hour. It helps me be ready for the interruptions that often happen around here. Instead of getting frustrated with them, now I try to look at the interruptions as opportunities in one way or another, and sometimes they're God's ways of getting my attention." {I LOVED THAT STORY... and need to do this myself!} {Practice Faith} Look for opportunities to work together to serve others. It's good to give to others, and the earlier children learn that the better. When we give money, time, and talents, we give a bit of our own selfishness away in the process. It's part of God's design for giving.  Memorizing God's Word is an investment in one's future. Little seeds of truth are imbedded in the mind, and God then, over time, transfers those truths to the heart. Ask, "what's the lesson learned?" God provided his Word for every human heart. That means the Bible was written for you, and it was written for your kids. It's a personal book with practical applications to the daily situations your children face.  One way to encourage kids to listen to God is to ask them what God is teaching them.  "I'll be eager to hear what God says to you in church today." Then, after church ask again... not "what did the teacher teach," but "what did God say to you today?" Proverbs 17:6 Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.  Grandparents are in a strategic position to influence children for Christ - they sometimes aren't as involved in the day-to-day busyness of family life, allowing them to focus more on relationship development, nurturing and giving children perspective on life.  Kids love to listen to stories... if grandparents can weave spiritual truths into their storytelling, they can delight children and communicate a biblical worldview at the same time. Grandchildren find security in the fact that someone is praying specifically for them. I will be rereading the chapters on building internal motivation in children, building initiative in children, transferring responsibility to the child and building compassion... there is so much good information that I need to go back a second time to absorb more of it. The first five chapters in this book are available free in the ebook, The Family Challenge. You can also sign up for free e-mail tips by visiting the National Center for Biblical Parenting website.