Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Love this girl! #Sarahgrace



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Cracker Barrel breakfast! #Sarahgrace



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Cracker Barrel breakfast! #hannahkate



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Episode 4: An Interview with Adam & Leah Faughn



Wesley and Denise talk with Adam and Leah about their family, adoption, challenges parents face, family devotionals, mentoring, advice to parents, and their work through A Legacy of Faith. Be sure to check out this week's resource!

We recorded this episode very quickly Friday night before our family seminar.  You'll get to hear some beautiful sounds of all of our kids playing, crying, etc. because that's what was going on at the time! 

Show Links:
Your Feedback
  • Email: wesley@thelightnetwork.tv
  • Voicemail: 903-26-LIGHT (903-265-4448)
  • If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out! Thanks.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Why, Mommy?

10:40pm-Hannah Kate yells from bed, "Mommy, I need to tell you something! Why did Moses raise his staff & the Israelites die? Why, Mommy? Why did the people have b-OI-ls? Why, Mommy?" 

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Episode 3


  • Having a hard time dealing with negative comments about parenting or children in general? On this episode, Wesley & Denise discuss three common misconceptions about children. Don’t let the world’s view scare you! God tells us through His Word that children are a blessing.
Be sure to visit the link above to listen & see the show notes with links mentioned in today's episode. 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

When #hannahkate



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How to Review the Show in iTunes

Here's a step by step of how to review Arrows in Our Hand in iTunes. Thank you SO much for doing this as it helps make the podcast visible to more people as they search. You'll be helping out the podcast audience AND be entered to win an Arrows in Our Hand Prize Pack! Whoo hoo! Let us know if you have any questions.  Y'all are the best! 

(You can do this on your phone or on the computer. These screenshots are from my phone, but let me know if you need assistance from your computer.)

Step 1: Open the podcast app & search for "Arrows in Our Hand"--select Arrows in Our Hand 


Step 2: Select "Reviews" 



Step 3: Select "write a review"

Step 4: Give a rating with the stars. Then, write a review & click "send" (it may take a few minutes for your review to publish, so check back later & make sure it worked!) 
((*Don't worry- I didn't really submit this raving review!))

You're done! Thanks again! 

Arrows in Our Hand Podcast-Episode 2-Parenting with a Purpose

Listen in iTunes or on The Light Network! 
In this episode, we discuss how we help keep our family's focus on Heaven as our goal.
The photo above was taken by our dear friend & sister in Christ, Brittany Richmond.  Wesley talks about this photo during the podcast, so keep this window open!

Resource:
David Shannon's lesson from East Side Family Seminar 2014
Music Provided by Summertime Happy Ukulele Background Track--Find more music by Nicolai Heidlas at www.soundcloud.com.
Artwork Provided by Shane Read Creative


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

We're Now in iTunes!

Exciting news! You can now find Arrows in Our Hand on iTunes. The TLN special is the only episode in the feed until Monday when the show releases. Be sure to listen to the special if you haven't already! You can go ahead and subscribe now and have Episode 1 on your device as soon as it uploads on Monday!
Click here to go to the iTunes link.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Micaiah Update-January 2015

As you can tell from the lack of "real" updates, three children three & under are keeping me quite busy!  Almost daily I think "I've GOT to do an update" & I either have a mile long list of things to do during nap time or I am exhausted & need a nap!  I'm not going to even talk about how sad I am that the last update was before Sarah Grace was born....we will just go with where we are & run with it!

