Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Countdown to 40

I recently celebrated my 40th birthday. Frankly, I was not looking forward to the "big" one. But after hearing a speaker at a women's retreat who talked about counting down to her 60th birthday (she read a psalm a day), I was thinking about doing something like that for my 40th.

My perceptive and creative husband got the kids involved in this endeavor. They made a countdown for me for my 40th birthday! I do love birthdays, not only my own. I love giving and receiving gifts. I attribute that to my love language which is gifts. I love to send and receive cards too.


On the Ides of March, (3/15), I was given my first gift at breakfast. I was given one gift each day in a countdown manner. Whichever # day it was (39 days to my birthday, not including THE day), that is the amount of gifts I was given.

For day 40, I was given 40 tea bags (2 boxes).
Day 39, I got 39 tic-tacs.
Day 38 was Efferdent tablets (I clean my retainer which I wear at night)
Day 37- more Efferdent tablets!
Day 36- 36 pieces of Trident gum (my fav)- in 2 packs of 18
Day 35- clothespins
Day 34- Tea light candles
Day 33- One pop gun and 32 caps
Day 32- 32 more caps :-)
Day 31-Bead necklace (they counted the beads!)
Day 30-Bobby pins
Day 29- 29 bite size Snickers bars (my fav)
Day 28- Tea light candles
Day 27- 3 earrings with 9 beads (ha!)
Day 26- Tea light candles and one 9-bead earring
Day 25- 25 oz Comet cleaner
Day 24- caps for cap gun
Day 23-Tea lights
Day 22- 22 Hershey's kisses
Day 21- tic-tacs
Day 20- One box of 20 tea bags
Day 19- 10 Hershey kisses and one 9-bead earring
Day 18- 18 piece pack of Trident gum
Day 17- Snickers bars
Day 16- Karo syrup (16 oz- another fav!)
Day 15- 15 oz Oreos- yum!
Day 14- 14 oz Caramel sauce
Day 13- Hershey kisses
Day 12- 12 oz hair gel (FOTE)
Day 11- 11 bite size Snickers
Day 10- 10 oz Strawberry Kashi cereal
Day 9- 9 bead earring
Day 8- 8 small cans of Pepsi (fav!)
Day 7- 7 caps (for cap gun)
Day 6- 3 pair of fun socks
Day 5- $5 Starbucks gift card
Day 4- 4 bead earrings (one pair)
Day 3- 3 Snickers
Day 2- 2 Hershey kisses
Day 1- 1 Red Rose

Each gift was wrapped in white tissue paper and tied with black ric-rac. The gift had a tag which said "Jill's countdown to 40
_1___ days to go
Enjoy 1 rose____"

It was really fun! I felt so special and was kinda sad to see it end! Most of the gifts were given at breakfast. It sure made turning 40 more fun...


Psalm 40:1-5

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.


 Blessed is the one
who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.[b]
Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.

Here is a song which relates to this Psalm. 

Monday, April 29, 2013

Poem: Middle Schooler


Poem: Middle Schooler

Do you have a middle schooler? I have one who has nearly completed middle school and a son who will begin in a year. My nephew will begin middle school this year too. EEK! I found this poem in my files and decided to share... maybe you can relate as a parent, relative, teacher, youth group leader, or just a friend...
Image found here.

What is a middle schooler?
I was asked one day.
I knew what he was,
But what should I say?

He is noise and confusion.
He is silence that is deep.
He is sunshine and laughter,
Or a cloud that will weep.

He is swift as an arrow.
He is a waster of time. 
He wants to be rich, 
But cannot save a dime.

He is rude and nasty.
He is polite as can be.
He wants parental guidance,
But fights to be free.

He is aggressive and bossy.
He is timid and shy.
He knows all the answers,
But still asks why.

He is awkward and clumsy.
He is graceful and poised.
He is ever changing,
But do not be annoyed.

What is a middle schooler?
I was asked one day.
He is the future unfolding,
So do not stand in his way.

