Bethany's 11th birthday

We had a wonderful birthday party last weekend, for our youngest daughter who turned 11! She had gotten a few gifts over the Thanksgiving holiday, and another gift a few days before, which was the flying squirrel pajamas that she got from her cousins! She is wearing those in the picture above, with her birthday morning pancakes!

She wanted to have a Christmas theme for her birthday this year since it is in December. I tried to make a Christmas tree out of cucumber slices and tomatoes. The main course was wings, so we have other dippable veggies too. My daughter Mallory baked red velvet cupcakes from scratch, and then we decorated them with green icing and sprinkles to look like Christmas trees. They turned out really cute!

Here is my husband making the wings dip and coating. He made some in the oven and some in the new Instant pot, and they were delicious! We had BBQ, Garlic Parmesan, and Honey Mustard, which were a little spicy, but all delicious! 

 After lunch, we opened gifts. She loved all of the new toys and clothes! We have her adjustable roller skates which can transform into rollerblades. Hopefully, she will learn how to use them and be able to play roller hockey in the garage with her older brother and sister!

 New clothes from Grandpa...

 A cute bee stuffy from Mallory, so soft...

 LEGOS from Grandpa and Grandma, she loves the new set!

 A new, blue, super soft sweater from Grandpa and Grandma...

 ...and a new coat too!

 Rebekah gave her candy...

 ...and a new,  red and green flannel shirt!

 The kids played tabletop hockey too...

 "Happy Birthday to you..." candles ready to be blown out!

 In the late afternoon, we went to the Parade of Lights together on Main Street. Caleb marched in the parade again, and Rebekah worked for the first hour and met us before it was over. We snuck in a new family photo! What a great day for our growing girl! We are so thankful to God for our baby, our blessing that we call Bethany!

How about you, do you have any December birthdays? Have you ever done a Christmas themed party? I'd love to hear about it!

Bethany's favorite Bible verse...
Psalm 23:6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Psalm 119:41

May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise;

Bethany's life verse, on a plaque in her room with her name meaning...
Acts 2:39
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

American Girl class Fall 2019

We had another wonderful semester in American Girl class learning about the time periods and girls of Kaya and Felicity. The girls liked the crafts and the snacks (for the most part-- some of Kaya's snacks are unusual!) I loved seeing the girls interact with one another and making the crafts. I enjoy their comments (We're making TWO crafts?!) and seeing the work that they do in class. I enjoyed getting to know some new students and their moms. In all, it was a great class! I will miss the girls until we begin again in six weeks!

 Playing "string games" during Kaya class...

 I am super thankful for my mom helpers!!

 Making hats during Felicity... this was the class when I really burned my finger!

 My daughters both helped me in my class, and when I hurt myself, she did A LOT of hot gluing!

 So adorable in their Felicity hats!

 Here we are cross-stitching bookmarks... several of the girls did very well and came close to finishing two letters in their initials!

Next semester I'm looking forward to discussing Caroline and Josefina!

Exodus 36:8
[ The Tabernacle ] All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands.

Exodus 35:30-33
Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.

Thanksgiving picture books

I love picture books. My kids are really getting too big for them, but I don't want to stop reading them. I enjoy "little kid" books. Maybe it is because I am a teacher. Maybe because I love to read. Or just maybe it is because I have such fond memories of sitting on the couch, all squished together, reading them to my own kids. Over and over.

I have a stack of books that are holiday-themed. I'm not talking Christmas. I am talking about Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. They are in a bin in the garage with the decorations that I change out for these "minor" holidays. When the month of that holiday comes around, I dig the pile out of the bin, and my youngest daughter reads the books.

One of these books in the Thanksgiving stack is one that I remember reading as a child. I don't know if we owned it, or if I checked it out of the library repeatedly. It is called "Cranberry Thanksgiving." (by Wende and Harry Devlin) I was happy when I got to use that book in my Five-In-A-Row curriculum with my kids. We got to read it every day for a week! It is a cute one, and I will not get rid of it anytime soon. I like reading about Mr. Whiskers. Is he good or bad? You need to read it to find out!

