God's Design:

So, two things on my mind and heart in the past weeks. I'm pregnant. And I've also inherited a pseudo-mama-bear role for 35 teenagers. So on two fronts I'm thinking and meditating on God's design for sex and sexuality, purity and integrity, the pregnancy and birth process and the dating and marriage process.

My babes are fascinated by my belly and are asking "when I was a baby?" type questions. It's been so fun to tell them stories about when they were "babies". Like how Kennady would NOT sit down in her high chair, so Bryson would holler "'Poon! 'Poon!" (for spoon -- aka: rod of correction) and for her to hear our theory of why we think Jesus gave Kennabear her Brown Eyes (because Mommy ate so much "chyockyate" when she was in my tummy. And how Kev cried like a pterydactyl (sp?) when he was a newborn. So we've been to the library and checked out books about a new baby sibling that's living inside my belly, but will be coming to live with us in June.

We ordered a book from Amazon called "The Story of Me " and it's BOOK 1 from a 4-Part GOD'S DESIGN FOR SEX series. This book is for ages 3-5 and introduces the basics. It lays the spiritual foundation for the child's understanding of sexuality and how God loves the human body and called it "very good" and that our bodies and our sex organs are gifts from God.

What I liked about the book was that it is a dialogue between a boy and his parents, sittin' down for a chat on their couch and he's asking questions... "Tell me the story of me!" he says. And the parents tell him how God took "a piece of Mommy and a piece of Daddy" and made him. That his Mom pushed him through the birth canal (with proper anatomical verbage) and how his sister was born when the doctor opened Mommy's belly to take her out.

It covers breast milk and the umbilical cord and then, which is really cool, it also introduces the fact that "Not all hugs and kisses are good... If you don't want to share a kiss or a hug or a touch with someone, you don't have to. God does not want anyone to take love from you that you don't want to share."

We've been talking to the kids about good touch/bad touch a lot lately. At bathtimes especially. I really liked how the authors worded it. This book backs up what we've been teaching our kids already. And so I'm sure we'll take our kids through the whole series and take a pro-active approach in showing them God's best in a culture that has tainted and perverted and counterfeited sex and sexuality. We want them to hear the truth from us before they hear the lies of the world.

Anyway, if you have kids ages 3 - 14, there's a book in this series to assist you in having this essential (but maybe awkward) "talk." Check it out!

New Favorite Books

I bought these two children's books last year at a conference featuring Elizabeth George, author of A Woman After God's Own Heart. I was really excited about the content because there is such applicable wisdom in the Proverbs for parenting. I took the books home and the kids weren't really all that excited. But I pulled them out again a few weeks ago for my oldest two babes, and at ages 3 & 4, these are now the pages they want to behold at bedtime. They are fascinated by the illustrations and by the rhythm and rhyme that Elizabeth uses to spell out these truths.








God's Wisdom for Little Boys: Character Building Fun from Proverbs highlights characterics that make men wise and smart. Bryson's favorite pages are the ones illustrating that God's Little Boy is ...


TRUTHFUL
He recites the scripture before we even turn the page... "We don't use our mouth to tell lies, Mom, huh."

DILIGENT

OBEDIENT

RESPONSIBLE

BRAVE
"Yeah, when I lay down my sleep will be peaceful. And the Lord will keep me SAFE!"



God's Wisdom for Little Girls: Virtues and Fun from Proverbs highlights the virtues we find of the exemplary woman in Proverbs 31. Kennady loves the first page, PRICELESS, since it's an illustration of a little girl playing dress-up with all sorts of treasures from mom's room and jewelry boxes (including rubies). Her favorite pages include the ones that reveal that God's Little Girl is...

EAGER

CHEERFUL

GRACIOUS

ARTISTIC

We use the Headings of each page to practice our ABC's with sight recognition. Bryson & Kennady are hiding God's Word in their hearts and seeing what these biblical words that we use around here actually mean by observing the illustrations of the children on the pages. Making them favorites of mine, too. Especially for spending time with my son, who does like to look at books and sit through stories, but has little interest in practicing recognizing the alphabet and writing his letters (unless it's bedtime and he's run out of other procrastinatory options like another request to use the bathroom or another drink for his oh-so-scratchy throat or his blankets aren't straight... he'll ask, "Can I practice my letters?"... he's a smart boy, I'll tell ya).

