Week 2 - All Aboard the Animal Train (MFW)

  We started each day with our usual routine. The boys love singing and dancing so we try to take lots of opportunities to incorporate music into our daily activities and tasks. They are enjoying the songs on the Sing for Joy CD as well.

This week, we read lots of books.

Played outside with red water beads and searched for other small red treasures

Made red pudding, finger-painted with it, then ate it and froze some as pudding-sicles

We also colored rabbit 'get well' cards for our neighbor.

Another great week!

Week 1 - AATAT (All Aboard the Animal Train)

That's a wrap for week 1!

We've settled into a good routine for our preschool. 

We start each day out with breakfast (that they usually help me prepare) and a morning show while they eat. I'll usually let them play in the playroom after this while I get a few things set up for the day. 

We usually start out each school day with 'calendar time'. First, we sing and dance to Shake Your Sillies Out by The Learning Station. Next we sing and move around to their 7 Days of the Week, 12 Months of the Year, and ABC Songs. If they still have a ton of energy, we sing Shake Your Sillies Out again before sitting down. I have a magnetic calendar where we talk about today's date, the seasons, and the weather. 

After that, we move over to the wall where we have our train taped above the window. We do a silly follow the leader train game around the house then back to that wall where we recite our Bible verse, look over our unit poster, and talk about the theme. Week 1 was all about LOVE. 

Next, we have a snack (sometimes with sometimes without a playroom break) then choose something from the MFW lesson plan to do (read a book, sing a song, make a craft, surprise box, etc.) I don't have any particular order in which we complete the lesson plan activities for the day. I just pick whatever goes best with the mood and activity level my boys are at in that particular moment.

After this, we do something more active like go outside to play, go to a jump place, have a friend over to play (or go to their house), swim, story time at the library...just whatever the rotation happens to be for that day. 

Friend fun and red juice-icles with strawberry bits

It's usually time for lunch after this, so we eat, watch a cartoon/show, then have naps. My boys sleep anywhere from 1-2 hours. I use this time to try to get some sort of household chore taken care of. When they are up, they are raring to go again. 

We usually try to go outside to play, but sometimes it's just too unbearably hot so we may play inside instead.

'Invisible' water bead fun

Next, they'll usually have another snack and watch a short show, play in the playroom, or choose a surprise box activity. Then I usually choose another activity or 2 to do from the lesson plans.  

Red Playdoh!

This week, we also had a red silly string fight, had friends over for swimming, went on a red color hunt, made 'get well soon' heart cards for our neighbor, and made cookie brownies for daddy :)

All in all, it was a great start to preschool!

Love is...

Love is NOT a fancy restaurant or an extravagant meal.

Love is NOT about money or an expensive gift.

Love is NOT about who can "out-do" or "out-buy" someone else.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with going out to eat, surprising the one you love with a gift, and all those other things we tend to do on Valentine's Day.

Love is so much more than that. Love is 1 Corinthians 13... God is love. There's a song I remember singing in the play "Down By the Creek Bank" when I was a kid called "Love Is". Here are the words below.

"Love is a very special thing:

a smile, a tear, a soft summer rain.

It has no beginning; it has no end,

but I like it best when it's shared with a friend.

 Love is never stuffed up, never puffed up,

never gives up when the goings rough.

It's the biggest little word you can say, by the way.

It's sympathy, sincerity, it's charity, the main variety,

 of everything happiness is made of.

 And I like it best when it's shared with a friend"

Who are you going to share your love...God's love... with today?

Not Too Far From Here...

I may have said this before, but I tend to think of life through songs others have written. On any given day (or any given hour for that matter), depending on what I am feeling or what is going on, the Lord will bring a song to my mind that so perfectly 'fits'. 

The song that is on my mind right now is 'Not Too Far From Here'. It's an oldie, but a goodie. My heart has just been burdened today by those right here around me that are hurting...divorce, sickness, hunger, uncertainty, unbelief, the list goes on.

