Dutyisms

A prayer for Allen while he was in Guatemala (after we had heard about his car accident):

I pray Daddy has a great great great time in Guatemala. I pray that he doesn't crash anymore crashes. And that the school bus will just MOOOOVE out of the road so that they don't have to bump into it anymore. In Jesus' name, Amen.

After helping me bake a cake and giving her a beater with batter on it to lick, she runs into the kitchen saying,

I'm all done with my licker!

When we had our butterfly habitat, Taylor Joy would go over to the butterflies and blow on them, saying:

They need fresh air!

When feeding Cheerios to Easton one day, she stopped feeding him saying,

We don't want to full up his tummy!

Allen asked Taylor Joy one day if she was Ariel (the Disney princess). This is what she said:

Yeah! Not the one who swims. The one who stands. With the shoes.

One day this is the conversation I heard between Taylor Joy and Beckett:

Taylor Joy - we love Daddy and Mommy and they love us.

Beckett - Yeah! And they keep us safe from bugs.

When I go into Beckett's room after his nap and smell poop, I say, "Buddy, did you poop? And he says:

No, I just tooted. Vewy vewy bad.

or he's been known to say,

I thirsty. Vewy vewy bad.

Since Beckett has transitioned to his big boy bed (a toddler bed from a crib), he has been staying up a little later at night, rambling to himself. Here are some quotes I have written down,

If I knock over the basketball hoop and hit sissy wif it, I get spankin' and that would make me sad.

Aww! that kitty's so cute! Aww! (about a picture of a kitten on his wall)

I want get out and play with mommy and dadd. No. He's a curch (church).

He also loves to talk about his new "bi-boy bed" and his old "cib".

They are such funny kids. I love them.

Dearest Taylor,

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

4 years on this Earth and unnumerable blessings you have brought to me, Daddy, Beckett, Easton and basically everyone you encounter.

Your helpful spirit blesses me so much and when you are loving and caring towards your brothers, it brings so much joy to my heart.

Your thoughtfulness towards me is such a reminder of God's grace and His kindness toward me.

Your curiosity about everything is inspiring and causes me to seek out answers and learn with you.

Your insightfulness reaches far beyond four years. I pray that God gifts you with insight into His word as He draws you and as you seek to know Him.

You catch on so quickly to most things that we teach you. I pray that we will always teach you according to God's word, in the way you should go, and that as you grow and age, you won't depart from His ways. I pray for grace as we teach you. Grace for you to learn and grace for us as we seek to teach and shepherd you well.

God entrusted us with a treasure when He gave us you and we fear God and want to steward you well.

We love you and we will always love you, more and more each day. I hope today is a blessing to your heart, sweet Taylor Joy.

Love,
Mommy

(I can't believe my baby girl is 4! She's such a little grown-up and I love her so dearly! And...I'm SO glad she wanted to have a tea party for her birthday this year! It was so much fun to plan and put together and the girls had a blast.)



We read books about tea parties and hats...


We decorated hats and made necklaces...


Ate petit-fours...


and enjoyed our dainties together...

Come Thou Fount

Music time at the Duty home! Check out the little peeping tom in the background!

Guatemala

I have wanted to write about Guatemala for awhile now, but I have been a little preoccupied with my husband. Let me explain.

He was gone the week before last at a Pastor's conference called Together for the Gospel. He came home for ONE day. Then he left for Guatemala for an entire week. He's been home for a week now and I still can't get enough. I think all of that being gone can really spice up a marriage. We've been so intentional about spending time together this week and it has been so bonding and refreshing.

While Allen was gone we became socialites. Allen will tell you (and if you know me well), it takes him prodding me to pursue activities outside the house. I generally love to be home and doing stuff with the kids around the home and in the home. If we have a free night, I like to spend it with my kids and my husband. So it takes him to encourage me toward calling up friends and inviting them to do something or hanging out. It's not natural for me.

This past week was opposite. I needed to stay busy so that I wasn't dwelling on my missing him so much. We had stuff planned every day and every night that he was gone. As I was worshipping at church one night (alone with the kids in the back of the church), God overwhelmed me with thankfulness for our body of believers. I'm not exaggerating when I say that at least half of the people had either offered to help with the kids, hang out, bring a meal or pray for me while Allen was gone. I felt so cared for and loved by our body.

Meanwhile, Allen was persevering through trial after trial in Guatemala. From the get go, he and Nathan got lost from the group at the airport and the other part of the group (from Redeemer) was looking for them for 4-5 hours. They found each other while Rebekah (Nathan's wife) and I were on the phone with the team. What a great start to the trip! Phew! Later in the week they got in a car accident and several of the team members sustained minor injuries, a complete miracle of the Lord that no one had anything major happen to them! And yet, others trials along the way (such as their ride not showing up to take them to the airport on the way back), learning how to trust God all over again. And back home, God teaching me how to entrust Allen to Him even more. So, the theme of this trip: TRUST IN GOD. So thankful that God, in His mercy, is teaching us this.