And actually, everytime I read through these, there's always something that strikes a chord in my heart for that day... the conviction of the Holy Spirit, you know? And it gives me a good opportunity to confess to my sweet boy or girl how Mommy's day would have been better if I had been more EAGER or CARE-FUL or more DILIGENT, depending on what story I can re-tell from how our day went. Might be good for all of us to read these piled up in our bed first thing in the morning!

Cooking with Kellie (lol)

So, my Aunt Penny from Texas sent me a fun surprise. She works at Williams-Sonoma and so I'm always getting sweet late-season stuff out of the blue. And this last package she sent had 4 cookbooks (one was WAFFLES and one was a cooking with kids at the holidays) and the other 2 were these awesome cookbooks for preschoolers.

What's cool about these cookbooks is that they use REAL FOOD (no kool-aid or other gimmicky stuff). There's notes to the parent (the helper) and then kid-friendly instructions for the little Head Chef. And THEN... 2 pages of step-by-step ILLUSTRATIONS.

Kennady and I made French Toast using the illustrations. SHE LOVED IT!

Inside these creative cookbooks are recipes that get kids interested in helping in the kitchen AND actually wanting to eat the food!

CARROT PENNIES
HIDE AND SEEK MUFFINS
HOMEMADE LEMON-LIME SODA POP
NOODLE PUDDING
ZUCCHINI MOONS
GREEN SPAGHETTI
SALAD PEOPLE
POLKA DOT RICE
GREEN GARDEN DIP
CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP AND CRISPY CHEESE CRACKERS
COUNTING SOUP







This is the next recipe we want to try!

Recipe for

PRETEND SOUP

2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 T. honey

2 t. lemon juice

1 small banana, sliced

1 cup berries (any kind, fresh or frozen; if they're frozen, defrost and use all the juice -- it will add color to the soup)

1. Place orange juice in a bowl. Add yogurt, honey, lemon juice.
2. Whisk "until it is all one color."
3. Place 5 banana slices and 2 T. berries in each bowl.
4. Ladle the soup over the berries and bananas. Eat!

Note: You can add other kinds of fruit as well. Slices of kiwi are expecially pretty.

Yield: About 4 servings

One thing that's so cool about being a Mom is actually living vicariously through my kids. I loved loved loved loved cooking and baking as a kid. So much that I would watch Julia Childs as a 9-year-old (after Mathnet and Reading Rainbow, remember those?).

My parents bought a video camera (and it was one of our favorite sources of entertainment as 3-kids-with-no-neighbors-out-in-the-tullies). I would prop it up on a stack of books on top of a card table in the kitchen (this is so dorky, but so me!) and I would film my own cooking show... complete with sheets of paper I would flash in front of the screen with the show's name [COOKING WITH KELLIE] and the credits. Where are those video tapes?!!! I am SUCH a nerd!

Things I loved (or thought I would love as a girl and didn't get to) do, I now have the opportunity to do with my kids. My daughter just eats it up!

Bible Time

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:4-7

This is the Bible we've decided to use this year in our teaching of Scripture to our kiddos. The Day by Day Kid's Bible is put together in chronological order and is divided into daily readings. It's written for 7-10 year olds to read independently, but is excellent for listeners that are 3 or 4 years-old. The language is so kid friendly that my babes have been able jump right into the story with all their curious questions. Click here to learn more about it, download sample pages & view a 4-minute clip explaining the mission and vision of this awesome resource.

We have taught Sunday School for 3 & 4 year olds and have some other faves...

Read With Me Bible NIrV was our first children's Bible purchase ever (long before any Trenkle tippy toes) and our Sunday School kids loved it. So, of course, it's the Bible we have given each of our children.

See With Me Bible: The Bible Told in Pictures is an illustration-only Bible and the pictures are so vivid and detailed. It's the pictures that tell the story in this awesome Bible. My babes love it!

We also own the Kids' Quest Study Bible NIrV and have used this as a springboard for retelling Bible stories to our kids. This is different from the "Day by Day Kid's Bible" because it is the Bible in its entirety from Genesis 1 - Revelation 22, whereas the Day by Day Bible is chronological and does not include every verse of Scripture. (The Day by Day Bible bridges the gap between Bible storybooks and full-text Bibles.)