The Games we Play

Our house is a fun one. We like to play! My daughter prefers dolls and Polly pockets, my husband...sports, and my son...games! All kinds of games...board games, sports, and especially video games. We have a Wii and a Wii U at our house, along with all the attachments and gadgets, and of course....Wii games...lots and lots of Wii games. At last count, we have about 50 games! 

Without proper organizing, those games could really get out of control and it would be really hard to find the one you want when you want it. We found all too soon in our Wii ownership that placing the game discs neatly back in the cases after playing them was not going to happen very often. 

So, I came up with a system to organize them and still have them easy to find and easy to put away. I purchased a zip-up CD case that was able to hold lots of discs, about 100 I think. Next, I gathered all our game discs and a permanent marker. I removed the discs from the cases and went to work numbering each one. I numbered the disc, the case, and the CD slot with the same number. Assigning each game disc a number makes it easy for us to know where to put the disc back when we're done with it. It also makes it easier to locate the case if it's needed. 

Game #12 looks like a fun one!

In addition to marking the front of the case, I marked the edge of the case with the number also. Because I opted to keep our game books in the original cases I wanted to file them away where we could get to them if needed.  

This system has worked very well for us and kept the games in much better shape than just throwing them in a basket (which is what was happening before :-(  

Neatly arranged on the shelf :-)

                             Easy to flip through and find the game you want!

Of course, we had to jazz up the front of the case too :-)

There you have it....a better way to organize all those game discs. This system would work well for any collection of discs that needs organizing....computer games, CD's, DVD's. And it's a great way to save space. This nice little case that zips up and files neatly away is much smaller than all those cases. 

Now, if you will excuse me...#27 is calling my name :-)

Teaching My Kids to Pray

Prayer is an important part of my life.  I talk to God on a daily basis, several times a day. Sometimes it's to thank Him for all that He has blessed me with. Sometimes it's to ask Him to meet a need. Sometimes it's to petition Him on behalf of other's needs. He is always there and always listens. I know He cares because He loves me. 

It's important to me that my kids know how to pray too. I want prayer to be a part of their life and for them to know that they can go to God with their needs and trust Him to do what is right. I've found that with prayer, like a lot of things, it's best to lead by example. When a need arises in our home, we pray about it. If one of us gets hurt or is sick, we pray for them. Whichever of us takes the kids to school for the day, we pray for them on the way there. We pray openly at home and that is also the style of prayer at our church. The point being...our kids see and hear us praying. Praying for them, for ourselves, for others. And they are learning what prayer is all about.

It's become common for them to tell us of needs they hear about during the day and pray for those at night. We have a nightly routine before bed of gathering together either on the couch or in one of the bedrooms and praying together. We start out with the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer and then each take turns praying our own prayer too. We also each thank God for something from that particular day. With kids, you never know what you're going to get...like "thank you God for the 2 hour delay from school this morning" ;-) or "thank you God for my toys"....but that's ok. God hears them and I believe He appreciates them thanking Him for the things that are important to them. And trust me, when I say that nothing will melt your heart like your 4 year old praying out loud for you....as in "help mommy's head to quit hurting" or "touch Daddy's back"...so sweet. 

And we are quick to point out when God has heard and answered prayer and thank Him for it. It's not that we want them to think they can take their "wish lists" to God and He will grant their requests. It's not like that. We just want them to grow up knowing that prayer works and it is something they should do. And we don't skimp on it when we have overnight guests either. Cousins or friends, whoever they have staying over is included in our prayer time. They don't always pray with us and that's ok. The good thing is that our kids are learning to pray comfortably in front of others. 

I can only hope that my kids will continue to value prayer as they grow up. It is a comfort to be able to go to God and tell Him anything and know He hears. I pray for my kids daily and I love it when they pray for me. And I'm sure God understands if they, every once in a while, thank Him for chocolate milk ;-).