Musings on Music plus Cookies

Sunday morning started out nice and slow. The kids were awake early but played together instead of waking us up. Though I did have to tell them to quiet down, at least they were getting along really well.

Church was interesting--a great message. Since I explained it to Midget via IM earlier tonight, I'll repeat it here. :o) The pastor was talking about how spiritual warfare happens primarily in our minds--it's Satan whispering his lies to us. The battle is fought when we choose not to listen to his lies, but rather to God's truth. But if we listen, then Satan wins, and we take that lie into our lives.

Then there was this part about how worship (primarily focusing on song for today) is one of our most powerful weapons against spiritual warfare. The Biblical connection was in 2 Chronicles 20--the story of Jehoshaphat facing an invasion. After asking God about it, the king decides to put the worship singers on the front line!

As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

I have a Pandora station that has a lot of Nicole Nordeman, Jennifer Knapp, Chris Rice, and other Christian artists, and I have been putting that on in the mornings when I am home alone, and also when I'm making dinner. Oddly soothing and calming, even if I'm not listening to every word. Just hearing snatches of phrases that remind me about God helps keep Him at the forefront of my mind. So the message made sense and reinforced that keeping musical worship as a part of my daily routine should remain a priority.

After church, Heath went to the school to work on a project, and the kids played outside while I made sandwiches and cut strawberries for lunch. We ate together, then got started on making a BUNCH of cookies for Halloween.

Once we again, we are doing the same thing as last year and making "treat bags" to give to the people who answer the doors to give away candy on Halloween. The kids had a grand time helping with the cookies. Julie is old enough now that she is truly helpful!





The kids rested a little while while the cookies baked, then Marla came by to take Julie to AWANA with her daughters as a guest. Julie had a fantastic time! She's done AWANA Clubs before, but the day and time that they have it at our church just isn't conducive to the early bedtime our kids need.

Everest and I hung out for about 45 minutes, then Heath picked him up to take him to the park. I did some work on the church magazine for awhile because I'm taking Tuesday off for the first day of NaNoWriMo. :oD I got a lot done and should be on track to print by Wednesday evening.

We had dinner together--homemade chili (probably the best I have ever made!) in breadbowls (just hollowed out rolls) with corn on the side. Delicious! We're doing so much better about eating at home. Heath took care of cleaning up the kitchen for me while I got the kids showered and ready for bed. Folded all the kids clothes in the process too. Wahoo!

Tonight, Heath has continued working (he's got a big project going on), and I did some final production stuff for the last Inkaholics book. We now have a completed cover as well as a skeleton for the interior book design. Midget is doing a second editing run for me, then I'll be ready to lay that out and get those books ordered. Can't wait!

Well, it just hit midnight, and tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Got to assemble those treat bags and buy cider for after trick-or-treating, as well as drop off due-materials at the library. I had better get me some sleep while I still can.

An AWANA Sparky

I don't think I've mentioned that we put Julie back in AWANA Clubs this year. We skipped last year because of how late AWANA goes (7:45 p.m.) and how early she has to get up on school days (6:45 a.m.). That girl really does need her sleep to function well. Their usual bedtime is around 7:00 p.m.

But I've been feeling really convicted about making sure that we are guiding our children spiritually. So this year, we decided that spiritual stability and training was more important than sleep. It's only staying up one night a week after all.

Because of her age, she is in the Sparkies group. Tonight, she earned her first patch and finally got her vest. She was so happy, and I'm very proud of her accomplishments as well. I've mentioned AWANA on my blog before, when Julie was in Cubbies. Basically, it is a way to get kids to memorize scripture and get parents to talk to them about God and the Bible.

I've been sold on AWANA since I first learned about (before having kids). As a parent, I appreciate the fact that I am required to help her memorize these verses, which in turn helps me to memorize them too. We have been learning the books of the New Testament in song, and I almost have it down. (Julie has it completely memorized already of course, but her mind has not yet been made into a sieve, as is the fate of every mom.)

Anyway, Julie suggested on the way home tonight that we let Everest wear her old Cubbies vest. So we dug it up, and they are both so in love with those vests that they are sleeping in them tonight.



Goodness, she looks like such a good big sister in that picture. :oD

I see the moon

On the way to pick up Julie at AWANA, the moon was hanging in the sky with a cloudy mist around it. So beautiful. Everest and I had this conversation:

Everest: "I want to climb a mountain so I can get that moon and bring it down here.

Momma: "What are you going to do with the moon once you have it?"

Everest: "I'm going to push that button on it!"

Later, we told Julie of Everest's plan and Julie asks, "What's going to happen when you push the button?"

Everest: "What's going to happen, sister?"

Julie: "It'll probably blow up like a volcano!"

Tooth Aftermath + a Julie Note

The boy: sans one front tooth plus one mint.



SIDE NOTE: Julie joined the Chess Club at school today. She wanted to. *blink* And so my little social butterfly's schedule begins to fill. We're going to have to make a point to keep the away-from-family commitments down to two a week. She's in AWANA again this year, so that makes two commitments a week already. (If push comes to shove, AWANA stays. Period!)

Pet Peeves + Summer Review

One of my pet peeves is watching people who don't have kids react with little understanding to children who are just being themselves. Why does a little peeping and cooing from a baby have to be described as "fussy"? And why should a child who is upset about something be accused of having a "tantrum"? Neither one of these words are positives in my mind, and I despise someone telling me that my children are doing one or the other when they are being completely normal.

After all, it's impossible to keep a baby or a child completely quiet. There is just no reason to place a label on the noise because the person doesn't like the disturbance of their happy place.

I need to place a griping label on this. LOL

In other news, so much has happened that I don't know if I can even describe it all. So in the words of Inigo Montoya, "It is too much. Let me sum up."

SUMMER STUFF
* Julie took swimming lessons at Cottonwood Rec Center. After two weeks, she decided that she loves swimming, but she doesn't want to ever get her face wet. The instructor was this barely 16 year old girl with a skinny backbone. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of putting Julie all the way under the water the first time she jumped into her arms. Agh! You never know what will scar a child's psyche for life.

We're planning on getting her swimming lessons next summer though so she can try again and take all the classes back to back.

* Everest got his immunization shots and amazed us once again with his uncanny ability to handle pain. For the second time, he cried for about 30 seconds, then was completely fine. He's demonstrated this strange ability on other occasions when he's fallen off the couch and later off the bed. Cries for half a minute, then recovers without a problem. Hallelujah!

I'll have to post more updates later on. (It's waaay too late for me to up now.) But one of the other big things that's happened is that Julie started preschool--real preschool at our neighborhood elementary school. It's four days a week in the afternoons. She's really loving it and has already made lots of friends--including a new best friend!

Oh, and also, Julie is in Awana Cubbies again this year. It just started last week. Second day is tomorrow. Eeps! I better review her verse with her. I was sick last week and totally spaced a lot of things. Well, we'll get back on track again.

Everest is 8 months old now and can sit up, roll both ways, and is showing BIG signs of a voracious appetite. I have to plan each day's nutrition so I can be sure to get enough food in his tummy to satisfy.

Have I mentioned that I started a Tuesday morning Bible study for moms as well? Fall, here we come!

Awana Awards Ceremony

What a week this has been! So much is going on. Julie had her last day of Awana tonight. They had an awards ceremony with a craft time and cookie reception too. It was very fun and made Julie feel quite special. She did a great job memorizing her verses this year, so she received a few awards including some finger puppets and new patches for her vest. Julie has now officially finished her first year as an Awana Cubbie!

Doing crafts with her friend Rachel.


Posing with Cubbie Bear and Rachel.


I'm so proud of my little Awana Cubbie!