Design Giveaway

My friend, Jenn, at Munchkin Land Designs, is having a design giveaway. She designs for blogs, twitter backgrounds, and Etsy.

Go over and check out the party!

Scripture Memory Catch-Up

I neglected posting my Scriptures while we were on vacation, so here are my verses ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen!

"He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the One who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him." -John 7:18

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." -Proverbs 31:25-27

"Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal." -Isaiah 26:4

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

Summer makes it hard to get motivated sometimes, but I just keep writing Scriptures in my spiral. Even if I'm not actively working to memorize right now, I've kept up with adding a new Scripture and read over them often. Just trying to stay consistent.

So, what are you memorizing/meditating on?

Play Area at 313 Food Republic

The boys and I met Andrea and Tori at 313 for some lunch the other day. They have a great play area on the terrace outside. It was a perfect place to play while we waited.

I had only seen one of these things on Ellen's tv show a few years ago. It was great fun trying to punch your colored buttons when they lit up.

I think my posts about our US trip are finished. My camera battery died before we left New Mexico, and my charger was buried someone in one of the many suitcases we left in Texas (which we later retrieved). I didn't get any pictures of the family get-together with my Dad's side of the family. *big, sad face*

Our US Trip, Part Six--Uncle Scott Gets Married

The reason for our June return home (and not some other, cooler, time of year) was to attend the wedding of Justin's youngest brother, Scott.

He married this sweet girl. We love her. Welcome to the family, Grace.

The three brothers, all so cleaned-up and handsome. I love those two boys on either side of Justin as if they were my own flesh-and-blood brothers and am very protective of them.

A rare photo of Mimi, Justin's mom. She looked gorgeous that day (and every other day, too).

And here's what my kids enjoyed doing during the reception...ringing the bells that made Uncle Scott and Aunt Grace kiss. *smile*

Our US Trip, Part Five

On Tuesday, June 22, we flew from Houston to Albuquerque. Then we drove the 2 hours to Justin's hometown. The wide open spaces of New Mexico look slightly different than they do in central Texas, but it felt so good to see this landscape.

And we were so happy to finally see this sign!

And playing in the park and not sweating a single drop! The weather was incredible!

Our US Trip, Part Four

Before we left for New Mexico, we had a gathering of our old Life Group in Houston. It was such a joy to see all these sweet faces again and get to hug them!

Dana and Holly:

Sweet Evelyn:

Aaron with my boys:

Kim and Alicia (the only picture I have of Kim because she refused my later picture-taking opportunity):

All the men outside chatting:

Are You Seeing A Pattern?

I had to interrupt the trip recap because I noticed something while I was going through all the pictures.

This is Levi's new "smile for the camera" face. Nice, huh? I have many more where these came from!

Our US Trip, Part Three

Playing in Grandma and Poppa's backyard was so much fun!

In this picture they are making "stick soup."

Eating popsicles on the porch swing...that's what summer is about!

Our US Trip, Part Two

Driving from my sister's house to my parents' house, these are the scenes. I loved being in the Texas country (we had to explain to Caleb what "country" is. He was concerned that it was so dark outside the car windows at night...no lights!).

Wide open spaces are definitely the thing we miss while living in Singapore!

Our US Trip, Part One

My mom flew to Singapore so she could fly back with us and I wouldn't have to do it alone. Here she is reading to the boys on the airplane.

A wonderful site to see after a year away!

Poppa holding Audrey once we arrived at my sister's house. (See my van in the background?! I was so happy to be able to drive myself places, and the DVD player came in VERY handy with all the traveling we did. I miss my van already.)

On the way to my parents' house, the first of 3 times we'd make the two-and-a half-hour trip from Houston. This picture is so appropriate because my kids don't sleep in the car, and Ava falls asleep once we leave the driveway. :-)

We're "Home"

We're back in Singapore and seriously suffering from jet lag. Caleb slept 50 minutes longer this morning than yesterday, so he was up at 4:20. He was apparently starving because he ate 15 mini pancakes once one of us got out of bed to feed him (not me). Their eating schedules are way off and neither of them ate much at lunch or dinner yesterday. Apparently breakfast is making up for that.

Caleb asked me at 6:45 this morning, "Can we homeschool now?" "RIGHT now?" I said. They are craving structure after being out of a routine for 5 weeks, but I'm exhausted and cannot even think straight. I need some coffee. I did what any good mother would do and told them to watch "Tom & Jerry" and then we'd homeschool when that was over at 7:30am. It's going to be another long day today.

We had a great time visiting our families and friends in the US. It was really hard to come back to Singapore, but we were thankful to get back to our own beds and a routine.

Here are some random pictures from our trip. I'll try to blog about each part later, when my brain is fully functioning. I took hundreds of pictures, so these are just a very small sampling.