Here are some pictures (many thanks to Brittany for the amazing pictures!):

Oh my! How did he not smuggle one of these cuties in his suitcase? I am smitten with these little ones!

Gigi, God's Little Princess DVD Review

I saw that Gigi, God's Little Princess DVD was available to review and immediately snatched it up for Taylor Joy. She has a Gigi book that she likes and she is the biggest lover of pink (besides myself) that I know. She loves to dance, loves being a ballerina and has said that she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. I thought this would be right up her alley.

When we got the DVD in the mail, I made a big deal of it and showed it to her.

Not interested.

So we waited several weeks and introduced it again. Interested this time...such a girl, so temperamental. We turned it on and both Taylor Joy (4) and Beckett (2) were interested. They watched the whole thing and asked to watch it again. So, on the kid front, total hit.

From my perspective, it was a cute DVD with a great focus. While Gigi was trying to do several things such as, make an announcement to her best friend Frances, making sure everything was perfect and, in the second episode, learning to dance like a ballerina to make God proud, she came to the realization that God doesn't expect perfection from her and she cannot earn her way to God. She must not rest on her own strength, but trust in God's strength.

There was no explicit mention of Jesus, by whom we have access to the Father and by whom we find our strength, but I still thought it to be a good message that I could talk to Taylor Joy more about later, pointing out that we don't need to be perfect because Jesus Christ lived a perfect and sinless life and died in our place. I could expand on the message that was already there and let her know that when we place our trust in the finished work of Jesus, it is in His life and the grace that He offers us that we find strength.

So, the message was a good starting off point for talking to my children and I appreciated that. I would recommend this DVD for little girly girls around the age of 4 or 5. It was cute, funny and conveyed a God-centered message.

 (Disclaimer: I received this DVD free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a result of reviewing it on my blog. They only require honesty, so this is my honest evaluation of the DVD. 4 stars out of 5.)

Dutyisms

I have a few Dutyism's that I have written down in the past week that need to be blogged. Taylor Joy is always hilarious, but lately Beckett has been saying some things that are just insanely funny. It doesn't help that the way he says them is like a little German boy. Seriously, from the moment he started talking it was, "Dah!", "Yah!" and we knew that those German roots were coming through for him.

Here is the latest from Taylor Joy:

Taylor Joy: "Mommy, do bugs poop?"
Mommy: "They sure do."
Taylor Joy: "Yeah...I know. Everybody poops.
                     I poop.
                     Bugs poop.
                     Flowers poop....
                     (GASP!) Flowers don't poop! (hahaha...uproarious laughter)

Since we have been growing caterpillars and watching our butterfly habitat, she has been intensely interested in bugs. I never would have thought I would have bugs in our house, but I console myself with the fact that they will become beautiful butterflies! My all-time favorite. I love them.

This is a conversation I had with Beckett today (although it has happened before):

(imagine that he did or said something funny...I can't remember exactly what)

 Mommy: "Buddy, you're a silly boy!"
Beckett: "I a boy! Daddy a boy!"
Mommy: "Yeah, you're right. Is Mommy a boy?" ( I really wanted to hear him say girl, which he says like, "geee ull", it's adorable. But, no such luck. As if I believe in that sorta thing.)
Beckett: "No, you not boy. You Cin-way-wah!" (Cinderella)

Thanks, Buddy. After all, that is my favorite Disney Princess if I had to be one. ;)

Some Favorites...

Easter Recipes, Ideas, Crafts

Last year I posted this about the things that we were implementing during the Lent season, especially the Easter weekend. Perhaps that may be helpful to you as you decide what to do with your kids on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We want to always evaluate the things we are doing or desire to do with our kids to make sure they are age-appropriate and such, but after thinking it through have continued to do similar activities for our Easter traditions with a now almost 4 year old, 2 year old and 8 month old.

We will continue to do the Easter Playdough Mountain this year. Directions below:

Playdough Mountain:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1719_tell_the_easter_story_with_a_playdough_mountain/







We will also bake our Resurrection Rolls on Sunday morning, with this recipe, telling this story as we make it:

Resurrection Rolls Recipe: (the author of the recipe and story is unknown)

*Tip: Because I have heard of several whose marshmallow didn't totally disappear, I would suggest using a small one to ensure that it melts and there isn't confusion*

Resurrection Rolls

Here's a new twist on the Resurrection Cookie idea for Easter, both are recipes you can do with your kids/grand kids in order for them to understand the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This fun recipe uses Crescent rolls and a disappearing marshmallow!

