Operation Christmas Child

Around Christmas each year, many people look for ways to give to those less fortunate than us. Operation Christmas Child is a great way to do just that! The non-profit, International Relief program, Samaritan's Purse, gathers shoe boxes filled with small toys, hygiene items and a lot of love and ships them around the world to children who are in need. I love Operation Christmas Child because it is a great hands on way for  kids to get involved. Last week we planned our homeschool day on Friday around our shoe boxes. We watched a few  of the videos posted on the Operation Christmas Child web site (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/). This gave the kids a visual of what their gifts would be doing. Then we went shopping for items to put inside of each shoe box. Gabe chose to fill a box for a little boy his age and Selah chose to build a box for a little girl her age. We then came home and packed and labeled our boxes. On Sunday morning the kids proudly carried their full boxes into church to the collection site. 

If you have missed the deadline to participate in Operation Christmas Child and are looking for some way to give this Christmas season, Samaritan's Purse also has a gift catalog with gift options from $2.00 on up and for anything from purchasing livestock to Christmas goodies. You can find that here: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/gift_catalog/

Compassion International also has a gift catalog for needs of those suffering from starvation and poverty that you can find here: http://www.compassion.com/catalog/catalog-view-all-gifts.htm

‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

Matthew 25:44-45

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,

2 Corinthians 8:3

Gabriel's Baptism

During the summer I had the most awesome blessing of leading Gabriel to the Lord during our homeschool time. This past Sunday, Gabriel gave his testimony at church and then was able to follow through with baptism. He even was able to be baptized by Daddy. It was such a beautiful service and we are so proud of Gabe and the little man of God that he is becoming. Be sure to scroll down a little to watch the video of his testimony and his baptism, too.

Trick or Treat 2012

Halloween with kids is so much fun!! This year we ate homemade pizza, carrots with dip and Halloween sugar cookies. Then we dressed up and headed out to Trick-Or-Treat.

My little Obi-Wan:

My quaterback (he refused to wear his helmet, though):

and Princess Ariel - the Little Mermaid:

We like to take evening walks and just went on our normal route to Trick-or-Treat. 

The wagon came in pretty handy!

The kids had so much fun! After Trick-or-Treating we headed home where Mommy and Daddy inspected the candy while the kids watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was a super fun evening!

Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween as well!!

Our Jack O' Lantern and a Yummy Pumpkin Seed Recipe

We had fun carving our Jack O' Lantern this year!

 

The kids decided on what eyes, nose and mouth our pumpkin should have and then Daddy drew it on our pumpkin. While Daddy carved, Gabe and Selah separated the seeds out of the gook - messy fun! 

Finally our Jack O' Lantern was done. We activated a glow-stick and put it inside the pumpkin which gave it an eerie green glow!  

We rinsed our seeds and let them dry overnight and then I roasted them. They were SO GOOD! I have cooked pumpkin seeds a number of times and decided to try a sweet and salty version this year. Here is the recipe:

Halloweenie Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds

5 Tbsp white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 Tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a large bowl stir together 2 Tbsp of the sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set the mixture aside. Heat the oil in a skillet. Add seeds and sprinkle the remaining 3 Tbsp of sugar over them. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts. Pour the seeds into the bowl with the spiced sugar mixture and stir to cover the seeds. Toast in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. Enjoy!!

Happy Halloween!!

The Serna kids would like to wish you all a Happy and Safe Halloween 2012!!

We made our annual visit to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch last weekend and had a blast!!

They have some super fun cut-outs:

and face painting:

And lots and lots of pumpkins!

They also had a fun hay bale maze that led to a big slide:

And a hay-ride:

We got to put Daddy in the stocks (a little pre-punishment for the trick-or-treat candy we know he will steal): 

We rode a "train" pulled by a tractor:

And had a BLAST!! 

Happy Halloween!!

Cowboy Party!

We had a really FUN party for Mig's 2nd birthday! Because he is such a Cowboy's fan, we had the party during the Cowboys vs. Ravens game (too bad the Cowboys didn't pull out the win.....good game, though). We ate fun snacks while waiting on pizza.

Then we ate pizza and watched the first half of the game. At half-time Mig opened gifts.

He was SO ADORABLE! Each gift he opened, he would show the contents around the room slowly - almost Vanna White style (who he loves, by the way) before moving on to the next gift. 

Here he is showing off rolls of coins and a Bolo Tie from Aunt "Barbie Q." and Uncle James:

And a Cowboy Football from Uncle Nick, Aunt Brandy and Emily: 

After gifts we had cake and ice-cream. Every time I asked Mig what he wanted for his birthday he would tell me "Football Cake". He was SO excited about cake time! 

I'm not sure what he wished for, but I don't think it was a win for the Cowboys. Although on game days he requests that we pray for the Cowboys.

So excited for Football Cake!

He was also very excited that his buddy Jax was there to help celebrate! 

After cake we watched the excited 2nd half of the ball game.

I also snagged these super cute pictures of Byron's brother Nick with the kids and just couldn't help myself from making a sweet collage of them!

And the handsome brothers together:

We were so blessed by the family that came up from central Texas to help Mig celebrate! We had a house full of birthday guests and it was so much fun!! Byron and my brother-in-law Will agreed that it was the best 2 year old birthday party ever! Really - how many times do you get to go to a 2 year old's party to watch football!?!

Fort Worth Zoo Homeschool Day 2012

On October 4, we participated in the Fort Worth Zoo Homeschool Day for our second year in a row. We saw Lions:

And Tigers:

And Bears! Oh My!

And a whole lot of other animals, too!

This year was kind of special because we went with friends! Some sweet friends of ours from Woodland Park have moved to Denton short term for a ministry program and we are so excited that they are here!! 

Their youngest son, Jax, and Mig have become fast friends!

Gabe and Sammy were friends in Woodland Park and are happy to be reunited here in Texas!

Aren't they cute?!?

We all had a great time at the Zoo!