I want to be Christ's hands and feet. I want to share with them the love that God shows to me. But my fear all too often gets in the way. My busy day all too often leaves time for nothing or noone else. My selfishness overshadows others' needs. But my prayer is for God to use me right where I am. I am praying for HIS love and HIS compassion. I can do NOTHING thru myself, but I can do ANYTHING thru Christ. How loving and patient our God is!...He's still working on me.

Someone is waiting...not too far from me and you...to show them God's love, to say an encouraging word, to pray for them, to reach out to help them, to simply give them a smile...

Won't you please be that person they are waiting for?

"Somebody's down to their last dime
Somebody's running out of time
Not too far from here
Somebody's got nowhere else to go
Somebody needs a little hope
Not too far from here
And I may not know their name
But I'm praying just the same
That You'll use me Lord to wipe away a tear
Cause somebody's crying
Not too far from here"

"Somebody's troubled and confused
Somebody's got nothing left to lose
Not too far from here
Somebody's forgotten how to trust
Somebody's dying for love
Not too far from here
It may be a stranger's face
But I'm praying for Your grace
To move in me and take away the fear
Cause somebody's hurting
Not too far from here"


"Help me Lord not to turn away from pain
Help me not to rest while those around me weep
Give me Your strength and compassion
When somebody finds the road of life too steep"


"Somebody's troubled and confused
Somebody's got nothing left to lose
Not too far from here
Somebody's forgotten how to trust
And somebody's dying for love
Not too far from here
Now I'm letting down my guard
And I'm opening my heart
Help me speak Your love to every needlful ear
Someone is waiting not too far from here
Someone is waiting not too far from here"

I Choose to Believe

This song "Carry Me" so perfectly fits the steadfast faith and belief our mother has in Jesus Christ despite her relentless battle with cancer. I hope you enjoy this little video I put together depicting my thoughts on her battle with cancer...

A Beautiful Smile

I often see an old man walking up and down Main Street in our town... mainly in the mornings, bundled up in his coat, head down, umbrella in hand ....just walking....sometimes with a small grocery bag in hand, sometimes without.  All sorts of questions flood my mind: Does he have enough food to get him through the day? Does he have any family? Why is he alone? Is he alone by his own choosing? Is he alone due to circumstance and hardships in his life? Is he outcast from society due to something horrible he had done in his past?

Then another thought pops into my head: he reminds me of my grandfather.

My grandfather was a loner of sorts...mostly by his own choosing, the rest from circumstance and hardships in life. He was also a proud man...never wanting to take anything from anyone...even family. Still...we went to visit him often and brought groceries over even though we had to force him to take them. He lived in a very bad part of town...one of the worst you could live in. I remember as a child and teenager, being very nervous (and sometimes even scared) of the area he lived in and never strayed too far from the front porch. Even though he acted as if he didn't really want us to come visit or bring over groceries, I know he enjoyed it. I always saw tears in his eyes when it was time for us to go no matter how hard he tried to hide them... His face and hands weathered from life, but beautiful eyes of blue that glistened with held back tears and a mostly toothless smile that would light up the room, and goofy non-sense jokes that would make his grandkids laugh.

Was this man like my grandfather?

We got a chance to meet that old man today. He was setting outside of the grocery store...resting from his walking I guess. The kids and I passed by, smiled, and asked him how he was doing. Perfect, he said...perfect. Then he smiled, a big, mostly toothless smile that shone from ear to ear brightening the dreary outdoors.  He was like my granfather...worn and old clothing, weathered face and hands, a mostly toothless smile, and eyes that cried out silently for someone to notice him. 

I got the impression that he had a lot of trouble hearing and past the 'how are you part', I don't think he really undertstood what I was saying. So before leaving the grocery store, the kids and I picked up a Thanksgiving card titled 'To Someone Special'. On the way out, we all signed it and I wrote him a little note about his beautiful smile and of how he reminded me of my grandfather. On the outside of the envelope, I wrote 'To Someone Special'.

 The kids walked up to him, gave him the card, and his smile grew even larger. He  read the front of the envelope then looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but refrained. We each smiled and I waved and told him to have a great day. He tucked the card into his pocket and we all went our separate ways.

I hope he reads the card and knows how much his smile has brightened my day and how much it reminded me of my grandfather.

My Grandpa R and J