Source: The Essential Middle School 


1 Timothy 4:12
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.


2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

1 Peter 5:5
In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”


HKAATA5S75QP

Friday, April 26, 2013

Quote I like...

A few years ago, we had a speaker at MOPS who shared this quote about mothering...

"You reap what you sow.
You reap later than you sow.
You reap more than you sow."

Good idea to keep in mind in this planting season and when working with children... be careful what you "plant" in their lives!




Jeremiah 12:13
They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”


John 4:36-37
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

American Girl class: Julie Week 6

We had another great American Girl class this week! First I handed out the tie-dyed shirts from last class. (*Be sure to wash the shirts ALONE the first few times so you won't dye any other clothes!) We reviewed book five in the Julie series, Changes for Julie, we discussed having a deaf friend and running for Student Office President.


For our Craft, we made “Campaign” Buttons. I gave each of the girls a 3" x 4" piece of white card stock. I had four cardstock circles which I had for tracing. After they traced them, they cut out their circle and decorated it with markers. Then I took their decorated circle and laminated it with my laminator from home. After each piece was laminated, the girls cut out their piece and put a sticker pin-back on it. Voila! A button!

I had debated covering the buttons with mod-podge, but thought it would take too long to dry as well as being messy. I also thought of covering them with clear packing tape, but thought that would bubble. So laminating worked well! The sticky back on the pins was nice too-- no glue or hot glue needed!

We also discussed Sign Language, practiced some that I knew (letters, numbers, basic words, etc.,)  I gave each girl a printed copy of the sing language alphabet that I found here.
 Our snack this week was Nachos and Hawaiian punch.

So that is the end of our American Girl cycle! We have gone through all of the main American Girls, (from Kaya-Julie) and we will restart the cycle beginning with Kaya again in the fall. I am going to be reading the Caroline books and the Marie-Grace & Cecile books to see if I want to include them in my next cycle.

I had THREE girls that had finished the whole five semester cycle with me! I will really miss each of these sweeties next year. I have really enjoyed watching them grow into young ladies. I made certificates on my computer in my word processing program, and printed one for each of these three girls. Here they are with their certificates of completion:
 and me (in my tie-dyed shirt that I made last week!) with them:

The 2:00 class:
 This was the COOL crock pot that the snack mom brought in, which had the nacho cheese in it! We all loved that...
 These four cuties each had their new shirts on! (above)
 Hawaiian punch... such a blast from the past!

Two of the girls (photo above) and their mom, one of my super amazing helpers which I am going to miss, made this for me! So sweet! I took this banner home and hung it on the wall above our desk in the school room.

Since it was the day before my birthday (and my mom helper knew it), the girls had all signed a card and sang happy birthday to me! I got all teary-eyed at their sweetness. I felt SO blessed! 

I have loved getting to know all of my girls and their families in my classes! I will miss them LOTS over the summer.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Track meet!

(Well, almost wordless!)

So the day before this track meet was scheduled, we got four + inches of snow. We needed the moisture, but the track meet was still on! It was supposed to be below freezing all day! We bundled up (think long underwear, 3 pairs of socks, mittens, hats, gloves, several layers of clothes and blankets!) against the cold and toughed it out!

On Thursday was the 5th-8th grades meet, and Friday was the 1st-4th graders meet. All three kids ran and did well! Rebekah and her team placed 2nd in the medley relay! While there were no other placings, Caleb was close a few times in the 75 meter dash and the 1/2 mile. We were proud of all three for getting out there and doing their best!

 Our dear friends from college days were there and helped cheer up our cold preschooler! It was lots of fun to hang out with our old friends! (Three families of old friends were there--yeah!)
Our team is in the bright yellow-green shirts, and our daughter is the tall one with the ponytail, getting ready for the relay.

