The Bible in 90 Days

I was very excited yesterday when I saw the MomsToolbox Facebook post yesterday.  It is time to sign up for The Bible in 90 Days Challenge.  While internet surfing, I stumbled upon the MomsToolbox blog just after the previous group had started.  I have been waiting for the next group to begin.  Could I have downloaded the reading schedule and completed this challenge on my own?  Possibly.  However, I know myself!  In order to achieve this, I knew I needed to do it in community with accountability.  Also, through this challenge, a mentor is available to encourage me along the way.  I believe that using this format I will be able to read the entire Word of God in 90 Days.

Would you consider joining with me?
Click Here to get started!

My Thankful 30

Throughout the month of November, I've noticed that many friends have blogged or Facebooked daily thankful posts.  I was not nearly that organized, but I love the idea of dedicating the entire month rather than just one day to Thanksgiving.  Honestly, I hope that each day I express my gratitude for the many blessings and abundance God has given me, but I fear I fall very short in doing so.

As November will soon give way to December, I wanted to create my own "Thankful for 30."  Soon Christmas will be the focus, but I'd be remissed if I neglected to give thanks!  As I'm sure we could all say, this list could go much, much longer!!!

1. Sacrifice - God sent his only Son to die for me!
2. Salvation - knowing my eternity is in Heaven.
3. Unconditonal love from my Father above
4. Forgiveness
5. Jon - my husband who loves me as Christ loves the Church
6. Caleb - my precious son! 
7. Jeremiah - my cutie!
8. Rachel - my princess!
9. The miracle of adoption
10. My parents who taught me about Jesus, love, and support me.
11. My siblings - love you Brother and Sister :)
12. My grandparents, Papa and Mama Spaulding, who taught me what it means to serve God
13. My extended family
14. Jane - my very best friend
15. Friends - both lifelong and for seasons
16. Prayer Warriors and Mentors in the faith
17. The Church - believers everywhere
18. America and the freedoms we have
19. Ethiopia - where a part of my heart will always be
20. Health
21. Clean Water
22. Food
23. Shelter
24. Clothing
25. Access to medical care
26. Technology - allowing for communication and relationships with others worldwide
27. Music
28. My adoption support group
29. My Passion - to enter the fields of the fatherless and be a voice for those who have none 
30. Having ALL my "needs" met and more "wants" than I should

A Wells Family Thanksgiving

My big boys waiting for Turkey Dinner.

 Rachel and Allison, and yes, the pink boa, dress-up clothes, and tu-tu spark Rachel's creative energy!

 Time for Grandma's Little People Christmas to come to life.  Jeremiah has the 1st box and the others await the rest.

 Rachel checks out Santa and his sleigh.

 Beth and Josh keep tabs on the Thomas Kincade tree.  A choo-choo goes round and round.

 Caleb plays with the Nativity.

Jeremiah has Santa on the Train Track.

Our Thanksgiving plans veered from the usual trip to Tennessee, and we celebrated at Jon's parents' house.  Mary prepared a great meal and a decadent dessert.  She knows my great love affair with the peanut butter/chocolate combination, so to my shear delight, she made a peanut butter turtle pie.  Rich and Delicious!!!

With five little ones (each with their own personalities, quirks, and triggers), it is always a guess as to how the get-together will go.  I believe, we were all pleasantly surprised.  We were together from a little before 1 p.m. until after 7 p.m. with minimal meltdowns.  Kiddos played well together, and the adults were even able to chat some.  It really was an enjoyable day!  It reminds us that we have sooo much for which to be thankful.  Namely, the blessings of family - Terry, Mary, Lee, Beth, Allison, and Josh...  God gave us you!  Of course, I can't forget those we were unable to share our holiday with:  Dad, Mom, Matthew, Megan, Malachi, Adam, and Valerie - we are so blessed by you. Thanks for all your love and support.

I am thankful for my amazing hubby!  Jon loves the Lord and his family.  He works so very hard and cares so very much.  Caleb, my precious boy.  I'm thankful for your wild imagination, quest to learn more, your desire for God, and your compassionate heart! 

Jeremiah and Rachel - this time last year, I was thankful to finally see your pictures.  This year, I'm thankful to have you in my arms and to know you.  Jeremiah, you have such an endearing smile and an infectious laugh.  You desire to please and have a servant's heart.  Rachel you are pure joy!  Your giggle is music, and your beautiful eyes so captivating.  I love hearing you repeat endlessly, "Mommy, I love you!" and "You MY mom!"

