Kids Kamp 2009

Today was the first day of Kids Kamp. We were blessed with 82 children! I am working with the preschoolers this year. The day went very well! This years theme is Daniel, the kids will be learning all about him in Bible time all week. Our theme song for this year is "One Way". The teens worked hard to learn it at counselor training, and it paid off. The kids really loved the song. Many of us have said that it's been stuck in our heads all day today. It's a good tune to be singing over and over again though.

Jesus answered, " I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" - John 14:6

We are praying for a great rest of the week at Kids Kamp. Praying that many children will come who have never heard the gospel before and that they and their families will be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Praying that they will see that Jesus is the only way! Would you pray for us too? Pray for the children and families as well as the teens and the workers. Pray for wisdom, strength, enthusiasm, boldness, and endurance. All for the glory of God!

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods: A perfect summer day. Low 80's and sunny.

One of my simple pleasures: Hearing Hannah say "Mommy, Mommy" from her crib in the morning

On my bedside table: Sadly, I haven't found much time for reading this summer, but I do have "Where the Heart Leads" on the table...I do enjoy a good novel once and a while.

On my TV: Once again, not much time for this either

On the menu for tonight: hmm...good question (it's kids kamp week...)

On my To Do List: get ready for kids kamp tomorrow = running lots of errands.

New Recipe I tried last week: I didn't cook anything new last week...we were enjoying camping food. :)

In the craft basket: materials for coffee filter butterflies for tomorrow preschool craft at kids kamp, and the materials for wedding favors for Adam and Jill's reception this weekend.

Looking forward to: seeing family. We haven't seen either one of our families since May. Looking forward to seeing both of our families very soon!

Homemaking Tip for this week: I (Seth usually helps too :)) always put all of Hannah's toys away at night right after she goes to bed. That way we can enjoy a toy free zone at least in the evening and in the morning before she wakes up. It helps me just enjoy my home without it feeling so cluttered.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): From a few weeks ago (I didn't read any blogs last week because I was camping. Learning at the hearth of the ultimate wise woman: a very encouraging post at Run the Earth Watch the Sky about the importance of being busy at home...thanks Kristi! :)

Favorite photo from last week: such a sweet pictures of my friends little girl

Lesson learned the past few days: How important it is to focus on the positive. It's so easy to get hung up on the few negative things that happen or things that people say and let them overshadow all the good that God is doing!

On my Prayer List: Kids Kamp this week. Praying that the Lord will bless the work and that families will be reached with the gospel of Jesus. Also praying for my sister-in-law who just had 2 surgeries last week and is finally home from the hospital recovering.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."

Trust in God=perfect peace

2 Peter 1:3

"His divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

another giveaway

Here I go again blogging about another giveaway...but I really would love to win this one too! Hannah has started to tell me right away after she poops....too cute she just looks at me and says "poop" in such a sweet voice. I think I may start the potty training thing in the fall when thing start to go back to somewhat of a routine. I beginning my search for a good potty chair...and I found this one...it would be pretty exciting to win one! :) I love my baby bjorn carrier...didn't know that they made so many other products too! Check out the giveaway at Two of a Kind, working on a full house.

Family Camp

This year our family camp was at Bishop Lake in Brighton. We are so thankful for the week that we were able to share with our church family, and the good weather that the Lord blessed us with. It was a joy to spend time with our church family, and to see Hannah enjoy being in the outdoors....she loved it! It was so fun to sit around the campfire in the evenings. We would share memories from past family camps and our own family stories. It's so hard to be away from my family...but I am so thankful to the Lord for giving us our church...family away from home. Hannah had a great week. I didn't know how she was going to do...I pictured myself chasing her around from fire pit to fire pit...but it was actually a really good week! It was so fun to watch her enjoy the outdoors. She loved having the open space to just run. We went for stroller rides, to the beach, and played with friends. It was nice to take a break in the midst of a very busy summer to just focus on spending time together. Thank you Lord for the many blessings! :)

It was fun to have Hannah's friends Amelia and Addison there this week! Amelia was all smiles all week...and poor Addy was struggling with her teeth coming in.

Trying out Olivia's trike and dreaming of one day having her own. She looks so big here!

Getting ready for a dutch oven dinner with the Ohlys. Thanks to chef Ben we had chicken tortilla casserole...it was delish!

Hannah loved having Olivia there this week too. She pedaled around on her bike ALL week...and just had a ball. Here they are sharing a hug.

snuggles with daddy before bed

hangin' with the Ohly's

Olivia loved pushing Hannah in the stroller!

Olivia just might be an OSU fan in the making (which I know her Grandpa wouldn't be sad about!)...she loved sitting in Hannah's Ohio State chair!

