Emery saying "sorry" unprompted after pitching a fit about something.
Amelia telling God "you're my favorite person in the whole world" during her prayer.
Looking over my shoulder to change lanes and noticing the girls are holding hands in the backseat.
Amelia writing me this note on the mirror "I love you vare vare (very very) much"
Oh how I love my little girls!
PS- keep watching for the "What makes my hair fall out" post. We are still human you know....
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
A Time to Die
In the car the other day:
A: It's going to be a really long time until I die.
Me: I hope so, but only God knows when that is.
A: Well, it's longer until Emery dies and even longer until Ava dies (she's a newborn).
Me: Well we don't all live to same age and then die- it doesn't work that way.
A: Well, I'm not going to eat any junk, never drink alcohol and when I turn 99 then I'll die.
Alrighty then, maybe she has a direct connect to God that I don't know about :)
A: It's going to be a really long time until I die.
Me: I hope so, but only God knows when that is.
A: Well, it's longer until Emery dies and even longer until Ava dies (she's a newborn).
Me: Well we don't all live to same age and then die- it doesn't work that way.
A: Well, I'm not going to eat any junk, never drink alcohol and when I turn 99 then I'll die.
Alrighty then, maybe she has a direct connect to God that I don't know about :)
Friday, October 16, 2009
"When will I be old enough to...
fast?" This is the question Amelia asked me yesterday during lunch. Ian and I fast every month on the 15th for our dear friends and Amelia has been very intrigued by it recently. Last month she asked if she could fast also and we said no. She's too young to not eat all day long. However, this time I expanded the conversation with her....
A: When will I be old enough to fast?
Me: When you are grown-up, but you can fast now, just not from food all day long.
A: What can I fast from?
M: Anything that is important to you and would remind you to pray for J&R when you think about it (and I raised my eyebrows at her- I had something in mind)
A: Oh, you mean like sugar because I really like sugar (ha)
M: Yes, like sugar (she read my mind)
A: OK, I'm going to give up dessert for three days
M: Cool, starting today?
A: No, tomorrow
M: Well you have a birthday party on Sat and I'm sure they'll have cake...
A: Oh, well maybe two days and I'll start today (It's good to know she's still human!)
I really expected her to ask for dessert after dinner (I'm not very faithful am I....) Well, she ate ALL of her dinner- I mean every last bite of her burrito. Ian asked if she was eating so well because she wanted dessert and she said, "no, I'm fasting from dessert for J&R, I'm just really hungry." And that was that- no begging for dessert, no going back on her resolve. She powered through and taught me a lesson or two about values being caught more than they are taught!
A: When will I be old enough to fast?
Me: When you are grown-up, but you can fast now, just not from food all day long.
A: What can I fast from?
M: Anything that is important to you and would remind you to pray for J&R when you think about it (and I raised my eyebrows at her- I had something in mind)
A: Oh, you mean like sugar because I really like sugar (ha)
M: Yes, like sugar (she read my mind)
A: OK, I'm going to give up dessert for three days
M: Cool, starting today?
A: No, tomorrow
M: Well you have a birthday party on Sat and I'm sure they'll have cake...
A: Oh, well maybe two days and I'll start today (It's good to know she's still human!)
I really expected her to ask for dessert after dinner (I'm not very faithful am I....) Well, she ate ALL of her dinner- I mean every last bite of her burrito. Ian asked if she was eating so well because she wanted dessert and she said, "no, I'm fasting from dessert for J&R, I'm just really hungry." And that was that- no begging for dessert, no going back on her resolve. She powered through and taught me a lesson or two about values being caught more than they are taught!
Little Girl Birthday Gifts
If you're like me, you have lots of little girl birthday gifts in one year. We love to give gifts, but we also love to give something that is practical (at least a little), affordable, and meaningful. Wrapping that all up in one package can be a little difficult.
A few years ago Amelia received an adorable notebook with her initial on the front for her birthday. It was a HUGE hit- for both of us! Since then, we've been making little monogram notebooks for her friends' birthdays.
