Winter Night

Last night was a cold night here! (We've been in the negative numbers all weekend) It was a perfect day to stay inside, eat spaghetti and cake, and play games! We actually did venture out to a friend's for supper, and she taught us this new marble game, which I will call "The Parks" for lack of another name. It is alot like Parcheesi (which I love!) but with a couple additional twists! Maybe Mathew & I can make one of our own. :)

Also I took some time on my lunch break to drive out on the lake and take some pictures. While they didn't turn out as splendid as I hoped, I did have fun driving around and got to see a Bald Eagle having a snack too!

A God of Mercy, not Compromise

I just recently finished reading this book, and am ready for a re-read! This book gave me a lot to think about. I really enjoyed the beginning, the characters and their choices and faithfullness to God, and also the many quotes throughout the book that made me stop and think. The two that struck me most are:

1. God is a God of mercy, but not of compromise. He is Holy and just and wants our true love.
2. In the ancient days, the priests would blow a shofar to call attention to the people...to war....to worship.....but now, God uses His Holy Spirit and the Bible to call us. Are we listening?

I did really enjoy this book, though it almost made me cry more than once. It is set in the late '90s in California, and is about a growing church and the responsibilities involved. I would highly recommend it as a great read that hopefully, will help you grow deeper in Christ as well.

Too Much Talk...Not Enough Listening

The more I talk, the more I realize how far I am from showing your true love and grace to the world! Oh that I would be less opinionated about things and more passioned about You. Oh that I would focus less on the differences I see in others than the difference You can make in me! Give me a generous heart to love others as You love me. Help me think before I speak, and only speak in gentleness and humility!

A wise old owl, sat in an oak...

The more he saw, the less he spoke...

The less he spoke, the more he heard...

Why can't I be like that wise old bird?

I pray that today and this week, I will speak less, so that I can hear God's spirit leading me!

Busy weekend...Sunday dinner

We've had a very full weekend! Thank goodness it's Monday?! lol Saturday is my usual grochery shopping day (no great deals this weekend), so that takes part of the morning. We also had a friend drop by to visit for lunch. After that, it was time to head out and get our new piano, which was an adventure! We also had our students call up and need a ride to the store, and then we went out to a friend's for a yummy supper. Mathew & Ken went to the hockey game, while we stayed home and made cards and ate apple pie!
Sunday we invited our international students over for lunch. We had BBQ pork, dahl, rice, spicy cabbage, papaddam (Indian "chips") and cream puffs for dessert! Yum!
Here is the recipie for the Indian cabbage dish:

• Cut the cabbage into small pieces. Then mix with about 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder, keep it aside for sometime.
• Splutter about 2 tsp black mustard seeds in a frypan with a little oil.
• Add 1/2 or 1 chopped onion, 2 tsp garlic, 1 tsp ginger powder, 2 green chillis, chopped.
• Fry until onions are golden brown, and then add the cabbage. Mix well and cover the frypan to cook for 3 to 5 minute, stirring frequently.
• Eat!

New Piano!

I'm so excited! We finally have a piano...a real piano! We found it listed in the paper and went to look at it Thursday. It's amazaing how God answers our prayers so quickly sometimes! We had decided to start saving up for one about 3 months ago. And then, I saw the ad in the paper and it was in our price range for what we had already saved. It's a 12 year old, oak Samick console piano. It's in great condition, just a little out of tune (since the last tuning was 5 years ago!). :) It was also neat, because we had a really nice visit with the owners of the piano and found out, they've been music missionaries to Bangalore India! Ha! Talk about God working things out. So we had a nice visit about places we've all seen, and about music and food etc. Here we are backing the truck up the hill. We had my parents and two friends come and help us move it on Saturday. Another answer to prayer, considering it has been -20 degrees, and Saturday was warm and sunny!
All in! Ready to go.

Wednesday Night Lessons...Jan 23

Last night we talked about obedience again. (I'm alternating between Obedience and Wisdom). Here is my basic class outline:

1. Introduce the word "obey" with rhyming words.


2. Activity (word hunt & look at pictures of people obeying)


3. Hands on (made cupcakes)


4. Game/close
   

I made a long scroll with our "To-Do-List" for the night.

I used words that rhymed, and then "misplaced" the 3rd word (obey). After talking about our list, I had them hunt around the room for the hidden letters to make our 3rd word...