This is a cute story though. We had a candy hunt right before Ben and Olivia were about to leave. Ben told Olivia she could sit down and have one piece of candy...or course...she picked the biggest one. Olivia loves her chocolate! (what girl doesn't?!)

a day at the beach

The teens enjoyed playing with Hannah's toys too!

silliness in the tent

helping daddy pack up to go home

Outdoor Service

We ended a great weekend with our churches first outdoor service. It was so neat to worship the Lord outside. It was good for people who were at the festival to hear the gospel proclaimed as they walked by. We really enjoyed worshipping in God's creation!


The praise team

It was a great family service..the children sang and played bells

one of the sweetest ladies I know and her little girl

Farmington Founders Festival

Wow...what a day we had at the Founders Festival today. We stared out at the church bright and early. We entered a float in the parade again this year. The theme was "circus, circus", which is kinda a hard theme for a church...but Jeff did a great job putting it all together. The kids were dressed as "circus" animals and the slogans for our float were "Is Jesus just your sideshow or the main event?" and "Don't mess around with your eternity...Jesus didn't". We passed out gospel tracks, and invitations to kids kamp, which is in two weeks. We pray that the gospel tracks fell into the hands of the right people and were excited with how receptive the people were.

Meanwhile, back at the church, we had people passing out free water & balloons, faithful prayer warriors praying, men parking cars in our free parking lot, and new this year: the bounce house! We rented a bounce house..which worked out wonderfully! The kids loved it...and it gave us a chance to talk to the families during the few minutes that the kids were bouncing. Finally, Seth and I were on an evangelism team. (Hannah took a nap in Seth's office...while one of the teens listened for her on the monitor...it worked out perfectly!) We went out into the festival in the afternoon with tracks in hand ready to share the gospel. I had the opportunity to talk to 3 teen girls. It worked out really well because they were all friend and one of them is already a believer who attends a good Bible believing church. I had a chance to clearly present the gospel to one of the girls, then another friend joined us, so I got to present it again. They were not ready to make a decision today, so I challenged the one who is already a believer to follow up with her friends. Would you please pray for the 3 of them? Erin and Karley are the ones who still are not saved...and Angela is their christian friend. Seth had a chance to talk to a man who is jewish & probably in his early 20's. He was sitting and waiting for his mom who came out of Quinos shortly after we began our conversation. She was VERY closed to the idea of even talking to us...but he still wanted to...so that was encouraging. She listened for a while, then walked away. He carefully listened, but then said that he need to leave to go be with his mom. Seth was able to share the gospel with him, and we are praying that the Lord will really work in his heart. Pray for him...his name is Emmet.

After watching just 2 of the "Way of the Master" (check out this link for some tips on sharing your faith and some witnessing videos) video series...I have been extremely convicted about sharing my faith. There was a quote from Spurgeon (I think) on the video that said something like this: If we don't care about the salvation of others, then we are probably not even saved ourselves. I need to be concerned about others eternity!! Walking around the festival today...I looked into the eyes of so many and couldn't help but think of the old Steve Green song "People Need the Lord". There are so many who are lost...who will tell them the truth if we don't? What a huge responsibility Jesus left us with when he returned to heaven. I want to be more gospel minded...I will be praying for an looking for more opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those I meet.

How about you? Are you actively sharing your faith? What have you found has worked for you? Do you have any good conversation starters? Is there anyone that you have talked to that you would like me to be praying for? I would love to hear from you!

When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed." (C.H. Spurgeon)

Romans 10:9-15
9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[e] 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."[f]
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"[g]

Some of the animals on the float

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Hannah & Elania...not looking super excited...

our cute little dancing bear

The teens....love 'em!

This guy rode his unicycle the whole parade! And my little giraffe...eating her favorite giraffe snack :)

the bounce house

the guys did a great job directing traffic

passing out balloons and water

Tuesday is Park Day & a Surprise for Jennifer!

Tuesday is park day...this week we were at Rotary Park in Livonia. We have never been to this park...but today we ended up there twice! Our mops group was there in the morning. Hannah had fun playing with all of her mops friends...but she sure loves Joshua. She was asking for him on Monday afternoon...so it was a good thing that Tuesday was coming. They had fun on the swings, the bouncy elephants, and playing in the water fountain. To see more pictures, you can go to Joshua's blog here.

After dinner, we headed back to Rotary park to surprise Jennifer for her 27th birthday! She had no idea that the surprise was coming. :)

Happy Birthday Jennifer!!

Parmesan Baked Chicken

Per request of one of my readers: here's the recipe from Happy Homemaker Monday :) Makes for a super easy weeknight meal!

