Scripture Memory Through Song...

We are diligently trying to teach Kellen about the Word of God through scripture memory. I decided to combine something I love (the Bible) and something he loves (singing) to make that possible. There is a really great Bible CD called, "We Sing Bible Songs," that has a sequel called, "We Sing More Bible Songs." On this CD before most songs there is a scripture reference that goes with the song. I picked a song that Kellen kind of already enjoys to sing to help him learn a Bible verse.

The scripture is Psalm 136:1, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his love endures forever." The lyrics in the song that he is singing in this video are:

"Give thanks to the Lord,
Give thanks to the Lord,
For He Loves you, He loves me too,
Give thanks to the Lord our God."

Here he is singing it (once I told him I wasn't taking a picture... cheese!)

Enjoy! =0)

Janurary and stuff...

After all the craziness of 2010, I am starting to see the blessings in disguise. God has been preparing my heart for some amazing things in 2011. Including an Elizabeth George Bible study, church membership class, and much more. Everything from losing our home to learning new budgets in Financial Peace University (and all the other stuff in between) taught us a lot about trusting God in the big and small and has brought me closer to Christ and deeper into his Word daily. I am finding pure joy in my time with God every morning, and sharing it throughout my day with my son and husband has made me blessed. I have also found a new love for scripture memory! "Behold, I make all things new..." (Rev. 21:5) has been a reminder for January and 2011 that each day can be new and better (in Him). As you check out our pictures, I hope that God brings you blessings and joy this year.

We had to move in November, and we now live in a nice little house at the top of a hill overlooking Lake Elsinore. I wasn't real excited when we first had to move, but it is starting to become home. Here is a picture of our back yard view on a foggy morning. (Where the clouds are is usually where you can see the water, but it's hiding).

January was a speedy month. We took our first trip to the Wild Animal Park, (Safari Zoo) and we went to visit Nana, Papa and Uncle Bobby. We also cheered on daddy at some of his soccer matches. Here are some photos to wrap up the month. (Even though February has already begun.)

So, Grandpa decided Kellen needed a Nerf gun for Christmas. (oh geeze) and it didn't take him long to figure out how to shoot us with it!! Thankfully we are already starting to loose the bullets in the house (ha ha). Here are a few pictures of Colin and Kellen "playing."

Uncle Tymon and Aunt Brittani bought Kellen his very own Cars couch bed for his  birthday, he LOVES it and watches his new Veggie Tales movies in it all the time. He constantly "rolls" around and tries to get comfy (or silly) here are some fun pics. The blanket was made by Nana and matches perfectly, when they are not being used they are folded up together and sit nicely next to the other couches.

Also, you may notice that Kellen got a some hairs cut... mommy cut his hair (badly) but at least it isn't in his eyes anymore. It is already growing out and it is CRAZY. He likes to wear my shoes, good choice...comfy slippers.

Kellen has a favorite stuffed animal that MUST sleep with him and his red blanket every night, his name is "Bunny." I found him sleeping one morning like the picture below and had to snap a shot! So cute!

Unfortunately Kellen is not without his boo boos. He added another one to his poor face in January. He fell in the back yard right on his face. He just didn't get his hands down in time. Thankfully, all is well and healed, but the scabs haunted him for a few days. :-(

To get his mind off his new face injuries we played with bubbles for about an hour one day. Here are some of my favorites. (The one with the light in the background is my ultimate favorite).

My Favorite Pic

Kellen has a love of farts, just like his dad, uncle, and well... any man on the planet. I had to video him playing with the machine that we have. It is dying, or broken. Regardless, each fart sounds pretty darn funny. I posted this on face book a while back, but it was just too funny to not add it to the blog too. His laugh was pretty funny too.

We had a quick visit in San Diego to say good bye to Grandma and Grandpa McDonough. They were heading to their next destination, Yuma, the next day so we went to my dad's house for one last visit. Kellen was a little sleepy (and so was Brian) so they cuddled on the couch.

We went to the Safari Zoo, a first for Kellen to check out all the animals with Aunt Jenn, and cousins Taylor and McKenzie. This was Kellen's face after he saw the elephants. :-) If there is a grandparent (or great grandparent) that wants to hook us up with an annual zoo pass, I think Kellen would accept.

 On the tram... to check out the wild.

 This lion was taking a nap, wish we could have saw the front.

 Feeding the birds... I actually had one on my shoulder too, but the picture is dorky! Kellen LOVED the petting coral, and I am pretty sure he pet every single deer that was in the area. They were so gentle. :-)

 This picture pretty much summed up the end of the day... everyone was tired and ready to go home. It was really warm that day. Kellen slept the entire way home in the car. :-)

That same week we headed to Sparks Nevada to visit Nana, Papa and Uncle Bobby. They just recently moved, so it was our first time visiting their new home. Of course you couldn't tell that they just moved because my mom is pro at getting everything super "homey."

Nolan and Kellen sharing some cheerios for breakfast.

 We stopped by Papa's work and we had to take pictures on the TRACTORS!!! They were pretty stinkin' huge.

Kellen wanted to "drive" as always with anything that has a steering wheel. He is completely content moving it back and forth without actually going anywhere.

 We went to the biggest sporting good store on the planet, Scheels, and in the entry way they have a LARGE fish tank. We were a little alarmed at first when we saw scuba divers inside the tank cleaning the glass! It was pretty cool. Kellen, Nolan and Uncle Bobby went on the Ferris wheel INSIDE the store!

Ready to ride!

 Taking a break to watch a Veggie Tales in Nana and Papa's bed.

Another first for Kellen. SNOW! The picture on the left he isn't so happy with mommy putting so many layers on him, including gloves. However, once he was ready to go and climbing up the hill he was glad he had on so many layers. They played for quite a while!

 This was a common view of the two boys. Falling down or sitting down and then struggling to get back up. The snow was not icy, it was actually nice and powder like. Which made for big footprints and falling down a lot.

I also got a pretty good video of Nolan body skiing down the hill. I didn't get him going belly first which was pretty sweet, but I was able to get him on video.

 They worked up appetites (well, at least Nolan did). Kellen just got sweaty I think. He was glad when I took off the snow gear. It was pretty warm outside.

 He looked so cute with the boots on, especially because they went up so high on his knees, I had to take a picture! By then he warmed up pretty well to my parents dog, Duke... (Chocolate Lab) seriously the best dog. If I ever had a dog, I would want him.

 After a day of fun in the snow he even took a few seconds to pose with mommy (my cutie pie!). We had a nice visit. Since coming home Kellen has said, "I want to go in the spa." Nana and Papa have a spa in their back yard, and they sat in it each day for a little while with Uncle Bobby and papa. It was really relaxing.

January came and went, fast. I'm glad I was able to capture some memories with the camera! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Love,

Mindie