Levi with his cousin, Audrey. We met her for the first time on May 29, and Levi loves her!
Us with our friends and mentors in Houston, Bob and Alicia. We love them and miss them terribly!

Our family at Uncle Scott's wedding in New Mexico. Not the best photo, but at least you know we were all there. The theme for the reception was Mardi Gras, hence all the beads the boys are wearing.
Boys with their cousins, Ava and Audrey. I'm pretty sure Audrey is sending a message to us. ;-)
The boys at the airport in Singapore for our 2:25am flight to Texas. A little sleepy.

It's time for Grace Academy Homeschool to open for the day, so I'd better get prepared. I've got two boys who are, amazingly, not as exhausted as their mother and ready to learn!

Potty Training

It seems that my second child in 2 years is going to drag me kicking and screaming into potty training. My kids pick the most inopportune times to decide they want to potty train. Caleb decided to use the potty full-time the day we went camping with our Life Group and stayed in tents (the bathroom was about 100 yards away). Levi has chosen three days before we're supposed to be on a 24-hour flight and out of our normal routine for 5 weeks to decide he wants to wear underwear. Not great timing.

People who have kids younger than Caleb sometimes ask me for advice on potty training. I always tell them I don't have any because Caleb potty-trained himself. He watched the other kids at Mother's Day Out and then came home telling me he wanted to go on the potty. We did pull-ups for a while, then moved to only at naptime and bedtime, and a couple of months later I realized he was always completely dry when he woke up.

We've been talking about the potty with Levi for a while, but I didn't want to start until after our trip this summer. He decided yesterday that he wanted to wear underwear and was not happy when I put a diaper on him at bedtime. He wants to be like his big brother so desperately.

So far he's doing ok at it. Two accidents, but not too bad. We'll see how it goes over the next couple of days, but I secretly hope he loses interest because I'm not about to let a not-quite-potty-trained child wear underwear on an airplane. That would make for a memorable flight.

Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places

I just found a great resource for moms with small children!

Even though my kids have tons of toys, it seems we're always looking for things to do around the house to keep their attention and stimulate their minds all at the same time. They don't need the latest and greatest toys, and it seems they would rather play with a box and paper towel roll than most of their toys, anyway!

I'm always excited about activities that will stimulate their little brains and be fun at the same time. That's where this great, inexpensive eBook comes in.

Angie wrote this book for toddlers and preschoolers (although the activities are great for older ones as well), and it's a 58-page book of activities to do with your children using things you can find around your house. Even living in Singapore, I already have or can find most of these things. The activities are fun for kids and easy for mom!

Angie, who does part-time therapy for children under 3 with developmental delays or disabilities, said she wrote the book because she "wanted to show [the] families [of her therapy patients] that there are so many activities that can be done with just objects in and around their own houses. [She] wrote this book with them in mind. "

Included in the book are ideas for activities using the following:

• Balloons
• Balls
• Blankets
• Blocks
• Books
• Boxes
• Bubbles
• Cardboard Tubes
• Cookie Cutters
• Cotton Balls
• Dishpan (Plastic Wash Tubs)
• Egg Cartons
• Fabric
• Just You! (No Props Needed)
• Kitchen
• Laundry
• Lids
• Painting
• Paper Bags
• Paper Cups
• Paper Plates
• Plastic Bottles
• Plastic Easter Eggs
• Poker Chips
• Sponges
• Miscellaneous Ideas (three pages of ideas that don’t fall into one of the above categories)

I appreciate having a list of activities to add easy fun to our day, like going "blanket sledding" or having "target practice" with plastic yogurt/ice cream/butter tubs. And in moments of desperation when one of the kids is sick and our plans have been foiled (or a torrential downpour comes out of nowhere!), I have a bank of 200+ activities for us to do right here at home. And the fact that it's an eBook, and I didn't have to pay shipping and is GREAT!

You can hop over to Angie's place for more information about and examples of the activities in this great book.

Readers here can save 20% by using the code Reflecting20 until June 15!

I was given a free copy of this book for the purposes of reviewing it, but the opinions are strictly mine.

Now go grab a copy while you can get it for 20% off!!

Mess

This is what happened yesterday as I was in the kitchen with the boys fixing oatmeal. I was making some lemonade at the sink with my back to the microwave. I heard it "beep" that it was finished and told Levi not to touch it. He was standing on the chair watching the oatmeal, and I think he started to fall and tried to grab the microwave to save him. The microwave that just sits on the counter. It came unplugged, fell upside down, and spilled out its contents on the floor (plus all the stuff stored on/next to it). There was glass shattered into a million pieces all over the kitchen. Thankfully, Levi was not hurt, but both of our hearts were pounding! It was one of those instances where I heard what was happening and could NOT turn around fast enough...like life was moving in slow motion.