After filling in the blanks, we followed our schedule... First we prayed. I let the kids choose what we would pray about, and they picked "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."So, we came up with a creative way to pray. We prayed for a person by each name that we knew (Mathew, my husband, Mark, a friend, Luke, their uncle, and John we had Johnathan pick a request). Then we sat on couch cushions on the floor and prayed.

Next, we laid down on our cushions and looked up at the ceiling. I had pinned up pictures of people to obey (i.e. a teacher, the Bible, parents, stop signs, and Daniel in the Lions Den) and we talked about each picture.

3rd, we practiced "obeying" by obeying the cooking instructions to make lemon cupcakes. We had a lot of fun stirring them up and baking them, and even made frosting and sprinkles to decorate.

Last, while the cupcakes were baking, we played Hide-The-Thimble, except with a set of keys. We then ate our cupcakes and shared them with the other classes and adults.

Next week we'll be learning about Wisdom. It will be our last class of this month, so I will proabably do a wrap up activity and finish the memory verse (Luke 2:51,52)

If you have any ideas for teaching, crafts (I'm usually short on craft ideas), Wisdom lessons, etc, I'd love to hear of them! Also, feel free to use any of my lessons and adapt them as you need!

God bless!Emily

My Deals of the Day

I couldn't resist posting about the good deals I found today! First, I stopped at our local grochery store, and picked up the items above for $2.44. (The lettuce and carrots were free, the chicken was $0.89 and the eggs were $1.49!....We had salad for supper! lol)Also, I stopped at JC Penny. A friend of Mathew's told us about a good sale on winter clearance stuff. It was really fun! I picked up all the kids shirts and outfits for $0.98 each, and the coat was $4.00 (regularly $50) and the shoes were $2.00. I have a friend having a baby girl soon, and my sister's little girl's birthday is coming up soon too, so it was great!

Eggs!

Just to let you know....there is a coupon for Eggs here. You can only print it out today, but it is good for a week at Market Place foods. Since the eggs are running at $1.80 something at other stores, this is a pretty good deal. ( I can't wait for summer, when eggs are back under a $1!) :)

Pucha

This is my cat. She is too fat...

To fit in places...

Like boxes and that.

Answer to prayers

Yesterday was a pretty neat day. God answered my prayers in 3 ways.

1. He made it possible for Mathew to have his root canal done. (otherwise we would've waited until February 18th!)
2. He found a file I had missplaced and was a bit frantic about.
3. He found my CAMERA CORD! Horaay!

I must admit, I've been pretty unpleasant to be around the past couple days because I let myself get stressed out about too many things. We had a very adventerous week last week, and I got pretty tired out! Thankfully, God didn't keep his grace from me even though I was grumpy and here are things I am so thankful about:

1. Mathew's doc apointment
2. Luke's birthday
3. Saw an owl last night
4. Seeing a bunny rabbit at Mathew's work
5. Finding my camera cord
6. Work is getting busy and I enjoy it

Articles of Interest

Here are a few links to articles I've read this week that are quite interesting! When you have time, check them out!

• Neighborhood Friends Read the interesting and useful comments on how to invite your neighborhood kids to your house. Also check out this link for Neighborhood Parties.


• Quiet Times I've been looking into ordering some study books from Amazon or CBD. But first, I always look at the library!


• Encouraging Others ..."one day my next door neighbor phoned. She asked, "what are you planning for dinner." I told her I really wasn't sure, as I had a terrible sinus infection and just hadn't gotten to it. She said, "great. I just took a roasted chicken out of the oven, with peppers and potatoes and I have dessert too. I'll be there in a few minutes."I'm sure God was behind it. So whenever you get what might seem like a crazy idea, like sharing a dinner, or cleaning or whatever. Do it." Read more here


• Making Pie Crust "I also roll my dough pretty thin...I think it makes for a cispier crust and it also ensures the bottom crust gets done. Oh and one more thing..." Read more here

Something to try

I think this looks like a fun game to play....and eat! (click on the picture)

Wednesday Lesson...On Wisdom

Last night, we learned about WISDOM. The lesson went really well, though I forgot a few things. :) Here is the outline:

1. Welcome- put together a puzzle of the word Wisdom


2. Object Lesson - we are careful what goes in our mouths, let's be careful what comes out (used the lesson "What Comes Out"


3. Game - bottle bowling*


4. Snack- jello jigglers


5. Craft - homemade tic-tac-toe games**
   

* For this activity, I simply gathered empty water bottles and pop bottles and let the kids set them up around the room. Then we used a small inflatable ball to "bowl." For every bottle they knocked down, I asked them a question about a wise action, i.e. : "When you are at the library and want a new book to read, what is a wise way to choose one?" or "What is a wise thing to do when a stranger knocks on the door?" or "You have some money as a gift, what is a wise way to use/spend it?"