Another family favorite is one that I think we got in a bundle from Scholastic. It is called "A Turkey for Thanksgiving."(by Eve Bunting) I won't give the plot of the book away, but it is funny. We liked reading it over and over. I like the personification of animals in it.

I think we also got "Thanks for Thanksgiving" (by Julie Markes) in the same book bundle from Scholastic. It is cute and I like the rhyme of the story. I like the things that they are thankful for, like "music and dancing and art". "Thank you for Mommy and warm, cozy cuddles." There is even a page in the back where kids can write what they are thankful for.

"The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving" (by Ann McGovern) is a nice, factual Thanksgiving book about the Pilgrims who came on the Mayflower and what their life was like in the first year in the New World. It even discusses what tools they used, and talks about meeting Squanto and how he helped them. It talks about what food they ate at their first feast, which is different from what we eat... no seafood here!

Speaking of Squanto, another book we like is "Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving." (by Eric Metaxes) It discusses how Squanto was taken away from his family as a Native American boy, taken to Spain on a ship. He learned about God from monks in Spain. Eventually, he went to London, England after five years in Spain. He lived there another five years before he went on another ship back to America. I enjoyed this Christian tale of a young man who helped the Pilgrims in so many ways because he learned English!

I hope this post has given you a few ideas of books to find in your library or local bookstore! I hope you will enjoy reading these books with your own kiddos, snuggled on a couch all together.


Are there any books that you would add? Are any of these books ones that you've never read? I'd love to hear your responses!

Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.


Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Caleb's 17th birthday!

Our son Caleb turned 17 (!?!) this past week. We had a nice weekend celebrating him and his life. He is a great kid! We are so glad that he is our son. He is hard-working, passionate, kind-hearted, smart and loveable! 

 Here he was all ready for Homecoming a few weeks ago...

 On his birthday morning, we had pancakes and he opened a few gifts. His sisters gave him a Poe Dameron pop figure...

 and a nice, white, striped t-shirt.

 We gave him a nice, blue, button-down shirt...

 and pants that were too big. We exchanged them for tall, boy jeans!

 We had a party for him on Saturday morning with some family and friends...

 A nice shirt from Nana...

 YUM! Hot sauces from Auntie Allie, as well as nice clothes!

 His big gift from Mom and Dad was a new batting tee since his old one finally broke.

 Looking at all the parts, putting it together! It will be great to use for practice in the off-season!

Psalm 11:7
For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.

Proverbs 1:8
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 3:11
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke...

Proverbs 3:21
My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight...

Proverbs 4:1
Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

Halloween 2019

We had a wonderful Halloween this year! The kids dressed up (of course) and we spent the evening at our church's Harvestfest again. My teens always help run the booths and hand out candy to the kids. This is Bethany's last year to be a kid! Next year she will be helping!

Bethany dressed up as her own character, called "Rememberest," which was her own superhero. She made the mask and put the outfit together. She looked great!

 Mallory dressed up as an ice cream cone. We've had this costume in our box for many years since a friend gave it to us. I'm glad that it finally got worn!

 Caleb dressed as Clark Kent, and his girlfriend Lindsey dressed up as Supergirl. Her sister was Wonder Woman!

My hubby dressed up as a contractor, related to our next year's theme of VBS, called "Concrete and Cranes."

 Although we didn't see Rebekah, she sent us a picture of her dressed up as "Blue" from "Blue's Clues," and her friend dressed up as "Magenta."

 Working at Harvestfest, talking with our youth pastor...

 Joshua talking to our friend, who was dressed as a fraction, or common denominator.

 Bethany and her buddies playing games...

 My friend Dionne was a gingerbread girl, and she posed with Mallory.

Bethany with her best friends, who were dressed as Harry Potter and Jack Sparrow. It was a very enjoyable evening!

Psalm 18:28
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

Isaiah 50:10
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.