What we do:
- Buy a cute notebook (we shop Target for this- they seem to have the best selection and price and we watch for deals and grab a few at a time)
- Get some "gems" from a craft store (I bought a HUGE container once for $12, it's going to last until Amelia has kids!)
- Get a hot glue gun (my sister had two and donated one to me- lucky me!)
- Find some fun pens to go along (we bought a pack of glitter gel pens in several fun colors this time, we'll save the rest for future notebooks)
- Design away using the girl's fav color(s) and add some accents. It's easier than it looks- if I can do it so can you!
Having a little fun
As Amelia expands her reading abilities, I've been having fun writing her notes. I leave notes in her lunch box, on her plastic snack bags, and on her bathroom mirror. The mirror is my newest and most favorite place to leave her a note. I use dry erase markers and draw little pictures as well (I'm no artist but she likes them!).
A few of her mirror messages:
You are beautiful
God made you and He loves you
God made you to do something special
She LOVES getting these messages and always wants to write something back to me on my mirror. It's just a fun thing we've been enjoying lately as she expands her reading vocabulary!
PS- sorry there's no picture- kind of hard to capture mirror writing :)
A few of her mirror messages:
You are beautiful
God made you and He loves you
God made you to do something special
She LOVES getting these messages and always wants to write something back to me on my mirror. It's just a fun thing we've been enjoying lately as she expands her reading vocabulary!
PS- sorry there's no picture- kind of hard to capture mirror writing :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Emery's Baby Dedication
We dedicated Emery to the Lord on September 27th. This is really more for us, as parents, as we are committing to raise her in a Christian home. We do not believe in infant baptism as it is never found in the Bible. We do believe in baptism, just that it is a choice you make when you are old enough to understand what you are doing and why!
Dedicating Emery was a great experience. One of our friends, Dave, was the officiating pastor and really challenged Ian and I to raise Emery to know and love the Lord. He reminded us that the best way to do this is through our example to her and being intentional in teaching her about God and Jesus Christ. We were surrounded by friends and family that live here and are part of our "village" as we all raise kids and live life together.
It was really sweet, as we said a prayer for Emery, Amelia chimed in and thanked God for her family and her sister. Just jumped right in to a big group prayer- gotta love that girl's spirit! Enjoy the pics.
The Long Family
Emery's new look EVERY time we get out the camera. I think she thinks she's smiling :)
The Long Family with our friend and pastor, Dave.
The "village."
Dedicating Emery was a great experience. One of our friends, Dave, was the officiating pastor and really challenged Ian and I to raise Emery to know and love the Lord. He reminded us that the best way to do this is through our example to her and being intentional in teaching her about God and Jesus Christ. We were surrounded by friends and family that live here and are part of our "village" as we all raise kids and live life together.
It was really sweet, as we said a prayer for Emery, Amelia chimed in and thanked God for her family and her sister. Just jumped right in to a big group prayer- gotta love that girl's spirit! Enjoy the pics.
The Long Family
Emery's new look EVERY time we get out the camera. I think she thinks she's smiling :)
The Long Family with our friend and pastor, Dave.
The "village."
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Amelia reading
I was reading Amelia a book about Stegosaurs the other day and she asked if she could read it to me instead. As she started reading I grabbed the camera because I was really surprised at how well she was doing. It's a little hard to hear- sorry. Still need to upgrade our video camera... by the way you get to see a little "Amelia attitude" at the end!
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Jesse Tree
This is a post from January 2009 about the Jesse Tree we made for Christmas. It's a great way to incorporate the "reason for the season" as you celebrate. I know, you're thinking "Christmas already, you're crazy." Well maybe, BUT if you want to make a Jesse Tree this year I recommend you get started! It can take awhile to gather everything and really think it through. Enjoy!
Previous Post
I found out about the idea of the Jesse Tree from Simple Mom's blog and fell in love with it. Ian and I decided to make our family one for Christmas as well as make them for his brother's family, his parents, my parents and my sister's family. That's 5 trees for those of you who like math! Then I convinced my best friend Leanne to be crazy and join me on this adventure and she convinced another friend of ours to do it as well as making one for her brother's family. We are up to 8 trees. By now you're thinking, who cares how many you made? You really want to know: What in the world is a Jesse Tree?
