Rattins living Coram Deo

Ana composed a to-do list today after proudly cutting a square of paper to have me write it on. Here it is, in the order dictated to me: - Go to Uganda - Ana likes cookies - We need to make cookies - Ana needs to go potty - Ana gets a drink - Ana gets lunch - Go to the beach with Mimi - Build a sandcastle - Swim in the water - Noah watches me swim with my swimsuit - Coughing ("check" she said right away) - Borrow flowers - I love Mommy

Josh was patiently teaching Ana a lesson that they have gone through many times before about trusting and obeying immediately. His example is the Dad who tells his son to jump out the tree. The son obeys and jumps out of the tree and his obedience saves him from getting bitten by a tree snake. "So, Ana, if Mommy tells you to STOP when you're walking outside near the road, what should you do?" Ana's coy answer: "Jump out of the tree?"

Always on the search for low-cost alternatives to adapted items... here's a site that shows how to make a battery interrupter and an inexpensive switch! http://www.sharenetwork.org/switch.htm A battery interrupter is a copper wafer that is placed to "interrupt" the flow of electricity. When the switch (which is plugged into the battery interrupter) is activate, the circuit is completed, thus making the toy or blender or whatever the device is turn on!

Does anyone have ideas for self-directed activities for Gracie? She has great difficulty playing on her own - prefers direct human interaction. Her one and only activity that she will do on her own is take things out of a bin. As you can imagine, that means that she is miserably bored when she's home with the other kids too as they have to (gasp!) take TURNS with mommy's attention! Any ideas? Any great and lifechanging suggestions for self-motivated play for a non-self-motivated girl?