I know. I haven't blogged in a while, and I probably won't again after this post. We'll see. But, I wanted to get this video to my family in the easiest way, so I thought I would include it in a post about scripture memorization.

Let's start with a confession. I'm not very good at memorizing scripture. Oh, I've tried. Before my son was born, I got through the first chapter of Colossians. And then my son was born. I probably wouldn't remember half the chapter if I were to say it today. I've always been good at memorizing for the test.... and then promptly forgetting. Having a bad memory is good for my marriage, but not great when it comes to hiding God's word in my heart.

I have come to realize that the scripture that I know by heart today, I have either memorized as a child, sung in a song, or I have read it and heard it so many times that it has naturally sunk in to this dense brain of mine. I have to "absorb" God's word, not just treat it like a checklist to tick off.

On that note, we have started a method of scripture memorization with our children that is working for us (so far). Before each family meal (morning and evening), we recite our memory portion outloud together. At first the kids just listened and soon they were able to join us. Adding actions has helped them (and us) as well. We did the same portion all through the month of January, but when February came, we thought we should continue on with it to make sure they REALLY know it. I was amazed when we realized that my 2 1/2 year old could (more or less) say it all herself.

It's not just about memorization, either. We desire our kids to be changed God's words. To weigh and measure their experiences and choices against TRUTH. As the kids have learned these words, we have been able to have conversations that bring God's standards to them personally. "Are you loving your sister as yourself, or are you loving yourself more?" When my son shoveled a path through the snow for me, he was noticeably pleased when I pointed out that by serving me in this way, he was loving God with all his strength.

One of my prayers for my children in this day and age of relativism is that they will be able to discern right from wrong, truth from lies. God's word is the measuring line. May they hide God's word in their hearts so that they might not sin against Him. And, goodness knows... their mama needs this desperately herself.

Blogging is not at the forefront of life at the moment. These things are:

Right before we left for the states, we had a Greek-themed birthday party for a friend. He posted some pictures of our fabulous party costumes and excellent food here.

What a privilege it is to get those hugs from grubby hands and kisses from sticky lips. What a treasure to be able to pause and hold my son closely as he declares his love. What joy it gives him to see the happiness on his mother's face. As Mary did, I want to store up these moments in my heart to remember on those days when my boy is either unwilling or unable to wrap his arms around his mom and proclaim, "Everyday I love you, Mama."

We've been getting our hands dirty.

We've been soaking up sunshine.

We've been enjoying friendships.

We've been focused on playing.

We've been chasing a walker.

In all, we've been enjoying the gift of life.

I really enjoyed our Passover this year. It was especially nice to be able to celebrate it with friends. My husband divided it into three parts. We started with the first Passover (Ex. 12 & 13) and the command, "Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance." Then we moved on to the Last Supper, and Jesus' example of sharing the bread and wine (communion), followed by washing his disciples feet (Lk. 22:11-15, 14:17; John 13). Lastly we considered the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19) "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Here are a few pictures from our Passover celebration:

The table, lying in wait

Hurray! People!

It's hard to believe Little Miss Mei Li is really 9 months old already.

* She loves being chased and tickled.

* She hates having her diaper changed (because she wants to crawl away and get chased and tickled)

* She loves the plants in the living room.

* She hates it when her brother gets in her space or makes her feel unstable.

* She is 22 pounds.

* She loves broccoli and most of her vegetables.

* She's not overly excited about many fruits.

* She desperately wants free reign to explore the great outdoors.

* She loves taking a bath and has discovered the joys of splashing.

* She's into shoes - for their flavor, not their fashion (notice her smudged nose).

* She's recently gotten a kick out of letting go and standing alone, and she is ever so close to taking some steps.

* She has gone from being a wonderful sleeper to waking up twice a night demanding to be fed (we're working on that one).

* She's waving, shrieking, belly laughing, but not trying to talk yet.

* She loves her daddy and tries all means of grunting and straining to get picked up by him.

* She's a speed crawler and likes to chase down the broom (or the dirt being swept by the broom).

* She's been wearing 9-mo clothing for a couple of months already.

* She has gray eyes with brown in the center and they don't appear to be changing anymore.

* She is a fairly contented little girl, but gives me moments of wondering how strong-willed she might end up being.

We sure love this little girl.

It is high time I post an update of what we are all up to. I'll start with the head of our household.

