Video: Fellowship with the Father

This is an excellent video of a man named Zac Poonen (who's from India and has planted many churches) speaking about Jesus's fellowship with the Father and His great love for us. This video has moved me and motivated me deeply. I highly recommend taking just 4 minutes out and watching it today. I don't think you'll be disappointed. :)

Share Yourself Saturday: Keys

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adspackman/ / CC BY 2.0

Ok, be honest. How many of you have locked your keys on the car? I have a couple of times. Once a boyfriend managed to open the door with a hanger or metal bar. Once it was in the winter, while I was warming up the car. Yep, I locked the door by habit and closed it with the car running. My husband (then just a friend) had to drive me 40 minuets round trip to my house to get my spare set. My husband locked the keys in the car on our honeymoon. I put the locksmith receipt in our scrapbook. :)

But I've got an even better one for you. I not long after I had gotten an SUV with a remote unlock, I stopped at a gas station with my 1 1/2 year old who started fussing in the back. Without thinking, I gave her my keys to play with while I filled up the tank. While I was pumping, I heard a honking noise. I was looking around to figure out what dork kept honking when I realized my keys had a lock button on them.

Imagine my panic as I saw my sweet little girl smiling while she hit the lock button several times! I started tapping on the glass and saying "push the other button honey, push the other button!!!" To my great relief, she actually did! I snatched over the door immediately and confiscated the keys.

I've learned my lesson. I doubt I'll ever do that again. But I'm sure I'll do other equally brainless (sleep deprived) mommy things! How about you? Have any key stories of your own?

Frugal Friday: Dishwashing

Orginally posted 9/2/10
At the house we lived in before, I used to love my dishwasher. I almost never did dishes by hand and I loved it! Then we moved to our new place which has an old dishwasher I don't like. I started doing more dishes by hand. Then a thought dawned on me:

Washing dishes by hand is usually cheaper for me

It's pretty easy for me to find dish soap cheap, but it's a lot harder to get dishwasher soap free or cheap. Plus, by doing dishes mainly by hand, I get to train my little helper (and keep her entertained):

So two benefits to washing more dishes by hand: cheap soap and cheap labor/entertainment. Cheap labor/entertainment is a finer thing!! :)

Check out Frugal Friday for more great money saving tips!

Addie Slaughter: Book Review

For those of you who love history, you'll like this book! Similar to the Little House on the Prarie books, Addie Slaughter: The Girl Who Met Geronimo is about a young girl's life in the west during Pioneer and covered wagon days.

Addie Slaughter is written in first person narrative by Susan L. Krueger, ED.D. with Dr. Reba Wells Grandrud (a historian) to preserve the true life stories Addie Slaughter told to her daughter Adeline Greene Parks. It's filled with adventure and explanations of how things were in the Wild West days.

Addie's father was a famous sherrif and their family ran into many hardships as well as good times. The story follows young Addie from Texas to Arizona to Oregon and back to Arizona where the family finally settled near the Mexico border. The pictures are historical pictures of Addie and her family and friends and come from their albums as well as the historian's collection. This book would make a good homeschool supplement and in the back of it they include a curriculum guide with ideas for activities, discussion and additional ideas for study.

We've been reading this story aloud. My 4 year old is too young to really understand some of the events now, but as she grows older, I'm sure reading this book will provide for some good discussion. I honestly like the Little House books better because they focus more on the positive side of things, are more in depth and include Christian values. This book would still be good to include for a history study.

You can purchase Addie Slaughter from Five Star Publications for $15.95.

(Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are solely mine and are not influenced by anything else)

My Baby is 2 Today!

**Sigh** My "Baby" Lily is no long a baby. It's been a while since I've looked at her baby pictures. How far she's come! :)One of the rare moments Lily actually was sleeping peacefully

Happy in Alabama!
Modeling a sweater made by Mommy

One of the latest (in D.C.)

So, today we had cupcakes and ice cream. Saturday is the official party. Too bad she had a fever today. :(

It's amazing how fast the time flies. If you're a mom of littles, remember to treasure them! I'm already missing holding a baby in my arms. These precious gifts of God are only on loan for a short time and then they'll grow up and be on their own. I hope you remember to treasure your precious gifts this week!

Share Yourself Saturday: Accidents

I'm accident prone, especially in the kitchen. Especially with hot stuff. :) I'm not sure why, but I burn myself often. It's not that I'm a bad cook (I'd like to believe so, anyway) but I tend to be absent minded and not very careful.

My father-in-law likes to tease me because anytime I do a large family dinner I severely burn myself. One year, I grabbed the hot oven coil when trying to pull out the turkey. One year I badly burned the sensitive underside of my forearm. It was about a 3 inch burn and hurt. A LOT.

I also tend to cut myself. Just a couple of days ago I sliced off the tip of my finger with a mandolin cutter. Opps. That actually didn't hurt so much, surprisingly. I'm hoping that I won't impart my accident prone cooking ways to my daughters. I hope to teach them safety.


I'll certainly be an expert on teaching them first aide. :) By the way, clear aloe vera gel seriously takes the burning feeling away. It's a miracle! Now if only I could find my bottle of it....

How about you? Are you accident prone in the kitchen or are you the picture of safety?