Frye Fam Happenings

We're planning quite a few activities for the week leading up to Easter Sunday. Some of these are for fun (the more cultural things that we want our kids to get to experience.) And some of the things I have planned are learning activities...to teach them more about Jesus, the reason for His crucifixion and resurrection, and the real reason we actually celebrate Easter. Take any ideas you want to and use them with your kids. Some are my own original ideas, some are ideas from other moms and from our church, and a few are traditional Easter activities. I'll probably post some of the more complicated activities in detail on our other blog . Enjoy :) 1. Read the stories of Jesus' arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection out of the Jesus Storybook Bible often. 2. Easter story eggs (I'm making our own version, so I'll post more about it on the other blog .) 3. Dye eggs naturally, with ingredients found in our pantry and in nature. (more about that, too, assuming it works :)...

I know a lot of you are John Piper followers. I listen to his sermons online and try to keep up a little bit with other "news" about him. If you haven't seen this letter yet, please take a minute to read it. He is asking for prayer for the church and for his family during an upcoming leave of absence. Please join me in praying for them! We should always be faithful to pray for our and other pastors around the world. They have an amazingly awesome yet difficult job, and it seems like quite a few of them are undergoing hardships of one type or another lately. The sermon below is probably my all-time favorite of Piper's. Enjoy!!

Do these two boys look cute or what? This basketball shirt is Eli's favorite. If he doesn't want to get dressed, all I have to do is pull out this shirt. He actually pets it while he's wearing it and says "ba-ball" over and over. Justus decked out in his Astros T-Ball uniform Titus looked adorable in the 21 hat, too, but the picture didn't turn out :(

Our T iger-loving, I ntelligent T hree-year-old is U p and S miling at all of this attention We love you, Titus! We are so thankful God blessed our family with your sweet, funny, full-of-life presence :) Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are many things, and we are glad you are YOU!

Blogging can take a lot of time and effort. When I sit up at night in my quiet house (usually with my sleeping husband next to me on the couch :) ) uploading pictures and videos and writing posts about our kids, what we have been doing, and what the boys have been learning, I have to say, I just enjoy it. Blogging is an outlet for me...a therapy, in a way. I love taking pictures of my kids, but taking pictures of our activities for the blog also helps me enjoy the activities even more. I don't know how many people look at this or my other blog , but as much as I'd love to share ideas with other moms (since I've received so many ideas and so much wisdom from OTHER moms' blogs!), it really in the end doesn't matter to me. I do want to create a keepsake for myself, my husband, and my kids. I will need to keep a log of our learning activities once we officially start homeschooling (which will be the main point of the other blog...and my reason for starting a second.) I...

We are trying our best to raise our kids to use their imaginations, appreciate nature, learn things in every moment of the day, and be responsible for themselves, their family, and their things. This means that we have to strive daily to keep the TV off, keep them busy with activities and ideas, and expose them to things they might not have thought of on their own. I would love to be a TV-Free family, but that is just not happening right now for various reasons. The little boys don't watch much, if any, but Justus gets "TV Time" once a day. I actually think it is benefiting him getting to have that one-time-a-day, because he's learning how to create his own rhythm. If he chooses to have that time in the morning as soon as he gets up, that means no TV the rest of the day. Tough for a four-year-old, but it's definitely teaching him responsibility, control, and moderation. So what do our kids do all day? Arts and Crafts Play with cars and trains Chase each other arou...

Click here for a great read on modesty. Here are a few excerpts: Godly women do not seek to elevate themselves above others – not by immodest dress, and not by competitive dress. They seek to provoke neither the lust of men nor the envy of women. They love preferentially by keeping the focus off of themselves. Clothed inwardly with the righteousness of Christ, their outward clothing becomes a matter for sober consideration: How can I best worship God through my wardrobe choices? May we, as daughters of the Living God, be measured not by our hemlines but by our humility. Modesty means propriety. It means avoiding clothes and adornment that are extravagant or sexually enticing. Modesty is humility expressed in dress. It’s a desire to serve others, particularly men, by not promoting or provoking sensuality. and finally, Our beauty is the glory of a shining Son, Who is altogether lovely. May we clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit and not th...

Time for another "We do things differently" post :) This time, I want to talk about our outstanding parenting skills...JUST kidding (any advice on how to deal with a rebellious almost 3-yr-old is welcome!) No really, a few friends have asked me recently what we do when our babies/kids have snotty noses, coughs, and the common cold. First, what we don't do : Give them decongestants or any other cough/cold medicines (although I'll mention one homeopathic favorite of mine in the list of what we DO do) Take them to the doctor (their immune systems are already down, so they're more likely to catch something else PLUS there is no need for a prescription for a common cold...just like my post on fevers , we like the symptoms and try to embrace them as our bodies taking care of business) Keep them inside all day. Worry. If I am sure it is a cold (yellow/green snot, yucky eyes, etc. etc.) there is nothing I worry about. I believe in how we treat our kids' colds, and ...

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." ~John Calvin

(in the rain, that is) We went for a puddle hunt Sunday afternoon. These boots were mailed to the boys from my best friend, Jessica. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! They had so much fun, and it was like a dream come true for me to see them getting to do that. (Is that pathetic or what? :) ) A worm was spotted playing in the puddles, too! Sharing the fun with Eli The worm hitched a ride with Eli in the stroller so he could live in our yard. On our walk, we collected pine cones and flowers, watched streams of water flow into rain gutters, and learned why puddles don't usually form at the TOP of a hill.