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
Crescent rolls
Melted butter
Large marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Read Matthew 27:57-61

1. Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
2. Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
3. Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.
4. Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
5. Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (The oven represents the tomb - pretend like it was three days!)
6. Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

Now read Matthew 28:5-8

Explain: At the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an angel, who told them not to be afraid. No one had taken Jesus' body, but He Had risen from the dead! The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples what they had seen, that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were so excited, they ran all the way home to tell the disciples the good news! He is risen from the dead! Alleluia!

After that Jesus appeared in person to Peter, then to the 12 disciples and after that, to more than 500 people. Jesus' appearance to eyewitnesses, those who saw Him with their own eyes, would give support and prove that Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

By rising from the dead, Jesus proved once and for all that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the World, the Chosen One, and the Lamb of God. By dying on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus did what no other had ever done before. As both God and man, He overcame sin, death, and hell. And now because of what Jesus has done, these things no longer have any power over those who believe in Jesus and allow His Spirit to lead and direct them. Rather than being slaves to sin and death, Christians ( those who love and believe in Jesus) are free to obey God and do good ( Romans 6:17-18). The Bible says in John 8:36, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

However, we will only obey God if we listen to the Holy Spirit our helper. He enables believers in Jesus to do the right thing. It is important that we read the Bible (God's Word) because one of the ways the Holy Spirit helps us obey God is by reminding us of what He says to us in His Word. God's Spirit will never go against his Word. In fact, when we read God's Word, we are listening to the Holy Spirit. Of course, you won't always do the right thing; the Bible says this ) 1 John 1:5-10). But that is why we need to continue to confess our sins knowing that God forgives us, based on what Jesus did on the cross. This is also a reason we need to spend time with other believers in Christ so they can encourage us in our faith.

May you have a blessed and meaningful Easter!

- Author Unknown -

Easter Crafting:

We also made some Easter treats to hand out to our neighbors this year. I actually got the idea from a Family Fun magazine, but they were making something similar to this just in the form of fun snacks. It's trail mix in the shape of a butterfly since we cinched the middle with a decorated clothespin and attached a pipe cleaner as antennas. I made a little tag in Photoshop and let the kids go to town. They had a blast making them, and I'm sure the big fun will be handing out their artwork to our neighbors and telling them about Jesus. We're also inviting them to watch the Passion with us at our house tonight.

As we were making these Taylor Joy said, "I'm just sad that Jesus is dead."  I explained to her that yes, it is sad, but the story doesn't end there. Jesus showed his power over death when he rose from the dead after 3 days in tomb. He is risen and that should make us very excited! He is faithful to do what he said he would do! She said, "But what if Jesus is dead in our hearts?" Blown away by her insightfulness and depth of thought, I told her that unless we realize that we need Jesus and He gives us faith in Him, He is dead in our hearts. He has to give us new hearts and make us new creations and we went on to talk about this verse that we used on the little cards we are going to hand out with the treats:

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be with my children all day and share Christ with them as we spend the day together, as we walk along the way, as we do crafts together, as we sit down for a meal and as I tuck them in bed. What an incredible blessing that is!

 (just had to slip in a picture of this cutie!)

It's Official!

Check out Allen's Church Planter Profile: The Duty Family

We are now full members of the Acts 29 Network! This is exciting because we weren't supposed to become full members until this summer, and now have many opportunities open to us to that we will be able to participate in this summer.

So far, this network has been such a blessing to Allen and I. Allen has been to several conferences that have challenged, encouraged and trained him as a church planter and pastor and I went to an Acts 29 Pastor's Wives' Retreat this week in NC. I can't put into words the renewal and rest that I was afforded at this retreat. I can't explain the safe haven that it was and the ministry that took place in the quiet moments of the day, eating great food (of course!), over coffee, in the hot tub, on the couch, on somebody's bed, during craft time or during our guided prayer times.

I am thankful for a network that sees the importance of the family in church planting. It's been a blessing to turn to others who are ahead of us and able to walk us through many questions that we have had along the journey.

Resurrection Eggs

Today is the day we are starting our Resurrection Eggs!

We thought it would be fun for our kids to open one egg per day for the 12 days leading up to Easter. Since the eggs tell the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, we will plan to review the eggs we've already opened on previous days and then be able to review all of them on Easter Sunday. It's similar to our preschool Advent calendar that told the story of Jesus' birth.