Micaiah is acting SO, SO big these days.  He is very much a two year old!  In just a few weeks, he went from saying two or three word phrases to full sentences. It amazes me still to hear him talk like such a big boy!  I keep telling him to stop growing, but he is not obeying me there!  He is a CHUNK of a boy--SOLID & heavy!  He wears 18-24m or 2T clothes & size 5 or 6 shoe, size 5 diapers.
~Common sayings from the past three months: mank (spank), side (outside), ra (trash-he would find any little piece of paper or trash & bring it to me & ask "ra?" to throw it in the trash), Han Kate, 'Race (Sarah Grace), hold her or back (if he wanted to hold SG), ummmmmmm, 'saur (dinosaur), dat one, song, sorse (horse), I love you, Mama, me toooooooo Mama, airplane (he was very excited to spot airplanes in the sky for awhile), tractor...haaaaayyyyyy, Papa tractor hay, Daddy tractor hay, spank fies rash (spank flies---swat flies, throw in the trash), Elmo scared, Adamand Eeeeeeve!, tractor ride, You see me do dat Mama?, Who's dat?, Oh, because, help 'Race Mama (help SG), naked race, bike, you're elcome, 'nother one car 'nother one tractor, Han-nah Kate! Sa-rah 'Race!
~When he's trying hard to tell you something, he closes his eyes & slowly & deliberately nods his head with every word.
~Naked race started one night when Micaiah was stripped down to his diaper for bed. Hannah Kate took off her clothes down to her undies too & they started chasing each other in the "loop" in our house.  She called it "naked race" & it's turned into "BAH Race" (because Wesley would jump out & yell "BAH" at them) or "Chainsaw Race" (because they would chase each other using Micaiah's toy chainsaw.  It's very adaptable! Fun times.
~He can almost count to 10 & sing the ABCs.
~He knows most of the memory verse Matthew 19:14--But Jesus said, "let the little children come unto me."
~He recognizes Chris & Melissa or Robert on podcasts. 
~He loves "Hey man" & "Wissa."
~We have a laughing Elmo that he is terrified of-Wesley held it up to him one night & he did NOT like it.  For months, he would say, "Elmo....scared."  He would even refuse to go in their room alone or walk around the whole house to go in the other door away from Elmo. Hannah Kate finally took it to the guest room & asked me to put it in the attic so he wouldn't be afraid!
~I was so sad when he started calling Hannah Kate "Han-nah Kate!" like a big boy.
~He LOVES to cook.  For a few weeks, if he saw me doing anything in the kitchen he would run up to me & say he needed the ladder, "Me toooooooo Mama."
~This week, he has started calling me "Mom" or "Mum."  I keep telling him my name is "Mama," but it's not sticking!
~After Chris & Melissa were here for a week, he started giving kisses on the cheek!  Melissa would have him give her a kiss if he wanted her to do something & it stuck.  He has never been a kisser, so I was so excited!....until he started kissing a little girl at church. Oops! 
~He LOVES to climb from Hannah Kate's bed to his (his footboard is the big crib rail) & jump onto the bed.  They love to jump on the bed too.
~He is not a fan of new people or a lot of people talking to him.  It takes him a good 5-10 minutes to warm up to people, especially if it's people at our house.
~He LOVES Bible class, Bible time, singing songs, etc.  He loves to do the arm motions to lead songs during worship & at home.  When we sing during Bible time, he has to have a "song book." It can be any book, but he holds it up like a song book to sing. His very favorite song is "Trust & Obey."  He knows all of the words to the first & last verse.
~He likes to color.
~He loves to be outside helping Daddy or Papa.
~He is THE best little helper with Sarah Grace. He is the first to alert me if she cries, the first to put her paci back in, etc.  He loves to talk to her or look at her (he asks first every time!).  He smiles so big at her & says, "Sarrrraahhhhhhh Raaaaaaaaaccce," in a high pitched voice.  It's adorable!
~He has started praying on his own.  The majority of the time it's, "Dear God, thank you for. Amen."  When he does pray with more words, he does the best job remembering what we've told them to pray about & naming lots of people he is thankful for.
~Micaiah is a HUGE blessing in our lives. We are so thankful for him!













Hannah Kate Update-January 2015

As you can tell from the lack of "real" updates, three children three & under are keeping me quite busy!  Almost daily I think "I've GOT to do an update" & I either have a mile long list of things to do during nap time or I am exhausted & need a nap!  I'm not going to even talk about how sad I am that the last update was before Sarah Grace was born....we will just go with where we are & run with it!

Hannah Kate will be four in less than a month.  I am not sure how that is even possible.  She is SUCH a big girl these days & is starting to look like a big girl & not just a toddler anymore.  Here are some highlights that I want to remember about her at this age:
~Common sayings (maybe not so common now, but have been common in the last three months....):
-"Yeah, that's cool," "When I get bigger & I have a baby I will...," "Hama llama (Llama Llama books)," "no way," "jack o lant-ren," "every each," "969"
-The "every each" means all of them or a lot of them.
-She started referring to when we have "969 babies" or "969 snacks." After a day or two, I realized it was because we had been singing a song about Methuselah & she saw 969 as a lot (& it is!)!
~She LOVES to play with friends or have friends come over to play.  Santa asked what she wanted for Christmas & she said, "For all of my friends to come over to play with me."  It was THE sweetest thing ever. I wasn't sure how she would respond since we don't "do" Santa & I had forgotten to mention that he might ask what she wanted.  I was telling Wesley about it in the car later & she said, "Yeah, next time, I will tell him I want A LOT of presents!"  There went that sweet moment!
~She is an awesome, awesome helper!  I am thankful for her servant heart & willingness to help.  That is something we have worked hard to cultivate in her & I hope it will continue.  She will randomly come up to me & ask, "What can I do, ma'am?"
~She & Micaiah have been having some classic brother & sister moments......whew!  They are learning how to work out problems & be kind to each other, but it is not easy!
~She LOVES Bible class, Bible time & acting out Bible stories.  She wants to act out Bible stories almost every night during Bible time.  She loves role playing Esther, Joseph, & the creation of Eve.  We have slacked off on her memory verses as we were working on KidSing cards, but we are trying to pick that back up.  We got the kids "Bible Study Guide for All Ages" timeline cards & lessons for Christmas.  She LOVES doing her lesson each day-partly because it's new & exciting & partly because she gets to have a paper each time.  She is doing great following directions & retaining what we talk about in the lessons.
~She holds Sarah Grace's hand in the car....THE sweetest thing ever & it calms Sarah Grace down-win win!
~We've had two deaths in our church family in the past week. At both visitations, she told the family (all by herself) "I'm sorry you're sad & I'm praying for you."  Melted my heart!
~Since we are diving into the podcast world, she is all about podcasts!  She said, "When I grow up, I'm going to do a podcast too because girls can do podcasts-es!" Last night at Cracker Barrel she asked, "Do the people who live at Cracker Barrel have a podcast?  Nana, do you have a podcast? Does Papa have a podcast?"
~She loves reading books, coloring, making cards, praying for people, going out to eat, & watching Dora.
~She loves to giggle & laugh & play races with Daddy & Micaiah at night.
~She is in 4 or 5T clothing (mainly 5T for tops) & size 9 shoes.
~Hannah Kate is a huge blessing in our lives. We are so thankful for her!