Heavenly Father... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Bling-Bling!

I couldn't resist!  I had to post this pic of my girly-girl.  She's all about the BLING!  Miss Rachel is rockin' the pink clip-on earrings.  I LOVE THIS GIRL!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Still recovering from the go-go-go of the weekend, I'm behind in posting about some of our Thanksgiving festivities.  Here is the re-cap of the many things we've been involved in.  A lot of fun was had, and by looks at my expanding waistline, even more food was consumed!

Nov. 14th - Graefenburg Christian Church Thanksgiving Meal
I neglected to mention this earlier, but our church gathered for our annual Thanksgiving Meal a couple Sundays ago.  The company was wonderful, and as usual, we succumbed to gluttony.  That much food in one place is sinful, but oh so delicious.  I made one of my "potluck" staples - GREEN BEANS.  I didn't bring too many home, and Jeremiah was quite eager to take care of the leftovers. 

Nov. 17th - FIAR Co-op:  Cranberry Thanksgiving
We met with our co-op friends to complete activities relating to the book Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin.  Usually, I have pictures, but since I was leading this session, no pics :(  Too focused on other things.  In fact, the camera didn't even make it out of the house with me.  Instead, I packed out coloring sheets and crayons, a large map, markers and poster board for making a graph, 9 pre-formatted lapbooks, 5 gifts, supplies and paint for turkey creations, 48 mini cranberry orange muffins, and a case of water.  Amazing, the three kiddos were in tow as well.  We had a good time with this story, and it was great to share with the other mommies and children.  Fun for all - educational too :)

Nov. 21st - Community Thanksgiving Service
Our church once again hosted the Community Thanksgiving Service.  It was nice to have members of the Baptist and Methodist join with us for worship and a dessert fellowship. We had a special speaker, and another lady and I provided special music.  I'm not sure how "special" my song was, but I absolutely LOVE the words to Nichole Nordeman's Gratitude.  Give it a listen - it is profound!  


Nov. 22nd - Thanksgiving Activities with friends
Running a little late due to the fact we were still somewhat sleep-deprived, we headed to Miss Gretchen's house to join Rebecca, Libby, Abby, Miss Cara, and Gracie for some Thanksgiving fun.  We read stories, sang songs, painted pumpkin pies, made foam craft turkeys and pilgrims, thumb-painted turkeys, ate pumpkin spice muffins, and decorated cookies.  We even stuck around for lunch so the kiddos could have some play time and the mommies some chat time.  We had such a good time that Christmas plans are already in the works.

Harvest of Hope

Our whole family attended the 2010 National Missionary Convention - Harvest of Hope.  This is the first time I have had the privilege of attending such an event, but I'm pretty confident it is foreshadowing of things to come in the Wells' future.  When? Where? How? all to be determined, but God is stirring.  I must admit, while exciting, the feeling is still uncomfortable at times and fears exist.  I'll pray that I am open to wherever God leads our family.  I assume it is still a few years in the future as Jon has more schooling before he reaches nurse practitioner status.  However, I'm learning my time is not God's time, my ways are not His ways, and well... assumptions are just that :)  Seriously, would we really want it any other way???

At the convention, my kiddos had such an incredible time.  They hung out in the preschool department Thursday evening, all day and evening Friday, and Saturday afternoon and evening.  They were the regulars at the "Big House" as they referred to Rupp Arena/Convention Center.  Puppets, crafts, lessons, music, movies, playtime, and snack.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Caring adults + planning + engaging activities = My kids truly experienced children's ministry, and they were enthralled.  Saturday night, when I put Rachel to bed, she asked, "Big House again, Momma?"  "No baby, you are all done at Big House."  With big crocodile tears Rachel whimpered, "But I LOVE IT!"  My thanks to all who had a hand in the preschool programming for the convention!  A huge impact was made on my little ones.

With the kids tucked away in their area, Jon and I heard some great speakers and attended some breakout sessions on clean water, human trafficking and sexploitation, and refugees.  We wandered through the exhibits soaking in the many missions efforts here and abroad.  We spoke with passionate people who reflected God's heart for all people... diverse and wonderful as He created us to be!  I was able to meet several of the CMF people from Jon's internship in Ethiopia.  It was nice to put faces with the names of those he has spoken so highly of. 

