Good, clean fun

Shhhhh…..Can you keep a secret?

The kiddos in one of our homeschool groups enjoyed a fun, end-of-the-school-year party last week. Since our family does school year round, I made sure to keep that “end-of-the-year” part quiet (and you will, too, right?!) but we were all about the party part! Here are the kids that were present that day, after they were all thoroughly slimed from the games we played:

We started the event by loading them up on pizza…

…followed by some red velvet cupcakes to celebrate our sweet friend’s birthday. (Happy birthday, Ellen!)

Then we headed outside for some silly games, beginning with the old standby—sack races.

We started with the littlest racers…

…who really had absolutely no idea what was going on…

…followed by the bigger kids…

…and then, even the teens got in on the action. Those teens can jump, too!

Actually, the adults got in on this activity, as well. I will not be posting pictures of our race. (Let’s just leave it at that.)

Next up were some funny relays.

Next it was time to pass out the eggs. Again, the little ones didn’t have a clue what was up, but they’re such good sports they just went along anyway!

And they are ready for the spoon relay!

Then it was time for the egg toss. Of all the games we played, I can’t say for sure which was the most fun for the kids…but this one definitely provided me with the most hilarious pictures. They started out close together…

…and gradually spread apart. Notice their funny faces as they try to catch their eggs!

Look at E’s face (and look at her hands to see why)!

After the egg toss, it was time to cool down with some snow cones before our next round of games.

This is where things started to get really messy. Thankfully, the moms who planned it had the foresight to bring old T-shirts for the kids to wear. We started with a couple of brave volunteers:

Then we added a very willing decorating committee…

Time for some new volunteers…

I knew it wouldn’t take much looking on my part to find someone who was eating the ammunition. Yep—that would be K.

So, what do you do with a face like this?

You trust your friends to lend a helping hand…

Finally, we broke out the Silly String. I should add that by this point the kids were soaked and slimed from the shaving cream and the water used attempting to wash it off, as well as some raw egg here and there…all of which made a nice, sticky canvas for the Silly String…

Apparently, a couple of the boys found the discarded shaving cream cans, too.

I loved watching siblings play together. I loved watching kids of such different ages enjoying each other, helping each other, and loving each other. I loved the big smiles on the faces of parents and children alike. I loved that it was all good, clean fun.

Here we all are…hot, sweaty, and exhausted. And happy. And very, very thankful.

Not because the school year is over…but because we were able to experience it. Together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Helpful?

“Mommy! Remi is shaving her legs with her chicken strip!”

It probably should have surprised me, but it didn’t. Remington is in that stage. She wants to do the things big people do, and will attempt to accomplish that by whatever means possible.

Lately, she’s been especially anxious to “help out” around the house…if you can call it helping!

I recently caught her diligently scrubbing the bumper of our SUV…with her toothbrush.

Not long after that I found her carefully cleaning up the milk she had spilled…with her tongue.

Honestly, it’s impossible to get mad when she is so determined to help out! And of course, it makes me think, What if I were that determined to help?

In fact, what if we all wanted to help so badly that we just DID? No excuses, no “I don’t know how to fix it.” What if we just TRIED and did the best we could do, with what we have, like Remi? After all, even if the results weren’t really that helpful (like Remi’s!) to the people we wanted to help, maybe it would be good for US to have tried.

In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35)

Who could you help out today?

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Hey, moms–do less!

Most of us who are mothers struggle, for one reason or another, with “mommy guilt” from time to time. Often, we are made to feel like we should be doing more. Rarely are we told we should be doing less, but maybe it’s time to start thinking that way.

Julie B. Beck said it, and I agree:

“Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world.  That is influence; that is power.” 

Here they are, my very good reasons to start “doing less:”

Thank you, Ms. Beck, for the inspiration. I am taking your words to heart.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ready

Last Sunday morning, I went in to our girls’ room to try to find them some clothes to wear before waking them up to get ready for Bible class. I needn’t have bothered, though, as I found these already waiting on their hope chest:

There they were, two little bundles that Addison had gotten ready the night before, without anyone asking her to. Both girls’ dresses were wrapped around their shoes and carefully tied into pretty packages. Even their jewelry was included, according to this:

“earrings & shoes & necklass”

Apparently Addy was all ready for Sunday morning. I smiled because she had been responsible enough to not only get things ready for herself, but also for her little sister, all on her own. But I smiled even bigger because, apparently, Addy was looking forward to where we’d be on Sunday morning.

It reminded me of this verse, from Psalm 122:1.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Where will you be this Sunday morning? Are you getting ready?

Thanks for stopping by!

Baseball, not blogging

Two years ago, I made my first foray into the world of blogging with the launch of Why Amy Smiles.

One year ago, I took my first break from blogging because I was all wrapped up in this:

And now, a year later, I’ve taken my second extended break, but for a different reason.

This spring has kept us hopping. The culprit? Baseball season!

Photo by Trey Granger

I am proud of Chandler. When we told him we weren’t able to pay for the homeschool baseball league he wanted to join, he went out and got a job. Except for what he gave back to God on Sundays, he saved every penny and used it to pay for the fees, uniforms, and equipment he needed.

Photo by Trey Granger

I am proud of Chandler because he knew that being the new guy on the team this year meant he might not get as much playing time as the more seasoned players would. But whether he was on the bench, at the plate, or in the field, his attitude blew me away. This young man loves baseball!

Photo by Trey Granger

So forgive me for abandoning this blog for a time while we drove all over the world (or, so it seemed) to watch our firstborn enjoy his, and America’s, favorite pastime.  Thanks to all of you who prodded me to get going again, and to all who understand that, as long as I have kids at home, I am a mom first. 

And although I wasn’t sharing them with you here, there were plenty of things that made me smile while I was away. I am glad to be back, and look forward to catching up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate the ones you love

Happy Valentine’s Day from our family to yours!

(For this Heart Hat Craft and other Valentine activities for little ones, see this post.)

Hopefully, regardless of how you feel about the commercialism that has crept into our society around the holidays (ugghh!), you are still making this a special day for the ones you love.

We are keeping things simple around our house this year. Before the kids came downstairs this morning, I mixed up some pancake batter and put it in this…..

…..which made it really easy (even for me!) to pour these…..

I added some strawberries—heart-shaped-already-by-God, you know—and ended up with a fun Valentine’s Day breakfast that made all the kids smile.

(I got the idea from Pinterest, and it came from this website.)

When I set the table, I added a box of chocolates for each child. So, YOUR challenge of the day is to figure out which candy was for which child.  Leave me a comment below if you think you know!

The kids weren’t the only ones who woke up to a special treat this morning. As you may remember, I have a secret admirer. I hear from him every Valentine’s Day, and this year was no exception. I found this sitting on the bar when I woke up today:

Inside was one of my all-time-favorite treats:

Oh, boy, I am in trouble now.

If you haven’t already, you can go here to read about my secret admirer.

I’d love to hear what you are doing for your little (and big) Valentines today. (I won’t reveal Troy’s just yet since that would ruin the surprise for him.) Please leave me a comment to let me know what special things you are doing today, and don’t forget to guess whose box was whose!

Thanks for stopping by,