** For the games, I used a large manilla envelope with a grid drawn on with a marker. I found some fish tank marbles (clear) at Goodwill for $0.25 and brought some colored tape. They cut small pieces of tape for 6 marbles, and kept six other marbles white.

The kids had a great time and had some great discussions. Here are the things I would like to include in my next lesson : Bible drills, prayer time, and music time. We did not go over our verse this week, and we did not have a prayer time...two things I wished I had included!

Hiccups?

I don't like to hiccup, and I don't, very often. But here is my tried and true way of stopping my hiccups!

1. Hold my breath, as long as I can, twice in a row. (Even if I hiccup while holding my breath...I keep holding). This seems to stop them pretty well for me.

Here are some other recommended ways! :)

1. Eat a tablespoon of Peanut Butter
2. Sip some lemon juice
3. Dip your face in a sink of ice water

For more useful ideas....check out Works For Me Wednesday!

For more info on hiccuping, check here.

Seeds and Sun and Some other Stuff...

Today is Wednesday....the middle of the week....a sunshiny and snowy day all in one! Sitting here at the office and looking out the window, it looks quite inviting, but instead, I have a load of work to do.

I enjoy my work alot. Somedays, I have some very interesting conversations too! Like today, a few of us had a conversation on "How to Do Black Laundry"! One lady recommended Target's generic/organic brand of soap....132 loads per container or something like that...so just a bit of soap per load. Then we got to talking about saving and re-using water for laundry. I knew to wash clothes in this order: whites...lights...colors....darks....and heavys.....but did you know why? Because, they used to re-use the water per load, and obviously, wanted to to the darkest and dirtiest last! (I also got to hear stories about re-using bath water growing up, and taking quick showers etc) I found it all fascinating!

Others things of today.... we have a student-friend staying with us for a while because she is not feeling well at all. I've been learning all about taking care of feavers and setting up beds and cleaning up and finding the right medicine and making good soups! :) By the way, do you have any ideas of what is good for a fever???

Tonight I teach the kid's Bible class again...so plans and thoughts of that fill my head (more on that later).

Lastly, I've been dreaming of a spring garden. Last year I didn't get to plant one (many reasons) but this year I'm looking forward to it quite a bit. I'm even hoping to start a few plants indoors! I noticed others are thinking about this as well! :) (Here)

So that's my day so far. Sorry no pictures.....I've lost my camera cord and don't know where to find it! Have a wonderful day!!!

Dress Up Your Pet!

Today is National "Dress Up Your Pet" Day! We don't have a pet, so I'll have to skip this one....but I'm looking forward to National Popcorn Day (Saturday the 19th) and Peguin Awareness Day (Sunday the 20th)!

For more Special Holidays....check out this fun link!

About linking....the nitty-gritty

I just thought I'd post a quick tip on something I learned yesterday - Linking in a post.

So, I was trying to write a comment on someone else's blog, and wanted to refer them to a link....but the only way I knew how to do it was to type out the whole long address (i.e. http://.....) Rather, I wanted to have it linked (i.e. GOOGLE...) So, after a bit of research and critical thinking, here is the answer:

You can do links in comments. All you need to know, is the simple code for "link"

Example:
<a href=http://www.google.com>GOOGLE<a>

This displays it as GOOGLE

You can just copy and paste this code where you need it, replacing the http:// address with the address you want, and the "GOOGLE" with the text you want to appear! TaDa!