 Rebekah in the middle, ready for the baton pass...
 Mallory jumping in the standing long jump (in the hot pink jacket!) Rebekah took pictures, she is lying down in the blue jacket!)
 Caleb in the ball throw (yellow-green shirt, blue beanie on his head)
 Gorgeous clear day-- snow on the mountains!
 Caleb ready for his race, in the blue beanie...
 GO CALEB! (hear the cowbell?)
 Mallory running in her 50 meter dash-- Go MAL!!
Run, Mallory! She looked at the fans when she ran by-- so cute!


1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Galatians 5:7
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I wish I had spoken up....

In my college days, I was an R.A. (Resident Assistant) in the dorms for three years. Most of the time I enjoyed the job. In my first year as an R.A., (when my future hubby was my Resident Director!) I lived on the second floor. Late one weekend night, I was off-duty and sleeping in my room just down the hall from the stairwell door.

I was not sleeping hard, as was often the case in the dorms. They were always loud until after 2:00 a.m. on the weekends. Since I was an R.A., I slept with one ear open most of the time. It was quite tiring. At times I was a counselor, at times a discipline enforcement officer, other times a friend laughing with the girls on my floor. I was always good with names, and I knew many of the residents that lived in my dorms.

This particular night, I believe it was spring. I don't remember what I had done that evening, but I do remember this incident. I had gone to the bathroom, and all looked quiet. A few minutes later, I heard a crash near the stairwell. I didn't get up because I figured someone had fallen on the stairs, probably carrying something. I heard some laughter and exclamations from some guys. 

I didn't sleep, feeling like I needed to check outside my room. I opened my door, while in my pajamas, and looked into the hallway. Much to my dismay, there was the exit sign about the door to the stairwell, hanging off the ceiling, broken. AAH!?!! Sigh. If I had gotten up when I heard the noise, and spoken up then, I might have caught the people who broke the sign. I called my R.D. Joshua at the time and we later had it repaired. Oh well...

It's not a good memory, but I learned a lesson that night. If you hear something odd, go check on it. It has served me well as a mother to my children. I check on them often in the night if I hear crying or whimpering. My hubby will check too, if he hears the kids. God has His own ways of preparing us for what lies ahead, using our experiences in the past to form who we are today. 

Was there a time you wished you had spoken up or done something differently? What did you learn from it?

3.) Describe a time when you wish you had spoken up.


Proverbs 31:9
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Luke 6:45
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Acts 25:18-19
When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Music Monday: "All I Can Do (Thank You)"

This is another song that I've heard on the radio and enjoyed. I like how it fits into one of my blog themes of thankfulness. I truly have been given more than I deserve by God. He is so good to us! I am thankful "for the grace I don't have to earn."I think God deserves way more credit than we give Him. Have you thanked Him for your many, many blessings today? If not, why not now?


Mikeschair: "All I Can Do (Thank You)"


I could write a love song
Tell you what I think you want to hear
But it wouldn't be good enough, no
Yeah, I could try so hard
To give it everything I've got
But I'm not ever gonna measure up

Chorus:

All I can do is thank you for this life I never deserved
Wanna thank you for the grace I know I don't have to earn
You love me, you love me, your mercy is proof
All I can do is say thank you
All I can do is say thank you

It would have been easy
But I'm glad you never walked away
Cause your love runs deep for me
And I see this beautiful world and it brings tears to my eyes
And I think it's beautiful to be free

Chorus:

All I can do is thank you for this life I never deserved
Wanna thank you for the grace I know I don't have to earn
You love me, you love me, your mercy is proof
All I can do is say thank you
All I can do is say thank you

For love, for hope, for all the ways
Yeah, for everything you do
What else can I say but thank you
Thank you

I could write a love song
Tell you what I think you wanna hear
But it wouldn't be good enough

Chorus:

All I can do is thank you for this life I never deserved
Wanna thank you for the grace I know I don't have to earn
You love me, you love me, your mercy is proof
All I can do is say thank you
All I can do is say thank you

All I can do, all I can do, all I can do is say thank you 


You can listen to this song on YouTube here.


