Bible Reading In A Year: Follow Up

I wrote about my efforts to read the Bible through in a year Here In This Post.

I am here to confess that I did not finish reading the Bible aloud last year. :( ........But, I did not quit. :) We were getting close, and we just kept going. Last Monday I finished reading the Bible through, out loud, for the second time to BMW! I am really glad that we got finished before the baby arrived. Now I can start over once the baby is born and read the Bible to both of our children.

Be encouraged to keep reading the Bible, even if you fall behind in a reading schedule. The preserved Holy Bible is the very words of God. Not only is it the words of God, it is every word of God. We need every word of God. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Luke 4:4
Please don't be tempted to skip any of it. All scripture is profitable, and every single word is there for a reason. God wants us to have all of it, learn all of it, and use all of it.

2 Timothy 3:16 KJV

 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Decongestant Tea

This tea recipe came from my sister-in-law and it really works! I have used it several times and always been impressed with how much better I feel after drinking this tea. It seems to break up congestion quite effectively.  While it is not the most pleasant tasting tea, neither is it completely terrible. I like the spice flavors of the cinnamon and cloves, along with the orange zest.

Decongestant Tea

1 quart boiling water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or 1/2 cinnamon stick broken up 
1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tea bags of green tea
1/4 teaspoon orange peel
1/8 teaspoon of Thyme (or more)
4 cloves or 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves 
1 peppermint tea bag (optional)
1 clove of garlic, crushed

Steep for 20-30 minutes. Drink with honey, sweetened to taste. 

New Baby Coming.....

A box of freshly folded diapers.

I can't wait to use these on our new baby! We recently found the boxes of baby clothes and diapers, in preparation for our coming Addition. :) We have less than two weeks until our due date!

I spent time yesterday boiling all my cloth diapers and getting them ready for Baby. I am really excited to be using them again! :)

Science Project: Finger Print Cataloging

We all have unique finger prints. This activity is an easy way examine your finger prints.

Supplies:
Graphite pencil
2 sheets of paper
Clear gift wrapping tape

Trace the outline of your hands on to one sheet of paper.

On the second sheet of paper heavily color in a small area with the pencil. Roll a finger tip into the graphite. Try to give your finger pint a good coating.

Press the finger tip onto a small piece of clear tape. The tape will lift the graphite impression of the finger print. Tape the finger print to the corresponding fingertip of the traced hand shapes.

I did this project with BMW last week. I think I was more interested in doing this activity than him, but he did seem to enjoy it. :) He is only 2 and I expected doing this project to be more fun than educational, at this point.

I think it would be fun to catalog your whole family's finger prints and then compare your similarities and differences. Which finger prints did you get from your mom and which ones came from your dad? Of course, you will have your own variations in the designs.

Origami Paper Balloon Cakes!

This is a really fun project! These would be great for a party! They are also really nice for portable, grab and go snacks. Easy to pack in lunch boxes and for road trips.

I made several origami paper balloons out of parchment paper and wax paper.*

And, I decorated the parchment paper ones with colored pencils. **

I inflated the balloons and placed them onto a baking sheet. I filled the balloons 1/2-2/3 with cake batter. ***

I baked the cakes for 25-30 minutes. Some of the cake batter had bubbled out of the tops. I was able to peel off the bubbled over cake bits and clean up the paper.

Voilà! I made individually wrapped cake squares! Like I said, this was really fun! You should give it a try!

Notes:
*I used 7.5 inches squares of parchment paper and 6 inch squares of wax paper. They both worked fine.

**The wax paper cannot be decorated. It is just too slick. I found that colored pencil and ball point ink pens were the only things that work on parchment paper. The pencil will eventually rub off after baking, but it stays on for a while. I tried markers and crayons with no success.

***I put cake batter into a plastic freezer bag that had a small hole cut in one corner. I used this to pipe cake batter in through the hole on the top of the paper balloons.