Also at this event, the Restoration Revolution was launched.  This is a 10-year collaboration that desires to share Jesus with all peoples in four primary areas. We can close the gap through prayer to the Almighty, Churches, Tools, and Service.  It will be interesting to follow this movement.  We pray it is effective as the harvest is plenty and the workers are few.  Come church - it is time to arise!

The National Missionary Convention was great!  We had family members and church members in attendance.  We saw friends from neighboring churches, college professors, and friends from KCC.  We were exhausted by the close of the weekend but oh so very blessed!

Ben Franklin DNG

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.”

—Ben Franklin

There is sooooo very much we can learn from Ben Franklin, and the Wells kiddos just tipped the iceberg this week using Amanda Bennett's Ben Franklin Download N Go.  The Download N Go series is comprised of week long units on varied subjects including:  animals, continents, countries, people, and food.  The units are cross-curricular as they include history, geography, science, math, literature, art, etc.  Each unit is designed with K-4th grade students in mind, so it is engaging, hands-on, exciting, and entertaining.  The graphics are fabulous and the embedded video clips and websites are equally wonderful.

An overview of our week studying the Ben Franklin DNG is included below as well as a small sampling of the activity pages found in this unit.  The DNG series is complete with both notebooking and/or lapbooking options.  The need to hunt for materials is eliminated because everything required to complete these tasks are provided for you.  You can literally download the unit and go directly into quality learning.  However, I highly encourage you to take a trip to your public library with the recommended reading list in hand.  I know we have found some wonderful supplemental reading each of our units.

Day 1: Who Was Ben Franklin?

Day 2: People and Places in Ben Franklin’s Life
Day 3: The Accomplishments of Ben Franklin
Day 4: Lessons to Learn From Ben Franklin
Day 5: Remembering Ben Franklin



Some highlights of our week...

On Day 1, the kids drew pictures of themselves as what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Caleb drew himself as an "animal doctor" - Papaw, the veterinarian, will be proud.  Jeremiah decided to draw himself as a "people doctor" - a happy Daddy may live vicariously through him.  Finally, Miss Rachel created a drawing of herself as a princess.  Hahaha - I told her she was already our princess, but she wants the castle, gowns, jewels, and the whole 9 yards.  My babies can dream :) 

Day 2 had us pouring over the map locating the great travels of Ben Franklin.  As we always do, we compare the distance of the location to both Kentucky and Ethiopia.  We then determine to which it is closest :) 

We talked about electricity and inventions.  The kids discussed what they wanted to invent....  Rachel wants food.  Guess she will be the gourmet chef?  The boys got out their TRIO blocks and created some interesting things.  We shall see if there are any patents in the boys' future.

Best of all, we were able to study character traits.  I find great value not just in learning about the achievements of historical figures, but the character which they possessed.  We talked about honesty, courage, and bravery.  This sparked some great discussion and real life applications were made.

My only issue with this particular DNG was the inclusion of a Family Tree.  These very common often very popular activities are difficult for adoptive families.  Even though we have more information about our children's family than most, this is not an activity we could complete tracking the biological family.  Instead, we have to focus more on the children's people group and even then, it is so remote, that we are very limited in the information we have to share.  I understand the importance of genealogy, family history and pride, and the historical implications of our forefathers and knowing where we came from.  However, I feel this study could be equally as educational and wonderful without the inclusion of a family tree project.  While I know this is something we will address more in the future as we have very open discussions in our home regarding our children's first family, this was an activity I opted not to use this time.

I encourage everyone to spend some time getting to know Ben Franklin.  I believe a week would be a perfect start, and you would be at a real disadvantage if you tackled this project without the help of Amanda Bennett's Ben Franklin DNG  Until November 22nd, you can purcase the Ben Franklin DNG from The Old Schoolhouse for $6.25 instead of the usual cost of $7.95. The unit can also be bought in a patriotic package including DNG's studying George Washington, Constitution Celebration, and Ben Franklin for $23.85.


Finally, I suggest you click here to read what other reviewers have to say about the Ben Franklin DNG. I always gain such insight from these reviewers and learn new way to expand our DNG studies.  They all offer terrific ideas to use DNG's with your children.