Answer:
The Jesse Tree idea is born from the scripture found in Isaiah 11:1-2.“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” This refers to the fact the Jesus would be born from the line of David, whose father was Jesse. Starting with this idea on November 30th, we do a small devotional each day that relates to Jesus. As we countdown to the celebration of His birthday we hang ornaments or symbols on our Jesse Tree. For example, we read the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den found in Daniel 6. We talk about the fact that God is the most important thing in our lives and we have to choose Him above anything else. Then we hang a lion ornament on our tree and say a prayer.
Cool, I want to make one:
You can find a lot of information about how to do a Jesse Tree and example devotionals on line. There are even books with devotionals and ideas available. You can even buy pre-made ornaments on-line. Ultimately, each Jesse Tree will be slightly different and you can customize it over the years for your family. The important thing is that you are reading scripture and learning God’s Word and plans as you prepare to celebrate our Savior’s birth.
You are welcome to use the devotionals we used. Most of them come from the Reformed Church of America, but we deleted some of theirs and added a few of our own. Like I said, make it your own tree. You should know that it took us a lot of time and effort to gather all of the ornaments, but it was totally worth it. If you decide to make one of your own for Christmas start early! If you need some help just let me know. I'm happy to share where we purchased things and how we made some of the ornaments.
Here is a picture of our final product:
Amelia was totally into this. Each day she would wake-up and ask when we were going to do our Jesse Tree for the day. She hung all of the ornaments, so the tree looked a little funny, but it was a great conversation piece. There is also a picture of the devotionals we used for each day. I printed mine on red cardstock and put each day in an envelope. Leanne printed hers on paper, attached them to colorful Christmas paper and put them in a small photo album. Have fun!
Previous Post
I found out about the idea of the Jesse Tree from Simple Mom's blog and fell in love with it. Ian and I decided to make our family one for Christmas as well as make them for his brother's family, his parents, my parents and my sister's family. That's 5 trees for those of you who like math! Then I convinced my best friend Leanne to be crazy and join me on this adventure and she convinced another friend of ours to do it as well as making one for her brother's family. We are up to 8 trees. By now you're thinking, who cares how many you made? You really want to know: What in the world is a Jesse Tree?
Answer:
The Jesse Tree idea is born from the scripture found in Isaiah 11:1-2.“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” This refers to the fact the Jesus would be born from the line of David, whose father was Jesse. Starting with this idea on November 30th, we do a small devotional each day that relates to Jesus. As we countdown to the celebration of His birthday we hang ornaments or symbols on our Jesse Tree. For example, we read the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den found in Daniel 6. We talk about the fact that God is the most important thing in our lives and we have to choose Him above anything else. Then we hang a lion ornament on our tree and say a prayer.
Cool, I want to make one:
You can find a lot of information about how to do a Jesse Tree and example devotionals on line. There are even books with devotionals and ideas available. You can even buy pre-made ornaments on-line. Ultimately, each Jesse Tree will be slightly different and you can customize it over the years for your family. The important thing is that you are reading scripture and learning God’s Word and plans as you prepare to celebrate our Savior’s birth.
You are welcome to use the devotionals we used. Most of them come from the Reformed Church of America, but we deleted some of theirs and added a few of our own. Like I said, make it your own tree. You should know that it took us a lot of time and effort to gather all of the ornaments, but it was totally worth it. If you decide to make one of your own for Christmas start early! If you need some help just let me know. I'm happy to share where we purchased things and how we made some of the ornaments.
Here is a picture of our final product:
Amelia was totally into this. Each day she would wake-up and ask when we were going to do our Jesse Tree for the day. She hung all of the ornaments, so the tree looked a little funny, but it was a great conversation piece. There is also a picture of the devotionals we used for each day. I printed mine on red cardstock and put each day in an envelope. Leanne printed hers on paper, attached them to colorful Christmas paper and put them in a small photo album. Have fun!
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