Teachable {MOM}ents

I am currently having issues uploading pictures, so I will add some later. Friday, we celebrated day 4 & 5 of Advent (since it would be hard to find time on the weekends). I combined them together into one oranament. C & D is for City of David After marking our calendar, we began by reading Luke 2:11: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." We talked for a few moments about Bethlehem being the city that Jesus was born in. After that, we sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and then I asked Evelyn to tell me what a "City" is? Her resonse: "Buildings" We then, made our ornament. The ornament is super simple!! Items Needed: Christmas Bulb Black Construction Paper Yellow Construction Paper Scissors Glue For this ornament, we just glued small strips of black construction paper onto the ornament to look like buildings in a city. Then we cut out a yellow star and glued the star over top and done!...

Today, we continued with the ABC's of Advent - "B is for Baby Jesus". We began by changing the "gift marker" on our Advent Calendar to day 2. Then I asked Evelyn to tell me who Jesus is. Her Response: "Jesus is a King. I know Jesus is born." After that we read Matthew 1:22-25. "The virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means "God with us")." Matthew 1:23 We read the book, "On This Special Night" and then sang a song about Baby Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Oh what a wonderful child. Jesus, Jesus, so lowly, meek and mild. New life, new hope, new joy he bring, Won't you listen to the angels sing. Glory, Glory, Glory, to the newborn King! Here is Evelyn doing "Jesus" sign language to the song: Now it was time to make our ornament. Today, we made an ornament out of a Christmas Card - you can use any Christmas card with the nativity, manger or baby Jesus on it. Items ...

Evelyn and I are exploring Advent this year. We are using an advent Calendar and then also doing the ABC's of Advent. We placed the "gift marker" into the number one pocket on our Advent Calendar and then began. Today, December 1st, is the first day. And today is "A is for Angels". We started out reading Luke 2:8-14 "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" After we read the scripture, I asked Evelyn to tell me what Angels are. Her reply: "An Angel is a pyramid and it flies off the grass." We talked for a few moments about how God created Angels to show His glory, to be His messengers and that Angels protect His children. We sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and Evelyn and Beckett both sang along ;) Evelyn did catch on to one line "Glory to the King" - and isn't that the most important one? After our song, we prayed. "Dear God thank you for the Angels. Thank you for showing your cre...

It's been a while, a long while, since I have blogged. But a few weeks ago God sat me down at the computer one day and made me write this...seriously I just had to put into words the transformation that is happening in my life. So, I am going to step outside of my usual self and post something very vulnerable. The funny thing is that this blog is the perfect place to do it, because I created this blog really wanting to be perfect. To show others that I am a perfect mom and wife, haha! So, now I will break open my heart and show you the real Emily, the raw Emily. Perfectionism - at it's worst I have been a perfectionist my entire life. As a child I would get physically sick, if things didn’t go the way I planned. In some ways it was a good thing, because I set really high expectations for myself. I had goals I wanted achieve and for the most part, if I set my mind to it, I did it. However, there were some things that I just didn’t do well, and in those cases, I would quit. See, ...

A Not So Charming Prince… Last Friday night I took my almost two-year-old daughter to see Disney’s new animated movie, “The Princess and the Frog”. I have to be honest, I was sorely disappointed with this film. Having grown up in the generation of, “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Aladdin”; I felt that Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation left much to be desired. My biggest concern with the movie was the lack of positive character development and connection, specifically speaking, Prince Naveen. What happened to Prince Charming? Well, there was nothing charming about this Prince - in fact, he was the opposite of charming. A better name for him might be Prince Self-indulged, or Prince Entitlement. Prince Naveen’s opening scene in the movie depicts him mucking it up with lots of woman. He was coming to visit New Orleans for the sole purpose of finding a rich girl to marry. He was, what my family calls, a “schmoozer”. Now, I don’t have a problem with a character havi...

"I'm waiting, waiting on you Lord And I am hopeful, waiting on you Lord Though it's painful, patiently I will wait." I want to be obedient to the Lord. I have been falling short, however. I have been trying to make my own path, and plan my own future. Today, I was reading a book and it talked about not putting a period in our lives where God has placed a comma. I loved that! That is what I am doing. There are some exciting opportunities on the horizon, but because of my fears and insecurities I have taken this time of "waiting" as a sign that God was closing the door. Maybe He is, but maybe He isn't and I just need to wait... I haven't had much chance to blog lately. We did get our laptop fixed but our internet no longer worked, so we still have to get new internet...Things are going well at the Powers home. Evelyn is learning about farms this week and next. We are doing some fun projects including; marshmallow sheep, oreo cows, milk experiments and ...

Today, I read this passage in my bible: "Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work. I'm making you as impregnable as a castle, Immovable as a steel post, solid as a concrete block wall. You're a one-man defense system against this culture, Against Judah's kings and princes, against the priests and local leaders. They'll fight you, but they won't even scratch you. I'll back you up every inch of the way." ~Jeremiah 1:18-19 "You're a one-man defense system against this culture ". This whole passage spoke to me but I was particularly drawn to this line. As I was reading it, God just pulled this line out to my attention. And as strange as it may seem, it got me thinking about my children and their futures. I was thinking about the kind of "culture" they will be faced with in their lives. God is asking of Jeremiah to go into the world and do His work, He is preparing him for what is to come. As parents, God has laid t...