For more information check out Digital Knowledge

Wednesday Night Lessons 101

I'm teaching Wednesday nights again....so I think I will try and do some posts on my lesson plans and ideas and hopefully it will be of some use to you! Feel free to adapt anything if you would like to use it.
This month, our key verse is Luke 2:51,52 Jesus Was a Kid Like Me
Last night our key concept from that verse was Obedience. Here is the outline for the class:

1. Welcome and review (had 4 new kids, so reviewed last class and verse)
   
2. Measure height (have made a growth tree on the wall, to measure the kids this whole month and see if they grow...check out Luke 2:52)


3. Reviewed memory verse (have posted on the wall)
   
4. Treasure hunt (hid small marbles around with "obey" verses attatched to them)
   
5. Read verses (the obey ones) and talked about ways to obey. Hung "apples" on our tree with these ideas.
   
6. Craft (4 new kids made new "faces" for the bulletin board - cut out of construction paper, 2 kids worked on "apples")
   

7. Music (have made rhythm instrumetns - drums, rattles, etc - to use as we "chant" our memory verse...we had a lot of fun with this!)

   


8. Snack (rice-crispie bars in "O" shape)


9. Puppet Show & Goodbye (story about obeying your parents)

Ideas?

It's Works for Me Wednesday.... and it's time for the backwards blog....questions to ask. There are all sorts of great and interesting topics posted over there, go check it out! Here is my question of the day....

I seem to be having some trouble with being consistent in my morning devotion time. I tend to either daydream or sit at a stalemate. I would like to come up with some ideas of study plans/outlines or something to keep me on track. Any ideas? What works for you? What part have you learned to love of your time with God (whether morning or afternoon or evening)?

Thanks for your input!
Emily

Yum!

Well, I took up Abbi's suggestion to organize part of my house both on Monday and last night. One of the things on my to-do list, was make a menu for this week. So far, so good. Last night's supper was DELICIOUS, if I do say so myself! :) Here is what we had:

1. 13-bean soup
2. Homemade wheat bread
3. Crisp salad with croutons (croutons make everything better!!) and Ceasar dressing
4. Orange Sherbert

It was sooo good. I picked up the Orange sherbert at the store just before supper as a treat. It was a perfect finish to the meal. I made the bread as an experiement in my bread-maker....which I'm just now learning to use. The bean soup was one of those gift-bag mixes I got for Christmas, and I did it in my slow-cooker. Here is the recipie for it:

Thirteen Bean Bag Soup

Wash 2 cups of mixed beans. Place in large kettle. Cover with water. Add T. of salt and soak overnight. Punch down floaters. In the morning, drain and put into large kettle. Add 2 quarts water and ham shank. Bring to a boil. Simmer 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Add

• 1 Large onion, chopped
• 1 Large can tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Large red pepper or pepper flakes
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Simmer 30 minutes and serve.

I would highly recommed this supper to anyone looking for a yummy winter meal!

Fun Stuff

So, in my organizing frenzy...I dug out my old paper stuffed folders from years ago. Look what turned up! I think these look like really fun ideas, maybe I can convince Mathew of that??? :)

Some Deals to look out for...

So, in my organizing frenzy, I decided I could use another tote or two. Since the after Christmas stuff is on clearance, I decided it would be a great time to get one. I went to Pamida, and found a large one for $4.99. The sad part is, today I was looking in our paper and K-Mart has regular (not red and green) ones on sale for $4.00!! lol So much for my deal hunting.

But of note....Pamida has clearanced out their Christmas flower bulbs (Pink and white Hyacinths and pots of paper-whites) for $2.99 to $4.99. I got a white Hyacinth....I'm excited for it to grow!

One last note....MarketPlace foods has a coupon for a free 5lb bag of red potatoes. You can print out as many as you would like (but you can only use one in store at a time) and this coupon is good until January 9th. Save it for your next shopping trip! (You have to print it out today though).

Bits and Pieces of the new year

It's been a while since I've posted! Sorry about that! Alot has happened these past two weeks.....we've been to Arizona and back, enjoyed 3 days at our parents house with realtives, had 22 people over to our house for supper, played lots of games over New Year's weekend, watched Mary Poppins and relaxed on New Year's day, and in general...had a wonderful time with family and friends!
Now, I'm back at work, and am trying to clean and organize my house in my free time. Since I haven't been home much in the past two weeks, everything is pretty much out of place right now! So, room by room I hope to re-organize. I'll try and keep you up to date too :) First on my list, is the laundry room. I have a pile of washing and ironing to do. I also have a floppy amarillis plant laying all over my dryer. Anyone know what to do with it since it's done blooming???
Once I find my camera cord, I'll post pictures too! tee hee.
Hope you have a wonderful new week!
~ Emily

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!
Here is one of my favorite ways to say it....right from the Bible (Jude 1)

"May God's mercy, and peace, and love be yours in abundance." this year and always!