Brooke Tells A Story

I caught the second half of a story Brooke was telling Scott.  She kept getting sidetracked. So if you can't understand her the story is about a little girl and a little boy.  She then gets sidetracked and says she's a girl and baby Chloe is a girl and Addy is a girl and Luke's big and Luke's a boy.  She gets back on track but then quickly starts talking about who in the family is a girl and who is a boy.  Then she notices Chloe's eyes and says, "She has a black eye!"  Meaning her pupil.  She says her eyes are white and Scott's are blue then moves on to eyebrows. When she gets back to her story there is a scary guy. Luke interrupts, that's the end of the story and Chloe takes over talking. Let's see if you can get all that!

 

Playing Cards with a 2 year old

I wanted to post this a while back, but blogger and You Tube weren't in sync.  So here it is.  The kids have been playing cards any chance they get since Nana was here and taught them some card games. Addy wakes up and the first thing she wants to do is play, even if it is with Brooke.  Addy is so patient trying to play Go Fish with Brooke.

 

Addy's Lesson on Giving

There are a lot of lessons learned in our home.  Whether the circumstances are good or bad there is almost always a lesson to be learned.  Usually you think of the parents teaching the kids the lessons, but the other day I learned on from Addy.

We had a big pile of rocks that needed to be moved in our front yard.  We were doing some landscaping and tearing out the dead bushes the drought left us, so we had to scoop out the pea gravel from around the dead bushes.  Sorry, forgot pictures of the work. 

It was a job the kids could help with, so they started scooping gravel into little buckets and moving it to the "play" gravel pile by the garage.  It was hard work and I told them I would pay them for their efforts.  Addy got to work and worked hard for at least 45 minutes.  When we finished she was tired and sweating.  I decided to pay her $2 and she was thrilled.  I gave her a dollar and 4 quarters and we had a little math lesson while we were at it. Luke didn't work as hard, so he only earned 50 cents.  More on that story later...

The next day was Sunday so we went to church.  We had talked about giving part of the money we make to God before, but not recently.  As the plate for offering came around I saw her get out some of the money that she earned.  The precious quarters that she had worked so hard for.  Not one, but two of them.  Then I saw her give two quarters to Luke to put in.  I quietly asked her why she was giving money to Luke to put in.  She said that since he didn't have as much she wanted to help him.
So when the plate came by I watched her cheerfully put in half of the money she earned from the sweat of her brow. 

I don't know if she really understood what she had just done, (maybe she did) but it taught me something.  She didn't have much, but she gave half of what she had.  She wasn't holding on tightly to her money so she could buy a new toy or candy. She trusted that she has what she needs and was free to give from the joy of her heart.  When I saw what she did with her money it made me want to give her more.  Then it dawned on me.  Is that how God feels about me when I give?   I sat there and thought about the way it made me feel when my daughter gave (what to me seemed) sacrificially. I wanted to give her more because I saw how she was using it. Is God that way with me?  When He sees how I use my money does that make Him want to give me more?  Do I use His money in a way that pleases Him? Or do I spend it on candy and toys?

I'm not saying I should give more to make God want to give me more, so I can get more stuff.  You don't give more to get more stuff.  If you aren't faithful with little then you can't be faithful with much.  And just because you are faithful with little doesn't mean He will give you a bunch of money.  He knows what is best for us. It is a blessing that God gives us just enough so that we can give but still be secure in Him and not money. 

Enjoying the days.

It's so hard to catch a baby smiling on camera.  She has been smiling for a while now, but she gets all serious when I pull out the camera.  This was from a couple weeks ago, but it's the best I can get!  She also has discovered her voice!  It is so sweet!  I love to talk to her now because she always coos back at me.  She can really tell a story!

 Somebody has finally discovered that mud is fun!  Brooke decided to squish her toes in the mud like th big kids and she was surprised that she actually liked it.  When she got out of the mud she though it was so neat that it looked like she had on shoes.

 Luke looked like he was wearing black socks.  That kid is a mud magnet.  At the end of the day you can definitely tell if it's been a nice day outside by the bath tub and the sink. 

 Nana was visiting during Addy and Scott's birthday.  We went to Topeka to a Japanese steakhouse.  The kids had never been to one and we thought it would be fun for them to see their food made right in front of them.

 Brooke was really scared when they fired up the grill and made the onion volcano.  She took my hands and covered her eyes whenever she saw any fire. 

 We decided to mow our weeds.  Maybe someday we will have grass to mow.  That's the plan, and we might be able to grow something this year if it keeps raining like it has.  Luke is a miniature Scott.  He was working hard out there.

 We went to the park with some families from church the other day.  When it was time to leave Brooke and Zane gave each other a hug.  Such cute kiddos and little buddies.

 Chloe was just chillin at the park watching all the kids play. 

 Addy had her last soccer game.  It was a nice short season. 3 games, and all against the same team. 

 

 Every since Nana came Addy and Luke have been hooked on playing games.  Go fish and crazy 8 are their favorites.  They deal out the cards any time they get the chance!