To make a lava lamp you need:

• A bottle or jar with a lid
• Oil
• Food coloring
• Alka Seltzer
• Water

Fill your container with oil 3/4 full.  Fill the rest with water, leaving about an inch from the top. Drop about 15 or so drops of food coloring into the jar.  Break your alka seltzer tablets into pieces and drop them in one at a time.

It will begin to fuzz and bubble and eventually look like a lava lamp with bubbles floating up and down.  It’s a lot of fun to watch!

My daughter originally had an yellow lava lamp, but she wanted to add blue food coloring, so I let her, she now knows yellow and blue make green.  The kids said her jar looked like the Swamp from the movie Shrek!

We turned out all the lights and the kids shinned their flash lights in the bottles. So cool! I think I liked it more than they did – Haha!

Original inspiration for this craft was found here.

We recently made a prayer vase, some of you may have seen a version of this on Pinterest.

The littles helped me write the names of family and friends we will pray for.

Once a day the kids will draw a stick before we eat and say a short prayer for that person. Depending on the day, we will either pray before breakfast or dinner.  Since no two days are alike, I don’t hold myself to a standard of one specific meal – however, I do make it a point to do it everyday, regardless of the time.

Items needed:
Large Craft Sticks
Permanent markers
Vase, jar or pail

Simple to make.  Simple to teach.  Win-win!

I’ve coined these small spiral notebooks their “Journals”.  As the kids are getting ready for bed I put their journals on their pillows.  My son likes to write with a pen, my daughter loves her purple crayon and she places it inside the spiral much like that guy on Blue’s Clues!

Each night the kids now “write” in their journals.  My daughter usually draws pictures, but she’s trying to write more as she’s learning letters in Preschool.  My son will actually write simple sentences, but usually ends up drawing pictures too.

I like to prompt their writings by reviewing some of the fun things we did that day.  Sometimes they write and draw about the day other times they draw something different.

Regardless of what they write, I know I’m establishing the habit of journaling in my kids’ lives, I believe that it helps focus their imagination and creativity.  It’s a way of expressing their thoughts and their art; and I truly believe it will build their self-esteem because they’re creating something that is entirely their own.

As you can see in the photos below J#1 is showing J#2 how to spell “MOM”.  So sweet!

….gone to Haiti that is.

The kids and I are flying solo for ten days as the greatest man in my life is in Haiti on his very first Missions Trip.  He’ll be in central Haiti in a town called Lascahobas, he’ll be building showers for the people there.  The team he’s with will also go to Port-au-Prince and visit a nearby tent city.

I can’t wait for him to return….not just because he’s my partner in crime and helps keep me sane, but because I know he’s going to have a life changing time there.

From the time we found out we were pregnant with  J #1, we’ve talked about exposing our kids to different cultures. We want our children to understand how other people live by taking them on missions trips, traveling and experiencing cultures not our own.

The more we stretch our kids’ world view, the less room there is for a self-centered heart.  We want our kids to love God and love others, one way we know we can affect positive change in our children is by exposing them (in due season) to different cultures.

Seeing, tasting, smelling and living with people not like you is healthy – and it can be life changing.  But it begins with us as parents; and for my husband, this is the first of many missions trips he’ll be going on.

….for that I’m so grateful.

The giveaway is for a Bento Lunch Box set, this is one of her specialties.  She does Fun Food Friday and makes THE CUTEST creations out of food for her kids. Click here to see some of her food creations.

If you want to be entered to win, just head on over to Meet the Dubiens and leave a comment, while you’re there be sure to take a look around, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Ann has a way of communicating that makes you see life differently. The Lord is using her life, the pain, the mess and the chaos to bring hope to people who choose JOY and count their blessings the way she does.

I read her book last year and I’m going to read it again this year! Even if you haven’t read her book you can take part in her Joy Dare! What’s a joy dare you ask? A purposefully look at the good in life, even when it’s not easy to do.

I love these quotes from Ann:
“I only live the full life when I live fully in the moment.”

“Every breath’s a battle between grudgery & gratitude. Give thanks — & you win joy.”

Reading her book is like putting glasses on when things around you are so fuzzy. She helps you see the beauty that really is all around us!

She’s made it so easy for you to count your blessings by taking her Joy Dare: find 3 things everyday to thank the Lord for.  You can download February’s Joy Dare HERE.

“The way to give thanks in all things: give thanks in this 1 small thing.
The moments add up.”

Happy Friday!

As we were shopping I saw these:

They looked good, sitting so lovely and all alone on the freezer shelf of Trader Joe’s.

I was very tempted to buy 2 boxes, which is what the old me would have done. Being pregnant for so long, it’s become quite natural for me to give into every craving I’ve had. I would justify it when I was with child, and rightfully so.  Even now (45+ pounds later) I don’t regret giving-in to those pregnant cravings for ice cream, Taco Bell or xLarge french fries! For me, it was part of the experience and helped get me through those long months of being uncomfortable.

So even though I still look round and with child, I’m happy to say I’m not pregnant.  Nothing makes a girl want to loose weight than having strangers ask her when her due date is. (yes this has happend to me 3 times over the last few weeks!)

1. God made us to crave.  The object of our craving was never supposed to be food.

2. I need to use my cravings for unhealthy food as a prompting to pray.

3. Instead of wallowing in what I can’t have, I’m making the choice to celebrate what I can have.

4. If I’m determine to get healthy, I will have to give up certain things and change my habits.

5. Accountability is crucial.

6. I was made for more than being ruled by my taste buds.

7. Living in victory tastes sweeter than any unhealthy delicacy.

8. The deeper reason for choosing to get healthy is to help me grow closer to God.

9. Issues with food can hold me back from my calling and commitment to Christ.

10.  Being ruled by anything other thing God is something God takes seriously, and so should I.