Saturday, May 26, 2012

My spoiled boys


It's almost become "normal" for my boys to get a popsicle every night while we're living at camp.  I think as an outsider, I would be sure someone didn't know how to feed their kids well.  The truth though?  The top half of these popsicles is made of banana blueberry plum baby food.  Followed by a couple of banana pieces and the frozen treat is finished with a mango smoothie that my boys are sure is amazing.

My weird Mango Smoothie Recipe:
A bit of mango
A whole orange (peel and all)
A small sweet red pepper
and
A splash of coconut milk

Sound gross?  I think so.  The boys love this strange treat.

What's in the Bible: Review & Giveaway [3 Winners]

A Fun Series for the WHOLE family!
What's in the Bible is a fantastic video series that our whole family enjoys.  Truthfully, the first time we watched them, the boys were not extremely interested.  BUT - the more we watch, the more they seem to really love them.

What's in the Bible is taking our family through the Bible, starting at the beginning (where else would you start?)  The characters teach about the Bible story as well as the history of the Bible and even helps children (and adults) get a good handle on big theological concepts - like Salvation.  
       
We love the catchy songs and creative ways that the Bible story is told with this series.  I love the way my boys are learning Bible facts without any effort.  They don't know they are learning, they just like watching the videos, singing the songs, and hearing the stories.

We turned What's in the Bible into a special night - Popcorn and Movies with the boys.  They snuggled up on their little futons and watched intensely!  When it was over, they wanted to watch it again!

As a parent who is very particular about what her children watch, I highly recommend the What's in the Bible video series for any family - with kids of ANY age.
As a children's minister who cares deeply that children learn God's word, I highly recommend this series for all families that want their children to have a good, firm grasp on what the Bible is about.
As a Bible student, I wish I had seen this years ago to help me have a better idea about what I was trying to learn.

The videos are inexpensive, $15 each and there is frequently an online promotion available.  You can buy them online, or pick them up in your local Family Christian Bookstore!  Want to try it out?  3 of my readers will be lucky enough to win a copy of "In the Beginning".  This is the first of 7 (so far).  Enter using the Rafflecopter Form below.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I have received a product free for the purpose of this review.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

3 Year old: On Healing


Yep, he's the one - the thinker, contemplative, super hero in his pass time.  This little boy melts my heart EVERY DAY.  He makes this mama turn to a pile of mushy goo.  What a sweet, lovey, smart little guy.  This one is always asking questions and absorbing everything - EVERYTHING he hears and sees.

We've been praying for a while for Grandpa Crum.  He has had health problems and is recovering amazingly.  We also recently started praying for Poppy Billey, he has a broken foot.  We pray for other things together too - our house in Goshen to sell, finances to make some major repairs on our house (so far we've been able to fix the chimney and the entry way this year - we really need to fix the garage), new cars, changes in jobs, all sorts of things.

My Monkey loves to say the prayer at meals as often as he can.  In fact, frequently both of our "big" boys will pray - at the same time.  It's a noisy ruckus and I think God loves it.  

So what's this about healing?  Monkey knows all about it.  He knows that God wants us to be well and that when we pray to him he will help us to be well.  He also knows that sometimes we have to keep praying (as in the case with his grandfathers).  

Here's the thing that just makes me melt about his prayers for healing.  He doesn't ask God to "please heal ___, if it's your will..."  Nope.  He's bold.  He knows that God WANTS healing for all of us.  He just goes right ahead and thanks God for healing people.  "Thank you for making ___ better".  And he does this again and again - every meal he prays thank you's to God for the healing work that he is going to do in our family and with our friends.  

This little boy goes to God EXPECTING for God to do his healing work.  He knows God is at work.

Why does it melt me?  Why do I share?  Because it's hard for me to remember.  I'm puny.  I try the begging tactic a lot.  Monkey just goes, knowing that God loves us and wants good for us.
Wow.

Thank you God for little boys that remind me about how you see us.  Thank you God that you are working your divine healing in our lives.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Where have I been?!

Yikes.  It's been almost a month since I last posted, and honestly I have several things to share about.  Some personal, some promotional.  I've got to kick my backside into gear.

It's almost 6am and I'll need to be heading out of town in a few minutes, so just a quick word about where I've been while I feed the baby.

This month has been a whirlwind.  About 3 months ago I started sending some messages to the camp I attended as a kid.  I was looking to volunteer for the summer.  A little over a month ago, I got a call asking me to interview with them for a job.  Guess what - I got it.  For the last 3 weeks I have been back and forth between home and camp as I work to prepare the grounds for summer camps.

It's an hour drive between home and camp, so we have done a lot of driving.  We bought a new to us car last week so Mr. Crum can more easily be at home while we're at camp - no fears about if there is an emergency.  I'm working continuously to make sure we have a summer staff (I still need a life guard) and that the volunteers are lined up to help us keep things running smoothly.  It has been a fast, hard transition for everyone.  Guess what - for the most part, we're loving it.

That said, I will be slowing down on posts for the summer.  I hope to get several things written over the next week to catch up on some promotions I had planned, then for the most part, I will be silent for the summer.  I may post on occasion to share about what is going on around here, but full time camp work and full time mommying means that at the end of the day, I am done.