1/3 cup mayo-type salad dressing (I use the light & fit version from aldi)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 c. italian bread crumbs

In a medium mixing bowl, combine salad dressing, cheese, and garlic powder. Coat chicken with mayo mixture & cover each with bread crumbs. Arrange chicken on an ungreased baking sheet (I just LOVE my large bar pan). Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and juices run clear. Makes 4 servings.

ENJOY!

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:

It's a mild day, and is suppose to be like this all week. 80 degrees and sunny...we'll take it!

One of my simple pleasures: walks around the park with my hubby and baby girl

On my bedside table: "Remarkable Women of the Bible" by Elizabeth George

On my TV: tonight Seth and I are going to try to watch some of "The Way of the Master" series. We have kinda been missing out; the rest of the church has been watching these videos during Sunday School, but because we both teach we haven't been there. We are gearing up for a weekend of evangelism this coming weekend...so are excited to watch these in the evening this week.

On the menu for tonight: Parmesan Crusted Chicken & red potatoes

On my To Do List: where to begin? Would you pray for me this week? We have a lot going on...I'm getting things all together for the preschool program for kids kamp, plus I need to be packing for family camp which is next week, and we are getting ready for the Founders Festival this weekend.

New Recipe I tried last week: Kettle Corn! I LOVE it! We went to "Art in the Park" on Friday, and the smell of popcorn made me want to come home and make my own. I figured I could at least try to make Kettle Corn. I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks and gave it a whirl...yummy!

In the craft basket:Preschool crafts for kids kamp...anyone have any great preschool craft ideas to share?! Feel free to post a comment with ideas...I'm still looking for one or two more.

Looking forward to: The Founders Festival this weekend. Excited to share the gospel with our community.

Homemaking Tip for this week: keep popcorn in the freezer, it lasts longer and pops better.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): Just a Glimpse by Erica. I'm SO excited for my little niece/nephew!

Favorite photo from last week: It's always hard to choose one favorite photo: but I really do love this action shot...looks like my little one is ready to take on the world!

Lesson learned the past few days: When I am weak, HE is strong

On my Prayer List: time management, my sister and sister-in-law who are both expecting :), upcoming ministries at church: Founders Festival and Kids Kamp (like vbs)

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"And God is able to make all grace abound in you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will be able to abound in every work."
1 Corinthians 9:8

Graduation Parties

This morning Daddy left bright and early for a golf tournament. Mommy and I spent the day at home. Mom tired to catch up on some house work and spent time playing with me too. We read lots of books and practiced the Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear rhyme. I have almost all the motions down...and will post a video soon. When Daddy got home, we headed off to some grad parties. First stop was Aarons house...we didn't stay long, because we still had to visit Danny. I had a lot of fun there though...he had a bouncy. There were no other kids using it..so I got bounce all by myself. I ran from one end to the other and just had so much fun.

Art in the Park

We continued Fridays theme of free fun by taking in "Art in the Park" in downtown Plymouth. We went Friday evening after Seth got home from practicing for his golf tournament. We enjoyed a beautiful summer evening together. It was fun to look at all the art, eat some ice cream, and play on a nearby playground with Hannah. More of life's simple pleasures :)

enjoying an "orange creamsicle" ice cream cone with mommy

down the slide with Daddy...whee!

our brave little girl ready to take on the world..this is definitely a favorite picture!!

after a few times of crawling up the steps, she decided that she wanted to hold onto the railing and walk up. My little girl is growing up right before my eyes

A GREAT giveaway

I don't usually blog about giveaway's but this one is really great and I would love to win it! It's for a Bubleride Indie Twin Stroller. I don't need it yet...but would love to put it away for one day when I have 2 to push around (Lord willing ;o)). You too can enter to win...head over to Two of a Kind Working on a Full House to enter!

Free Fun Friday-Concert in the Park

Every Tuesday at Capitol Park there is a free concert! We took in our first one of the summer this week...and had a nice time together just relaxing as a family. Amazingly, Hannah sat on the blanket the WHOLE time...she really loves music! We enjoyed some Irish music and Hannah loved to clap her hands.

There are so many FREE FUN activities going on all around us (esp. in the summer)...we just have to find them. If you don't live in Redford...I'm sure that your city has free fun activities too. Just log onto your cities website (and the others around you: there are tons of great things to do all around metro Detroit) and see if you can find some free fun. What kinds of free & fun things have you been doing this summer?! For more ideas for local fun head over to Run the Earth, Watch the Sky and share your free idea too!

A self portrait of our family. There was a man from Redford there taking pictures for our yearly calendar and he took a shot of our family too...who knows..maybe you'll see us on this years calendar :)

Seth has been picking up the camera more these days, and I'm glad he has...I just love this shot he got of Hannah!