Ours are "homemade" since the branded kind are so expensive! We made them with our MOPS group for less than $2 a piece, as compared to $20! Here are some pics:

The things that we had to gather up were:

Palm Branch
Silver Coin
Cup (we used a little plastic communion cup)
Praying Hands (we used a laminated picture)
Piece of Leather
Thorn
Nails
Dice
Spear (we used a small lego sword)
Linen
Stone
Egg Cartons
Plastic Eggs

Here are the scriptures we are using with the items:

1. Palm branch

“Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,’Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.’”


The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks (coats) and sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road."
Matthew 21:1b-3, 6-8

2. Silver coins

“Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Matthew 26:14-16

3. Cup

“Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying,’Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
Matthew 26:27-28

4. Praying Hands

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death’" he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’ Mark 14:32-34

5. Leather Whip

“ Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged (whipped) Him.” 
 John 19:1

6. Crown of Thorns

“Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.”
Matthew 27:27-29

7. Nails in the Cross

“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”
John 19:16b-18

8. Die

“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
‘Let's not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let's decide by lot who will get it.’
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
‘They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.’ So this is what the soldiers did.”
John 19:23-24

9. Spear 

“The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” 
John 19:32-34

10. Linen Cloth

“As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.”
Matthew 27:57-60

11. Stone

“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”
Matthew 28:2-4

12. Empty

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’”
Matthew 28:5-6

It's not too late to make your own! This is a great activity for Easter Sunday if you can pull it together before then.

What a Wonderful Weekend...

We spent some time in Dallas this weekend to participate in the events surrounding Cathy (Allen's sister) and Ryan's wedding. We had such a lovely time with our families and celebrating this wonderful couple as they said "I do." Allen officiated the wedding and it was a beautiful ceremony and reception. Since Cathy and Ryan are both graphic designers and super-creative, it was really fun, trendy and every aspect well thought out. I didn't get too many pictures from the actual wedding, but many from the rehearsal and dinner. A special thanks to Nanny, Papa and B for taking care of the kids while we were celebrating!

A free picture slideshow by Smilebox

Taylor Joyisms

(laughing) Easton's trying to lick my fingers! He thinks it's an envelope! (uproarious laughter)

Mommy, I want to get a picture of you making dinner. (SMILE! CLICK!) That's a cute picture. It's not really really cute, but it's kinda cute.

(Allen and I kiss...I know, let's keep it G-rated, folks) Why do you and Mommy love each other? Is that why you have wedding rings?

(during prayer) I just pray that Daddy will come home for lunch and that when he comes home he won't growl at Mommy. (for the record, this has never happened)

The newest thing has been pretending she is a salesperson. She will come and ask us what we need and we'll look at her store "shelf" and say, "Hmm... I need a gift for a baby boy." She'll pick out something fitting for a baby boy, give it to us along with money from her cash register and say, "Have a good day!" Awesome! I wish shopping was really like that! I get products, money and sweet service!

"Daddy, I didn't want to enter you up." (interrupt you)

"Beckett needs a tissue! He's running his nose!"

"Mommy, I just dreamed that my hair was turning to blonde! (really very distressed) I just don't want my hair to turn to blonde! I want it to stay red!" (what a horrific nightmare to have blonde hair!)

Message Board Tiles

My friend Amanda (from my MOPS group) had a fun craft night a few weeks ago and we made these tile message boards for our hubbies. They are a fun way to "flirt" with your husband if you keep it in the bathroom and write messages back and forth. These are especially helpful when you and your husband wake up and go to bed at different times. The are simple to make.

Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy ceramic tile (that's smooth on the top) for $1 or $2. You could make a bigger one if you have more room to place it.

Paint with acrylic paints or paint pens and decorate as you wish. The little "D" is actually a rub-on that I used.

Buy a dry-erase marker and start messaging your hubby!

The Family Together in God's Presence

Allen made reference to this at our business meeting on Tuesday night, but it is worth reading the article in full if you haven't ever done so.

The Family Together in God's Presence was written by John and Noel Piper in the 90's but I feel like it could have been written 50 years ago or 3 years ago. In my experience, families used to do this back in the day and families just started doing this 3 years ago. We are some that started doing it 3 years ago and have learned so much since then.

I think Piper sums up what we have learned very well and Noel gives some wonderfully practical tips on how to do it.

Armadillo Dash

Some members of our church went out to the Armadillo Dash half marathon last weekend dressed in our 80's gear. We hosted a water/Gatorade stop with our rockin' theme, the 80's! Not only was it a blast, the fun outfits, 80's "cover" band (our worship team singing 80's songs), and encouraging comments as they passed by seemed to be a huge hit with the runners. It may have just given them the extra "oomph" that they needed to continue on. I sure hope so! Here are some pictures from the craziness that ensued...