Boys Scouts and a Baby!

     This past week has been a busy one for us!  *Sigh*--it seems like I start every blog post with those words!  :)  Thankfully, the runny nose/coughing bug has finally vacated the premises!  Yay!  Every time we have a sickness, it makes me all that much more thankful that we are a healthy family overall!  


     Monday was our Blue & Gold Banquet with our Scout troop.  This is one of the highlights of the Scouting year.  The Scouts try to earn their rank badges by this time, and invite their families to see them get their award.  

     Scouting has become a bigger part of our lives over the last year.  Originally, I kind of intended that it would be something Hubby was able do to with our boys as "bonding" time, but the pack needed helpers, so guess who recently got recruited to be the Wolf Den leader?!  This is the den First-Born is in this year, and it also happens to be the largest group we have in our pack.  (Hmmm...now I'm wondering if that was the plan all along...?)  
     
     So, every other Monday, we all pile in the van and head to Scouts.  By the time the little boys are old enough to actually join, they're going to have earned all the badges already!  But, Scouting's a good thing, and it's one of the few extra-curricular activities that still has an emphasis on traditional family-centered values.  

    This year's banquet was a success, and all our Scouts did a lot of hard work toward their Scouting progress.  

    First-Born at the banquet.  When I see him in his uniform, all I can think of is the movie "Up!"  "Mr. Fredrickson, my knee hurts..."  :)

     

     Receiving his awards.  He earned his Wolf Rank, a popcorn-selling badge, and a Gold Arrow point. 




     Also on Monday, we got a new cousin!  My little brother and his wife had their first baby on Monday night.  We got to meet her on Tuesday.  She's such a cutie, and she helps even things up in the cousin mix.  Now we have two girls and three boys.  Welcome, Baby K!  :) 

     Meeting our newest cousin!   It's so funny...Stitch loves babies!  We were at the Science Museum the other week, and every time he saw a lady with a little baby, he asked me "Mommy, can I pet her baby?"  He and Daddy are teaming up to convince Mommy we need a new little "mini-figure" around here!  :)

        So sweet!  Those hospital pacifiers always look so big in their little mouths! 




   Well, that about wraps up this week so far.  This weekend already promises to be busy as well...with a birthday party and a wedding on Saturday!  Still haven't quite figured the logistics out for that one yet...  Maybe we'll have a day with nothing going on--but I just can't see it any time soon!  :)

Bowling, Valentines, and Other Fun Stuff!

     This week has been a busy one for us around here!  To begin with, we are finally starting to get over the recent sickness that has been plaguing us.  Yay! I think I should have purchased stock in a tissue company...we would have seen major profits the past two weeks!  Anyway, I finally put away the medicine back in the medicine closet...the first sign we're mostly better!

     Monday, I realized that in all the planning for the Valentine celebration at school, the boys didn't have their Valentines done yet!  So we spent Monday evening working hard on Valentines for all our friends at school.




  Here's First -Born working hard on his Valentines---Choosing just the right one for just the right person!






     Then there's Middle Biscuit...he was able to write all his Valentines by himself this year!  Getting so big! 



     Last-but definitely not least!-here's Stitch with his finished Valentines!  I can't decide if the face says "I love you" or "You'd better watch out!"

     The next day was Tuesday.  We decided to have our Honor Roll field trip and our Valentine party all on the same day.  All the students in the school have made Honor Roll for the first two quarters, so we wanted to take them on a field trip that was fun, not "educational."  We also had to find something that covered a wide age group...from 3 to 18!  This is not a very easy task!  But we finally decided on bowling, and it was a hit!  Every one had a great time--even the teachers!  Even I bowled...and I am the worst bowler ever!  Mrs. Porter got to come with us and she brought her new Valentine...

Baby A!  She was bedecked in her Valentine's finest...and look at her cute smile!  :)









   I enjoyed being able to practice taking pictures on a mostly stationary subject, and Stitch was excited to get to spend a few minutes with his new cousin! 







     I love his expression in this one!  Anyway, I hope you had a great Valentine's Day, and that you were able to give out lots of love to all your special Valentines!  :)

Gifted!

   This month and next in school, the children (and consequently, the teachers!) will be memorizing Romans 12.  If you listened to 7 kids quote a passage of Scripture an average of four times apiece, not counting reading it aloud every morning, you would have it memorized too, believe me!  In fact, maybe I've just stumbled onto a unique "memorization tool!"  Want to learn more Scripture?  Just teach it to a group of kids and expect them to be able to quote it back to you...it sticks around, believe me!

     Well, that's not really what this post is about though.  As I was reading through Romans 12, preparing to explain a verse to the kids in opening assembly, (FYI: it's a lot easier for them to memorize something that's been explained!) the passage about the spiritual gifts caught my attention.  

      Always looking for practical application of the Scripture in my life (and maybe a good blog post, right?), I began to think about the verses a little more.  I've never done one of those "What Is Your Spiritual Gift?" surveys, but I've heard several messages on them throughout the years.  But I don't think I could really pinpoint one and say, "Well, that's MY spiritual gift."  


     But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like maybe, especially as a mom, I don't need--or have--just one.  Maybe God blessed moms with a little of all of them...let's see...


     Verse 6: "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;"  Yes, we all have been given different gifts, in different amounts.  And us mommies need LOTS of grace!  But before you think to yourself "I don't prophesy!"--are you sure?  Have you ever said "See--Mommy told you if you keep rough-housing, you were going to get hurt!"  Look---your prophecy has come to fruition! :)  But in seriousness, we do prophesy (or preach) to our kiddos and the people around us.  Are you preaching the truth?  In love? 


     Verse 7: "Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching."  Well, these gifts are pretty obvious to anyone who's a wife and/or mom.  We spend all day, every day, doing these two!  Cooking, cleaning, laundry--all forms of ministering.  And that's only within our own home!  Most of us minister in our church family too!  And you know if you have kiddos, you're a teacher---whether you want to be one or not!  Are you teaching the right things?  With patience?  (Yikes for me!  Teaching-yes; patience-could stand a little more!)


     Verse 8: "Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness."  To me, there's a lot in this one!  We are to exhort, which means encouraging others to do the right thing.  This one takes a lot of patience as well!    Because, while it's easy to know what is right for everyone else to do, encouraging them to do it by your example is another thing entirely!  
     I think the next one is interesting in the way it is paired.  Giving with simplicity.  Seems simple on the surface, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of times, our giving is complicated by our expectations of something in return.  "I've done this and this and this, so you should at least be able to do that for me!"  Simple giving expects nothing in return. 
    Ruling with diligence.  We mommies don't really think of ourselves as "ruling", but we do, especially in the absence of our hubbies.  Are we ruling with diligence?  This speaks to me of consistency.  Do your kiddos know when "no means no"?  Kids thrive on boundaries and knowing what is what.  Loving, consistent discipline is an important part of ruling with diligence.  
     Showing mercy with cheerfulness...another interesting couple.  You would think, if you've made the decision to show mercy to someone, you would be cheerful about it, right?  Well, maybe not...How about this scenario---"I'm going to show mercy to my hubby and pick up his dirty clothes from RIGHT NEXT TO THE HAMPER for the one hundredth time since we've been married.  But I don't understand how someone who manages to leave the house for eight hours a day and do important, complicated work with other grown adults can't seem to figure out that the hamper is to put the clothes in, not around!"  Showing mercy?...yes. Cheerfulness?...well, not so much!


    So, there you have it!  I know which gifts I need to work on...how about you?  But hey, no one can say we moms aren't gifted!  :)