Zgarba Zeal

TV Free Week

We have been so busy lately, hence no blogging.  But along the way, we have fallen into the habit of watching videos and playing online (pbskids, lego, etc.) much too much.  Cutting back is always harder than going "cold turkey" so we've decided to have a TV-Computer Free Week.  (With the exception of writing this blog.)

This is a great week for our endeavor, since Vacation Bible School begins on Monday.  (The public schools let out last Thursday.)  Our VBS is at night, so I decided to plan crafts and activities for our days.  Today we went to lunch and Wal-Mart to buy some craft supplies (corn husks, moss, raffia, and a bag of shells).  We were also going to buy parrafin wax and candle wick material, but we couldn't find those, so we'll be putting off that craft or finding another way to do it.

We also made some crafts using the shells that we bought.  Noah made a drill, Jonah made a mountain, and Gracie glued two clam shells together so they look like a clam opening up.  We also plan to make shell candles (I hope), a corn husk doll, a hut out of twigs, moss, and corn husks, and a chess set from twigs and shells.  I'll let you know if they turn out.

Tomorrow we plan to go hiking and swimming at Inks Lake in the early morning, and then work on our crafts in the afternoon.  Tuesday we babysit, so mostly crafts and reading new books by Tomie DePaolo, Big Book of Favorite Legends and Front Porch Tales and North Country Whoppers.  Wednesday Mark has the day off, so we will go swimming at the Slab (on the Llano River near Kingsland) early in the morning.  Thursday is Park Day with the homeschool group, and Friday we baby sit again.  And of course, VBS every night.  I'm feeling tired just typing it all out!

I almost gave up our TV Free Week today, thinking we could just cut back.  It was mid afternoon.  We had done our crafts.  I was feeling terribly tired, needing to rest for a while.  The children were asking what they could do next.  I almost said, lets just watch a video, but I didn't.  After a few minutes, Noah picked up a Hank The Cowdog book and began reading aloud to everyone.  It was so nice to just lay on the couch and listen to someone else read aloud.  We all enjoyed it very much.

Our day ended with a church picnic.

TV Free Week might not be so hard afterall.

Book It!!

Origami Display

Noah and Jonah have worked hard to create an origami display for our local library.  I've included several pictures.  The first two depict Noah's work.  The last picture shows Jonah pointing to a minature Samurai hat that he made.  Jonah's work is shown on the right side of the last picture.

My Redeemer Lives

I saw this wonderful video on Godtube.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  I can't seem to figure out how to add images and videos, so go to http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513 to view it.

Bible Reading Challenge

I decided to begin my Bible Reading Challenge a few days earlier so that I would get into the habit (again) of reading my Bible every day.  I am reading the Gospel of John.  It's surprising (or maybe not) how many new ideas/insights I find, even though I've read this book several times.  What stood out to me is how quickly Jesus begins to tell the disciples who He really is.  He never claims to be just a prophet or just a teacher or even just a wise man.  No, from the beginning He claims to be from God.  Descended from Heaven to Earth.  The Son of God. 

I hope you can join us in reading every day.

A New Puppy

First, I have to apologize to everyone!  I'm afraid I've been double posting on some blogs.  Terribly sorry.  It looks as if the post doesn't go through, so I click post again, and well,  oops.

We have a new puppy around the house.  We named her, Beulah, after Hank's love interest in Hank the Cowdog series.  She is a border collie mix.  The cats aren't sure what to make of her.  As Mark says, there's been a cold war between them.  She wants to herd the cats, or at least play with them.  They want to sit in their windows and be left alone.

The other day Tiger was sitting in the window above our chest freezer.  He got down to explore the kitchen for a minute, so I took the opportunity to open the freezer to get something out.  About that time Beulah came barreling into the kitchen, Tiger jumped straight into the air, expecting to land on top of the freezer, but I had it open so he landed IN the freezer.  His feet barely touched the frozen turkey in the bottom when he went straight up into the air again.

There was the sound of kitty and puppy feet scurring on our parquet floor.  The kitty got better traction and found a new hiding spot.  I almost fell into the freezer laughing.  Never a dull moment around here!

So Creepy...

I am so sick.  I have been praying for several children with life threatening illnesses, children whose parents I "met" while blogging.  It turns out that one of the parents made up the child, the illness, everything, and then yesterday posted a picture of another child, who is a real patient blogged about on www.caringbridge.org.  Someone who knows the real family blasted the fake parent, contacted the real family and caringbridge.  Then the poor mother left a message on the site.  I cannot imagine how violated she must feel.  Needless to say, the site has been removed.  But I am left with this empty, sick feeling. 

(So there are no misunderstandings, I continue to pray for Noah and Suzannah, both real children, whose mom's blog here also.  Praying for them and following their families' stories has been a real blessing.)

If you want to be challenged...

Some how or other I ended up at Godtube today.  I usually don't have much time to surf the web, but today....  I know that God is at work in my life. 

If you want to be challenged, watch this video here:  http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=19fd9c84c942a08316e0.  (Some day I will learn how to add buttons, pictures, and Godtube videos, but for now I'm afraid you'll just have to click and go.)

This is a sermon given at a youth conference several years ago.  The video is almost 50 minutes long, so find a time when you won't be disturbed.  It is worth every minute.

For another challenge, or at least motivation, to read your Bible daily, go to Leah's blog and sign up for her 30 day Bible Reading Challenge.  You can find the information here.

The Things They Say

I was reading the children some of the blog entries, mostly the ones having to do with things they had said.  They again began discussing whether boys were mammals, with Jonah still insisting that they couldn't be.  (Boys can't be mammals because they don't have babies--his reasoning.)

Dad:  We are all the same species.

Jonah:  No, we're not.  Mom's a girl!

I guess just another take on the Women are from Venus/Men are from Mars theory.

The Things They Say

Grace to Dad as she was writing:  One time I made a beautiful "B".

Dad:  You did?

G:  Yes.  I just had the Spirit, and it was really fancy.  It was a beautiful "B".