Halloween 2013

The kids had plenty of opportunities to enjoy Halloween activities this week! The week began with Trunk-or-Treat at Centre Grove on Sunday. Sarah’s preschool had a party on Wednesday and Ethan’s first grade class had a party on Thursday. Last night, the kids went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood in light rain. Sarah was Super Girl … Read more

Summer 2013

We had a nice, busy, and fast, summer. Early on, we went to York, Maine. Toward the end of the summer, we spent an afternoon at Greenwood Furnace. The kids enjoyed the rides at the Clearfield County Fair. And, just before the school year started, we spent a couple of days at the Pennsylvania Grand … Read more

York, Maine 2013

We just returned from vacation in Maine (where we went in 2011 and 2012). The kids enjoy going to Maine. They talk about going there through much of the year, even though it’s far away and the water is cool (water temperature was 57-59 degrees last week). Last year, it took them a few days … Read more

The Lost Blanket

Well, you’ve heard the stories of the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Son (see Luke 15). On Saturday, we experienced the story of the Lost Blanket! Last week, our family went to annual conference, a gathering of pastors and lay members from each church or charge in the conference. We arrived Wednesday … Read more

The 2013 School Year in Review

Today was a busy day, and it marked the end of a busy year! This year, Sarah completed her first year of preschool (see Sarah Goes to Preschool!), and Ethan completed Kindergarten (see Ethan Goes to Kindergarten!). The year also included extracurricular activities–soccer for both Ethan and Sarah and dance for Sarah. Sarah’s year of … Read more

Celebrating Earth Day

For Earth Day, Ethan’s Kindergarten class put on a special Earth Day program. The class, which spent weeks preparing, did a great job. And, we are very proud of Ethan! The one-hour program included a few songs, some readings, a “video book” (an edited video of each child reading a page from a book), planting … Read more

5 Children’s Books for Family Devotions

Our most important responsibility as parents is discipling our children! While we can always do better, it is something we’ve been intentional about from the beginning. Some of our previous posts include: Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, Praying for Your Children, Family Devotion, Teaching Kids to Pray, and “Praying Circles Around Your Children” (these … Read more

“Praying Circles Around Your Children”

Praying Circles Around Your Children by Mark Batterson is a great resource for parents who want to pray for their kids! Last year, I read The Circle Maker, also by Mark Batterson. I wrote several posts about it; the last one includes links to all of the posts in the series (see 5 Takeaways From … Read more

Celebrating 5 Years With Ethan!

Five years ago today, Ethan joined our family! Of course, Ethan, 8-months-old then, joined our family reluctantly, at the time. We had just met him in his foster home the day before. From there, he adjusted very quickly! We celebrated his “gotcha day” last night by going to Fun Central, a local indoor play area. … Read more

Teaching Kids to Pray

One of the most important things parents do is teach their children valuable skills they’ll use throughout their lives. “Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.” (Proverbs 22.6, CEB). There’s no greater skill than praying! As parents, we want our kids to have a vital … Read more