My hubby is hard at work on his PhD. He has started getting some things down in writing, but it is in the roughest of forms. The amount of information that he has to research can be daunting at times, but he thrives in this environment. As I'm writing this, he is in Israel working on a project with the university called Bibledex. Basically the theology department in coordination with a documentary film maker are producing 5-10 minute videos clips introducing each book of the Bible. It gives an average layperson an idea of what each Book contains (though this is colored by each commentator's personal beliefs). Right now, they are trying to do some filming on-site for these videos. Here is my now-on-Youtube husband telling us about Job:

My life is full with the routines of homemaking and the joys and struggles of motherhood. Some days are good and others are challenging. Some days I feel on top of the game and others like a failure. Thank goodness for God grace and mercy new every morning. I'm so thankful for the opportunities I have through our church to meet up with other women either for Bible study or play groups. I love the "village" life-style here that puts everything we need, including friendships and church, within walking distance. We were able to renew our housing contract for another year, and this, too, is something I praise God for because I am just starting to feel like opportunities are opening up to get to know our neighbors. It would be just wonderful if we could live here for our whole time in the UK.

I can't believe how big this kid is now. He's 2 1/2 and amazing me all the time with what he is able to grasp and express, not to mention the antics that toddlers get up to (I think in this picture he was covering up his ears and trying to see if he could hear himself on the airplane). A few days ago I listened to this one-sided conversation with his sister while trying to help her drink from a sippy cup: "Here you go, Mir-um. Hold it with two hands. Like dis. One dare and one dare. Good job!" *loud bang* "Oh, no, Mir-um! It fall down." We try to do a little "school" together in the mornings for 15-20 minutes and I can see how this has helped him to grasp new concepts, but most importantly, it gives him focused "mommy time". As his sister gets older, "sharing" becomes more necessary in his little world. Sometimes I struggle with him trying to vie for my attention when I'm needing to help her. It can be challenging knowing how much to push him towards being independent and how much to just let him be "mommy's little boy".

This little girl is growing like crazy. It's hard to believe that she is 7 months old already. I'm completely in love with her and all those fantastic, chubby rolls on her body. It looks like I'm going to have a crawler on my hands with this kid. She is sitting very well; she can stand holding on to things for a period of time and she's pushing around the living room with her head planted on the floor and her bum up in the air. I've recently started her on solids and she hasn't taken to it like her brother did. She isn't keen on bananas, avocados, pumpkin and carrots. She will grudgingly allow herself to be force-fed pears, applesauce and sweet potato, but she absolutely loves and devours broccoli (and bread, if I let her). Go figure!

Here's one last shot of the kids in sweaters that an old lady we've never met made for them for Christmas.

When I step back and look at my life, I can't help but see that truly God has blessed us above and beyond what we had hoped for in our move here. May we never grow too comfortable or complacent to recognize that all we have comes from Him.

I'm learning more and more about the seasons of life - a natural occurrence of aging, I'm sure. Apparently this is not the season for regular blogging as my poor, neglected website shows. I've probably started about five different posts, but I have run into one problem or another, and they've sat there, unpublished.

So, what's keeping me away?

1. I've cut back on the amount of time the computer is on. A very good thing for me and my family, but it makes me have a lot less time to get the important things done, much less blogging.

2. We've been dealing with a fair bit of sickness lately. It's that time of year again.

3. We've been busier with our church/community, so I have to make wise use of the time I'm at home.

4. I'm too tired, lazy or uninspired when I do sit down to the computer.

I'll pop back in every once in a while, but meanwhile, these two munchkins need to be my priority.

With few nice, warm-ish Saturdays left before the cold comes, we decided to head out to Sherwood Forest and see what we could see. We saw trees...

Lots of trees... including this famous tree right in the middle of the forest.

So, while it wasn't all that exciting, it was a nice morning out in nature with the family. Some day we will check out the abbey near the forest as that looked pretty interesting.

School has started up again here in the UK and with that comes routine (hurray!!) and busier days. Hopefully the writing bug will hit me again soon.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of me and my two blessings taken in a confined space. Gotta love the view up my nose, but the kids are looking sweet.

We did it... we bought a car! And our first exciting "Discover Britain" trip was to a place not far from home called The Heights of Abraham. Our adventures are documented in photographs below:

My son - always thrilled to go "bye-bye" and even more so in a car.

Our 7-week old - looking grumpy, but really just about ready to pass out.

We walked up to the top of where the rock juts out and enjoyed the view, but of course my camera battery died right then. Then it was navigating narrow, windy roads back home again for quick baths, food and bed. It was a beautiful day in Britian enjoying God's creation.