Ten-year High School Reunion!

Believe it or not, my high school graduation was 10 years ago! In May of 2003, I was one of 13 graduates from the Marion Home School Assistance Program.

Homeschooling would not have been as effective without MHSAP, an amazing home school support group. I remember countless good times, especially the dinner theatres and plays and mock trials.

 

 

 

I became close friends with many of the girls in my graduating class, and I have been blessed to keep in touch with several of them.

This morning I hosted a reunion brunch. Nine girls came. Over chicken salad sandwiches, coffee cake, and muffins, we each shared where God has brought us over the past 10 years. I loved hearing my friends share about their college experiences, career adventures, love stories, babies, life-and-death situations, etc. I think that as 28 year-olds, we are just as excited about the future as when we were 18! God is good.

  

 

 

 

Newest Member of the Family: Our Beloved John Deere

I think that I married a country boy.

 

 

And sometimes I wonder, am I becoming a country girl?

 

 





 

 

Anyway, please join me in welcoming our newest member of the family! He has made our lives much easier.

 



 

 

Sunday School Resources

Though I will be going on "maternity leave" soon, I have been blessed to teach my church's 4 and 5 year-old Sunday School class for the past year. Getting to know the children and teaching exciting Bible stories to them has been a privilege! My church uses a curriculum that has an excellent gospel-centered foundation but lacks visual aids or suggestions for crafts, games, and other activities. Thankfully, I have discovered some resources that have been a huge help! I thought that I would share a few of them.

Visual Aids for Bible Stories:

Toys
I learned from my mother and grandmother (both veteran Sunday School teachers) to use toys to bring Bible stories to life! The children have enjoyed watching Barbie dolls tell the story of Queen Esther or Waffle Block people tell the story of Jesus healing the blind man.

Felt Board
My husband and I made a simple felt board by covering a large piece of cardboard with white felt, and my father-in-law built me a wooden stand for the felt board.

I found some cheap but adorable Bible story punch-outs from Carson Dellosa Publishing, now out of print but still available on Oriental Trading's website. After attaching a piece of felt to the backs of them, they made the perfect felt board figures!

http://www.orientaltrading.com/carson-dellosa-old-testament-storytelling-punch-outs-a2-64_963.fltr
http://www.orientaltrading.com/carson-dellosa-new-testament-storytelling-punch-outs-a2-64_962.fltr

The Jesus Storybook Bible
I love The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones! It does a wonderful job of showing how every story in the Bible points to Jesus, and it has great illustrations, too!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0310708257/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=16220928444&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1801259231884425274&hvpone=12.23&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5tyfiggtde_b

Suggestions for Crafts, Games, and Other Activities:

Pinterest
Though I am not as obsessed with Pinterest as some of my friends are, I have used it successfully several times to find inspiration for Sunday School.

http://pinterest.com/

Danielle's Place
Danielle's Place is a website with some great ideas for teaching Sunday School. You can pay to become a member with access to everything, or without paying you can still find some helpful tips.

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/bible_lessons.html

Ministry-to-Children Bible "Storybooks"
I stumbled across a website, Ministry-to-Children, that offers free Bible "storybooks" for children to color and assemble. I love using them for the 4 and 5 year-old age group!

http://ministry-to-children.com/sequence-bible-stories/

Hello, Third Trimester!



Today I am 27 weeks pregnant, so I am officially starting the third trimester of pregnancy! Wow! Time flies. Before we know it, we will be parents to our baby boy!

I am a list person, so today I found myself creating all kinds of checklists for what needs to happen during these last 13 weeks.

Of course, the most important checklist focuses on preparing for the baby's arrival! We still need to shop for a crib. We still need to decide on a name. We also just began a 12 week childbirth education course about the Bradley method, which will give us some helpful information on having a natural birth versus a medicated one. I plan to skim through several pregnancy/motherhood books during the next few weeks and learn as much as I can. I also need to be more consistent with proper exercise and nutrition.

I made some other lists today, too. I have this overwhelming, obsessive desire to organize. I feel like I need to organize every inch of my house before my baby claims all of my attention! I want to organize my clothes, recipes, piano books, photos, etc., etc., etc.! Not to mention all of my husband's stuff. And the baby's stuff. Sometimes I start thinking that perfect organization would equal perfect happiness, and then I stop and realize that I am on the verge of insanity!

We also hope to do some entertaining before the baby comes. We still have a long list of people that we have been wanting to have over. Hopefully we can have some dinners and bonfires this summer before the chaos ensues!

13 weeks to complete all of the tasks on my to-do lists! Go, go, go!