Reformation Day Celebration 2012

Today we celebrated Reformation Day. We read a biographical story book on the life of Martin Luther and watched the Torchlighter animated dvd on the life William Tyndale. We also nailed (taped) Martin Luther's 95 Theses on our back door. We set our table with red to remind us of the blood of the martyrs who died for the truth of the Gospel and that we might have God's Word. In a world that idolizes pop culture, I want my children to know what a true hero looks like. It is so great to spend a day remembering these men who were willing to follow Christ even unto death. We made candy sacks for our games, made posters to decorate our walls and played fun games with a reformation theme. We played "Pin the beard on John Calvin," and "Throw the duck in the reformer's basket." We also played the fishing game naming it "Fishers of Men," and played "Smuggle the Bible" by having the children run with a little wooden cut out of a Bible hidden in their clothes. They had to run around the island in the kitchen and deliver the Bible safely. On the artistic side of things we colored stained glass pictures and made lavender sachets for them to wear around their necks. This was to keep the bubonic plague away! We ended the day with smores and apple cider. It was a busy day but rewarding to see my children learning and having fun. Next year we hope to be a little more prepared and build upon the ideas we tried this year. My hope and prayer is that something much bigger than candy and trinkets touched their hearts today. I pray the Lord will bear fruit from the discussions we had, and I am looking forward to next year!

Sixth Birthday

I know I have disappeared for awhile and not done any blogging. Life has just been busier than busy. However, my dear Annagrace celebrated her sixth birthday earlier this month, and I want to document that here on the blog. We celebrated by having a mommy and me trip to the new American Girl store in Houston. She and I had lunch and cake at the Bistro there. She also enjoyed having her doll's hair braided and tied with purple ribbons. After that we went home where Lauren had been busy making cupcakes and decorating for her party. At six years old Annagrace is a special delight. She is learning to read and play the piano. She is doing very well with her kindergarten studies and is starting to do more and more things to help around the house. She can transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer and turn it on. She is good at tidying up our shoe bench, and she likes to wash fruit such as grapes, etc. She is learning lots of new things and seems to be self motivated to learn. We are blessed by her sweetness.