Psalm 45:2
You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

American Girl class: Julie Week 5

American Girl class this week was to dye for! In the two-and-a-half years that I have been teaching this class, we have never decorated t-shirts until this week!

After we reviewed the book Julie's Journey (book five in the series), we discussed America's Bicentennial Celebration. I brought a bicentennial quarter to show the girls, and we talked about what the word 'bicentennial' means. I decided to wear a patriotic shirt this week since the story was about the 4th of July. I was happy when I found one that had a '76' on it-- perfect! We also discussed horse-back riding a little bit, since Julie had done that in our book. Most of the girls had ridden a horse before!


In preparation for our Craft this week, I bought one t-shirt and pre-washed them for each of the girls. I emailed the moms two-three weeks ahead of time to get the sizes. I found the best deals and packages on boys white t-shirts at Target. I bought the Tulip one-step kit for tie-dye in bright colors at Hobby Lobby. I bought a kit that had enough to decorate twenty shirts or pieces. The kit came with five bottles of dye, four pairs of plastic gloves and lots of rubber-bands. I just had to add water to the dye to activate it.

We had paper towels on hand and put tablecloths on the tables in the gym. Usually we meet in a classroom, but  I didn't want to get dye on the carpet! I was thankful that I brought aprons for myself and the girls, and told the girls to wear grubby clothes. It wasn't as messy as I imagined it to be, but I should have had the girls bring aprons.

If I did this again, I would purchase more gloves for the girls. I did bring ziploc and plastic bags to put the shirts into, but I would also buy a package of 25, one for each of the girls. We did run out of the ziploc bags. I also used a spray bottle to dampen the shirts, since I didn't do that beforehand. The girls gathered the shirts together into a swirl with rubber bands, applied the dye using the dye bottles, and even used their shirts to clean extra dye off the tables! :-D

Overall it was a fun craft which most of the girls had never done before. I rinsed and washed them at home, and will give them to the girls in class next week. I have quite a pile of bright shirts for the girls! NOTE: THE SHIRTS MUST BE WASHED SEPARATELY FOR THE FIRST FEW WASHES!

For Snack we had Ants on a log (celery with PB & Raisins) and Kool-aid. More dye in the red kool-aid we had! The girls loved it and drank lots!

Of course, as class started my camera battery was dead. I didn't get many pics, but one of my faithful mom helpers loaned me her camera phone for the class. Thanks!

I also took pics of my daughter in her shirt and my hands at home...

She really liked her blues and purples! She found some bright stripedy pants to wear too!

It looks all bruised, but it's really not... it's dye! Must remember thicker rubber gloves next time... since the plastic ones got a hole... It was worth it, I dyed a colorful shirt for me too! More pics of that next week.


Exodus 26:14
Make for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.

Exodus 35:23
Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen, or goat hair, ram skins dyed red or the other durable leather brought them.

Proverbs 6:6
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Spring baseball has begun!

(Well, almost wordless!)

Our son Caleb began Spring baseball this past week, and some extra family was able to attend! He pitched in the first game, and did very well! He also got three hits and one was a triple! We're looking forward to warmer weather as we watch more games this season and cheer for the CSU Rams!











Genesis 22:13
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Exodus 29:3
Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams.

Psalm 114:6-7
Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Poem: My Spot

A writing prompt for this week was to write a poem about your favorite spot. Here is my attempt!

Cozy comfy spot on the couch!



















My Spot

I have a spot
My favorite spot
And guess what?
It's not near the tv!

It is equipped
With a phone, a pen
A Bible and when
I get tired it's just right

My cozy spot
With blanket nearby
To snuggle with girls
Big and small

A Table for coasters
Holds water and drinks
A great place to study,
Read and think


Near our bay window
sunshine enters in
a place to glance and gaze
the weather and the kids

It is my spot
My favorite spot
A comfy corner
Just for me!



Showing my spot and the window nearby







Writing Prompt #3: Write a poem about your favorite place to be.





Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet,  a light on my path.


Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Luke 11:1
[ Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer ] One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
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